Danish Wedding traditions

Hi friends and family

I thought I would give you a bit of insight of what to expect from a Danish wedding.

The Church
The ceremony will be protestant. When entering the church normally the guest of the bride goes to the left and guest of the groom goes right, however the church is small and most of our guest are guest of both of us so there is "free seating" OK keep away from the chairs up front which are meant for us. There are no readings by friends or family; a few hymns and the whole thing is basically over in 30-40 min.

The Dinner
At a Danish wedding the dinner takes a long time. All during the entire dinner the speeches will be held, first the Father of the Bride, after him it is the Groom, followed by the Best Man and then the Father of the Groom and then the Bride and after that there is "open mike" where anyone who would like to can stand up and give a speech. I am sorry to say to all the Irish that I do not think the bets on the speeches is an option at this weeding. Also in Denmark it is customarily that some guest will offer songs about the couple for everybody to sing. All speeches and songs will be coordinated by the toastmaster, so if you would like to either give a speech or deliver a song, please coordinate with the Toastmaster. Lars (Helle´s brother) will be toastmaster and if you already now would like to get in touch with him you can use his email: lars"@lja.dk (remove the " when contacting him)

Odd traditions at dinner:
A DK tradition is that during the dinner if the groom leaves the room all the male guests are "allowed" to run up and kiss the bride. And vice versa if the bride leaves the room the female guests are allowed to kiss the groom.

The first Dance
In Denmark the first dance needs to be danced before midnight, the couple does not choose the melody; it is a specific Wedding Walz. When the Dance starts all guest are making a circle around the couple and slowly moving in on the couple so by the end of the dance there is no room to move.
Immediately after this the groom will get a piece of his socks cut off (long story but something to do with him not going to other women) this is done by the guests and normally some male member of the party will hold the groom down and cut of the toes of his socks. If the bride is wearing a veil, small pieces are then cut off (I know the two things are a bit much and maybe show the Viking blood).

The "Night-course"
During the Night normally around 2 am the "natmad" (night course) will be served, in the "old days" this was to let guest know it is time to go home, but luckily this is so not the case anymore, now is it j ust an opportunity to re-fuel mid partying. As this is a very Danish tradition, we have decided to serve a very traditional Danish Natmad, so be adventurous and give it a go. Ask some of the Danes for advice on what to eat with what, it is a science in itself.