waiting waiting waiting in front of the hall
the church in front of the hall
The Groom arrives and brings with him a ton of lint and cat hair
One last panicked phone call from the bride-to-be.
Rene (Groomsman) tries to grab that last cat hair
Now that the groom has arrived, we just need to stand around and wait for the bride
Looking very fly! Mike (Bestman), Drew (random guest), Rene (Groomsman)
The Groom's family. Stephan (father), Matthew (brother), Karen (cousin), Dianne (Aunt), George (Uncle), Richard (brother-in-law), Beth-Anne (sister), Sherry (mother), Heather (Aunt), Don (Uncle)
Rene trying to read the Chinese seating plan. Ta bu hui hsuo zhong wen.
Our programs for the day. Pink ribbon means Chinese; white means English/German.
waiting to be seated
The bride finally arrives, along with her mother.
"I checked again and I still don't see her, where the hell is she?!?"
Drew seeks calming words of wisdom from the bestman, who seems to be getting a kick out of Drew's nervousness.
Chao-Hua (maid of honour) enters looking very beautiful. Rene appears to agree.
You do look really nice Chao-Hua, but unfortunately you're playing second banana today.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the star of the show! (with her father)
The processional
Keeping with the standing and waiting theme, the wedding party waits for the piano instrumental music (Kiss the Rain by Yiruma) to finish playing.
Helmut Troger (the officiant) performs the cermony in Austrian German, while Ching Chao (bride's maid) translates into English and Mandarin, ensuring that everyone understands a little but not most.
The 20min ceremony turns into 40mins with all the translation.
Ching looking very nice in the Plan B dress. Plan A was 10,000km away in Taiwan. Ching's performance of the "I'm sorry sorry sorry" dance was very nice though.
My God she looks good!
Everybody stand and get ready for the big question.
The groom and bride think this one over.
Mike thinks "really? this guy? Run Tzepei before it's too late!"
Too late! He said "Ja, I do!". Now she's got no choice.
The ring is on. She's trapped! It slides on really easily too.
She, on the other hand, has some problems with the groom's ring.
She's still trying and calls the groom "fatty!". Not the most romantic words during a wedding ceremony, but definitely the most memorable (at least for the groom).
Aw...
Sign your life away Mrs. Martin!
I love this dress.
The most beautiful sight Drew has ever seen.
What the hell did I just do??? Is it too late to annul?
Sucks being left-handed and using a fountain pen. I just hope I didn't smear the whole page.
Chao-Hua witnesses.
Ditto Mike.
Congratulations from the officiant.
Come up and congratulate us, goddamnit!
The bestman offers his congratulations and pity to the bride.
The groom's party offer their congratulations. Rene appears to already be taking liberties!
Well if the groomsman is going to try to get some, then the groom might as well too!
It didn't mean anything baby, I swear!
Drew certainly looks happy at what he sees.
Where's the Ching-Ching?
Bridal party 合照 Chao-Hua (maid of honour), Ching (bridesmaid), most beautiful bride ever, some guy who got in the shot, Mike (bestman), Rene (groomsman)
Bring on the champagne!
The parents with the new Kuo's!
Her Grandma is soooo cute.
The parents with the new Martin's.
The Kuo-Martin fusion.
Happy couple with the groom's family.
The couple with the groom's siblings.
The couple with Tzepei's sister and brother-in-law
Uncle Kuo-Yao and Aunt Ke-Hui
Happy couple with the bride's family
Notice the champagne substitute (orange juice). That OJ packed quite a punch though!
A hug from her Uncle (75 years old and made the trip from Taiwan)
I really thought the bowing thing was Japanese, not Taiwanese, so I was caught a little off-guard.
Her Aunt (68) and her Grandma (90!!!). I still can't believe they flew half way around the world to be here. I just turned 30 and wasn't even sure if I was going to make the trip or not!
Bride with friend Linda
Jane!
Bride with Jane, Groom with Jana.
Wanda falling in love with Tzepei's family.
Everybody waiting for the new couple to come out
get your camera ready
still waiting
And here they are!!! Congratulations Ching and Herr Troger! Enjoy the honeymoon.
Here they come. Get the bubbles and pedals ready!
bubbles bubbles bubble
The sun came out just for us. Literally! It was completely overcast until we said our "I do"s. No exaggeration whatsoever.
The bed sheet that we and Wanda made with supplies from Jana.
Mike and Rene get the sheet ready for the bridal couple to cut.
Where do we start?
Now we're cookin'!
For the record; my hand was on top! - according to tradition, the person with their hand on top will wear the pants in the marriage. (this accidentally got reversed during the cake cutting)
My God this thing is big.
Almost there...
Finally!
Now I just have to pick her up and carry her through. She's crazy light, but the dress is a bit awkward.
careful... careful...
Success!
Let me down! Let me down!
Our photographer really went for every angle.
The bouquet. Looks absolutely identical to the picture in the bridal magazine that we gave them as a model.
The bride and friend Jane, who also made the journey from Taiwan.
Jane blowing bubbles, while the maid of honour and sister seem to be very busy doing all the work.
The sun peaked out of the clouds to greet us and the church bells started ringing (which was a completely unplanned and unexpected coincidence). Good omens needless to say!
The sun and contact lenses made it difficult for me to keep my eyes open.
Mike pulling double duty as bestman and chaffeur. But at least we gave him a sweet ride! If I had the choice between marrying a Taiwanese beauty or a German BMW 520, I'm not sure which... no no no, the woman of course! ....at least I think.
She looked so beautiful! The bride I mean, not the car. I've moved on.
So long suckers!
The hotel put up a nice sign outside that reads "Best wishes to the happy couple"
Waiting for everyone else to arrive for cake and coffee.
Ching with the hotel owner's daughter who also dressed up for the day.
They are both very cute.
mmmmm... the cake! Real Black Forest Cake with a marzipan coating.
The only thing that remains of the top of the cake is this picture. Sadly the bride accidentally broke it the day after.
They both looked very tasty!
The couple with the cake. I highly recommend that if you are getting married, have the cake in the middle of the day like the Europeans do. That way, people can actually enjoy the cake and aren't stuffed from the meal.
Wo yao ching-ching! (means: I want a kiss!)
Tzepei's mother and the cake.
The revenge! Now her hand is on top.
Halfway through my father very kindly (grrr...) tells her that since her hand was on top, she'll be in control of the marriage.
It looks like I'm contemplating something deep, but in truth my neck was killing me from all the built-up tension.
Mouth-wateringly delicious!
You would not believe the process involved in the creation of this hairdo.
I've been forbidden from mentioning any resemblance whatsoever. Because there is no resemblance whatsoever...says Tzepei
Richard smiling! You know it's a special occasion when.
Heading off to do photos lakeside and from the mountain top.
Tzepei and her new mother.
Red flowers absolutely HAD TO go in the hair according to tradition.
The red flowers and the rice are for good luck and joy in the future. Apparently if we have kids, she also needs to hold onto these exact flowers while giving birth so that the child will be beautiful and intelligent.
Thankfully I didn't have to change my attire. But she looks really nice in the Chinese dress. If this had been a traditional Chinese wedding, then she would have had to wear minimum 3 different dresses during the span of the reception.
Her sister Tzu-Yu played beautifully during the cocktail reception before dinner.
Mingling during the non-alcoholic cocktail reception.
Everybody had to draw us something on this canvas as well as sign the guest book. It's now hanging up in our apartment.
Wanda and her adopted sister Tzepei.
Wanda and her newly adopted grandmother.
Wanda looking for more people to adopt.
The wedding favours. Chopsticks to represent Taiwan, maple syrup candy for Canada, and gummi bears for Germany.
The Menu
Chinese version
Viola looking very nice!
The wedding party is announced and prepares to sit.
Rene summons fire from his hands.
We light the unity candle which Wanda so kindly made for us.
Finally! Let's eat!
tink tink tink... kiss!
I had to get creative every time someone clinked their glass.
Tzepei's brother-in-law. The evil mastermind behind all the glass clinking.
Appetizer: Beef carpaccio. It was goooooood!
Asparagus soup. A must when in the Germanic part of Europe.
Baked veal stuffed with cured ham and... some kind of cheese.
Pork medallions
Salad to go with pork dishes
Panna Cotta! 野莓鮮奶酪
The bride delivers her speech.
Even more kisses in strange positions.
Get ready for the bouquet toss ladies.
Ching catches it!
Why am I marrying her? - Hello? HELLO? Looks at those!
Why use your hands when you can use your teeth?
Brad and Matthew fight it out for the garter belt.
Brad won the garter belt! By the look on his face, I think he only understood the meaning of the tradition afterwards.
Let us know when the date is Brad!
The first dance
What a wonderful world indeed.
Tzepei with her father and Drew with his mother.
Gill was eager to get the dancing going.
Watch out, Gill is busting loose!
The grandma gets up to lead everybody and show the young folks how it's done.
Felt like she was an aerobics instructor.
Awwwwww... FREAK OUT!
now wave them like you just don't care
Grandma's got moves!
She's 90, people! NINETY!!!
Viola preparing to dance flamenco.
Gill in awe of her husband's moves... or lack thereof.
Even the photographer got into it.
The best and most beautiful colleagues ever!
I think Wanda is happy, but I'm not sure. It's hard to tell.
The joy is spreading!
The bride looks thrilled with her dance partner.
Nothing like a little hip thrusting at your wedding.
Oh ya!!!
Lizzy adds her talents to the masterpiece.
Plotters plotting. (Julia and Dan)
It's amazing what people will do after midnight and after many glasses of wine.
Beth-Anne and Karen ready to bust out their moves.
Even my Aunt and Uncle got into it.
Electric boogie!!!
Go Dan, go Dan, go Dan!
Let's do this more often!
Dan looks like he wants to bust out his Russian dance moves.
Santina showing her boyfriend Dan how it's really done.
You can't keep Rene still for long.
Dan not impressed with Viola's groove.
this is how you do it Viola!
somebody's getting tired
Santina showing the Roman in her.
impromptu karoake to the Foo Fighters' 'Everlong'. Pure awesomeness.
A new boy band is formed
Matthew proving he's no slouch on the dance floor
Even Markus was busting it
The front of the hotel at night.
