It all started with the guy of my dreams… mushy stuff mushy stuff… We needed to get a legal marriage so we could live in the same country. We were going to get married anyway, just later. We will have our Church Ceremony and Par-tay Summer 2015!
So what happened for the Legal Signing of Papers Wedding?
Matron of Honor arrived on Wednesday. We spent time getting ready for Thanksgiving and sightseeing. On Friday, we went to the salon to get our nails done by a new wonderful friend in Oslo. She was so kind to do our nails for free and made the day extra special! After, I guess you could say my bachelorette party was spent at the outdoor Christmas market in Oslo. I even got a hug from a Norwegian Santa!!!! Eeekkk!!!!
The Best Man and nephew were to arrive that evening so we went shopping for dinner and bought roses for a bouquet! The roses were supposed to be 150 NRK but the sweet lady gave them to us for only 70 NRK!
Headed on the Tram back up the mountain for some kitchen cookin’ fire buildin’ good times.
Pop! Goes the bottle. Whoohoo! Go the dance moves! Out come the cards! We now have a party of five. Three in our cabin and two in the small cabin next to us. After the Americans taught the Brits to play 500 and the Brits taught the Americans to drink, we called it a day.
SATURDAY!!!! Up, 4 to shower, traditional Norwegian breakfast, dressed in our wedding clothes, and up the hill to catch the Biggest “limo” a.k.a. the tram.
When we got to the courthouse, a colleague of HB’s arrived with a nice bottle of Prosecco! So sweet and unexpected!!! I’m really starting to fall for the kindness of Norwegians! I was butterflyless until I got my parents up on Skype. Then I was like “OMG I’M GETTING MARRIED!!!!” I realized that my life was about to take it’s next step and I really wanted all my family and friends there with me. Yes, yes, I will have a ceremony, white dress, and reception in the future. But this is NOW! How can I not make a big deal out of it!?!? Whew, ok, so both parents are on Skype and we have to ask the judge if we are allowed to Skype. Judge says… “There’s a first time for everything.” Skype is allowed!!!!!
My parent’s woke up at 4:30 AM to “attend”. Pretty sure my little brother was asleep on the couch the whole time. I think I saw a hand up in the air at one point. It was 12:10 PM for HB’s parents and the time we were allowed into the room.
All passports were checked to confirm we are who we all say we are and we walk in…
Not nervous, but impressed at how nice the room is! Parents on one side of the table, video camera on front of us, witnesses somewhere… so distracted by the room… glad I dressed up! The judge said some nice words, thoughts about what marriage is, asked me if I take this man… (wow, I really like his words, I wonder if I can get a copy of that somewhere? CRAP! I’m supposed to be listening!) … love and honor… (will it be on the marriage document? Or should I look it up on the website? It’s being video taped so I can listen then. He’s looking at me now… they all are… uh…) “I do” (?) (Was that what I was supposed to say? I’ll see what HB says, well, by then it will be too late to go back and change what I said? Should I have just said yes? I take him? OH! I should have been listening this time!) HB says “I do”. Ok, good. The judge hands me a book. I stare at it. The other woman comes over and tells me to sign it. (What am I signing? Where do I sign? And WHAT is my name?!?!) Apparently I stared too long (Why do I always have to go first?!?!) so she points to where she wants me to sign. (Am I Mrs. G now? When will I be Mrs. G? But I don’t sign that now? How do you make a cursive G again? In third grade there was a cursive chart on wall, what was the G?) Whoa! Still staring and I’ve not done anything to this paper. Ok, sign it!
After we and our witnesses signed, HB’s Mum played her harp over Skype and we had our first dance. For some reason, I noticed HB’s ears. They were suddenly the most beautiful ears! Ears that I love and can love forever! The whole thing lasted about 15 minutes. (I still have a new attachment to his ears though.) (Is that too weird to share?) It was beautiful. Really. Much nicer than the courthouse wedding I imagined. Everything was perfect! We left the room, talked to parents, and I tossed my bouquet to my sister sitting next to me. I think the strangest thing, was having the parents take wedding photos over Skype. Can’t wait to see how those turned out.
We left the courthouse and had a friend from the dance group greet us and congratulate us outside! That was so sweet!!!
Hopped another “limo” bus and went to the Opera House Restaurant. Beautiful with a view of the fjord and good food! Drank wine with our meal and went to climb the outside and get pictures. Invited a couple tourists to throw petals and take pics. They seemed to enjoy it too!
Time to take the “limo” back home… to Never Never Land. Yes, we live in that little space in the cloud! Being a Peter Pan fan, I was thrilled to see this!!!
After arriving home, we found a bottle of Champaign with a wooden heart on our front step! It was put there by our neighbors! Are you kidding me?!? How nice is that?!? We are so blessed to have such nice people in our lives. We had more drinks and cut our cake made by another wonderful friend here in Oslo! So unexpected and delicious too!
Drinks, cards, music, dancing, love, love, and more love. This legal wedding was bigger than I originally thought and I am happy the way it turned out. Can’t wait for the big celebration in 2015! The church is already booked!
Elves Are Never Bored 