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Final Finland update (part 2 - May 13, The Wedding Day)
Jennie had to get an early start, and Cindra, Erin, and I all got up at 6am to go with her to the salon in Helsinki where she'd be getting her hair and makeup done. We ended up being too early and the place wasn't even open yet, so we went to the supermarket across the street and had pastries for breakfast. Finland has wonderful food, by the way.
Jennie's appointment was for 9am, so that's when we went to the salon. She had her hair done up in intricate loops and twists, and had little white roses stuck in the openings. This took about an hour and a half to do. Then she had her makeup done, which looked very nice, and she was done by 11am. Next it was Jani's turn (he showed up at about 5 after 11) to get his hair done and some makeup put on. This took maybe 15 minutes altogether, whereas Jennie had taken two hours. Jani wasn't too happy about wearing makeup, but he had to since some skin had been burned off his nose when he and Jennie went to get facials, and he'd been at the hands of a student.
After the salon we took the subway back to the train station. We were going to take a taxi but there weren't any big enough for all of us, and we had to get Jennie out of the wind quickly. It was a very windy day, by the way. But we did take a taxi from the train station in Helsinki back to the hotel. When we got there Jani's relatives had delivered about 12 pizzas for lunch. I tried the tuna and shrimp pizza but it was awful, so I switched to the barbecue chicken one instead.
After lunch it was time to get Jennie dressed for the first photo session, which was to take place before the wedding. So everyone in the wedding party had to get in their tuxedos etc., and Jennie had to get in her wedding dress (really gorgeous, pictures later!). After a while Jani arrived (he had to change at his apartment), then the photographer (really cool lady), and we drove over to the church for photos outside next to it. Cindra, Erin, and I went along to help out Jennie with maneuvering her dress and whatever else. Windy, windy, windy! At least it wasn't raining. Lots and lots of photos were taken, then it was back to the hotel for even more photos, which I will try to post in a reasonable amount of time. At the hotel it did start sprinkling a bit, but thankfully it didn't last long and they were able to finish up the picture taking.
Following all that photography, it was finally time for the wedding ceremony itself. We turned out to be a rather forgetful entourage. Cindra and Erin were with Jennie at the church while I was at the room with Jani picking up the wedding programs and Jennie's purse. I brought those over to the church, and Erin came running out yelling that they'd forgotten Jennie's lipstick and she needed a reapplication. So Jani's cousin quickly drove me back to the hotel, I ran to their room and got it, and then we drove back. Then they told me that the veil had also been forgotten! Jani's cousin drove me back again, I ran in and got the veil, then ran back out and we drove back to the church, hoping that was the last of it. As it turned out Cindra's scripture reading in English had also been forgotten, but now there was no time to get it, so Jani's brother Toni ended up doing the reading in Finnish instead. Oops. ^^;
The ceremony was very nice, although I think it ended up being a little longer than it was supposed to. Pretty much everything was done in both English and Finnish, including the singing. At the end of the ceremony soap bubbles were handed out and blown for the exit of the bride and groom from the church. There was a lot of confusion as to where exactly they were giong to exit from, though, because the church has three different exits and we were told to go to the wrong one at first. They did wait until they were at the right one to come out, though.
Following the wedding was the reception at the hotel. Everyone lined up to congratulate bride and groom, then sat down at the tables for foodness. I was at one of the head tables with Cindra, Erin, Jennie's brother Waylen, and his girlfriend Stephanie. For some reason I was sent to retrieve yet another thing from the room; this time it was the bible Jennie and Jani had been given at the ceremony. I still don't know why they needed it. Coordinator Margaret was dismissing tables one at a time to go to the buffet, but she forgot to let ours go when I wasn't there. ;_; But we waited paitently like good school children until she noticed us.
The first course was all cold things, and the food served was very Finnish; lots and lots of fish (eww). I did find some good flat bread and bell peppers. Next came the hot dishes; I had lamb and it was yummy. Following the food was the cutting of the five-tier cake, which was white sponge cake with mango cream filling and an outer covering of white chocolate; pretty good stuff. I did something very strange at this reception. I drank a glass of champagne and two cups of coffee! I don't like either of those things and I don't know what possessed me to drink them, but surprisingly they actually tasted pretty good.
After the food the dancing started. First song was Jennie and Jani alone, the next song they were joined by their parents, then whoever else felt like it. After a few of these Jennie was hauled off to change dresses. Apparently the Chinese tradition is to change outfits as many times as possible during your wedding; the more costume changes you have the wealthier it means you are. For this they decided to compromise and do one change into a dress that was Western style but made of Chinese material. She says she'll be doing a lot more dress changes at the San Jose reception.
Well anyway, the photographer came along for the dress change because she hadn't been there when Jennie was getting into the first dress earlier in the day. So Jennie came back out in her pretty red and gold dress, and she danced with Jani some more. But near the end of the dance she was "kidnapped," and Jani had to win her back by making up a poem with five words she had given earlier. I don't remember what the words were, other than "pickle" and "Aksu" (Jani's cat), but I have videos of the poems he made up. *g* He read the first one to her over a cell phone, but the "bride" they brought out was a bald guy wrapped in white towels. *l* He had to come up with a second poem, and this time he got Jennie back (even though the first poem was better than the second =P).
There was some more dancing and then the traditional bouquet and garter tosses, which were caught by two Finnish people I didn't know. Lots more dancing, including Jennie rocking out by herself and then being caught completely by surprise by the videographer who'd been filming her the entire time. *l* Finns really like to party...they got kind of mad when the dj started finishing up around 11:30pm, which was already half an hour later than he should have stopped. They finally managed to get everyone out the door by about 12:30.
So that was the end of the day! Congratulations, Jennie and Jani! ^_^
Jennie's appointment was for 9am, so that's when we went to the salon. She had her hair done up in intricate loops and twists, and had little white roses stuck in the openings. This took about an hour and a half to do. Then she had her makeup done, which looked very nice, and she was done by 11am. Next it was Jani's turn (he showed up at about 5 after 11) to get his hair done and some makeup put on. This took maybe 15 minutes altogether, whereas Jennie had taken two hours. Jani wasn't too happy about wearing makeup, but he had to since some skin had been burned off his nose when he and Jennie went to get facials, and he'd been at the hands of a student.
After the salon we took the subway back to the train station. We were going to take a taxi but there weren't any big enough for all of us, and we had to get Jennie out of the wind quickly. It was a very windy day, by the way. But we did take a taxi from the train station in Helsinki back to the hotel. When we got there Jani's relatives had delivered about 12 pizzas for lunch. I tried the tuna and shrimp pizza but it was awful, so I switched to the barbecue chicken one instead.
After lunch it was time to get Jennie dressed for the first photo session, which was to take place before the wedding. So everyone in the wedding party had to get in their tuxedos etc., and Jennie had to get in her wedding dress (really gorgeous, pictures later!). After a while Jani arrived (he had to change at his apartment), then the photographer (really cool lady), and we drove over to the church for photos outside next to it. Cindra, Erin, and I went along to help out Jennie with maneuvering her dress and whatever else. Windy, windy, windy! At least it wasn't raining. Lots and lots of photos were taken, then it was back to the hotel for even more photos, which I will try to post in a reasonable amount of time. At the hotel it did start sprinkling a bit, but thankfully it didn't last long and they were able to finish up the picture taking.
Following all that photography, it was finally time for the wedding ceremony itself. We turned out to be a rather forgetful entourage. Cindra and Erin were with Jennie at the church while I was at the room with Jani picking up the wedding programs and Jennie's purse. I brought those over to the church, and Erin came running out yelling that they'd forgotten Jennie's lipstick and she needed a reapplication. So Jani's cousin quickly drove me back to the hotel, I ran to their room and got it, and then we drove back. Then they told me that the veil had also been forgotten! Jani's cousin drove me back again, I ran in and got the veil, then ran back out and we drove back to the church, hoping that was the last of it. As it turned out Cindra's scripture reading in English had also been forgotten, but now there was no time to get it, so Jani's brother Toni ended up doing the reading in Finnish instead. Oops. ^^;
The ceremony was very nice, although I think it ended up being a little longer than it was supposed to. Pretty much everything was done in both English and Finnish, including the singing. At the end of the ceremony soap bubbles were handed out and blown for the exit of the bride and groom from the church. There was a lot of confusion as to where exactly they were giong to exit from, though, because the church has three different exits and we were told to go to the wrong one at first. They did wait until they were at the right one to come out, though.
Following the wedding was the reception at the hotel. Everyone lined up to congratulate bride and groom, then sat down at the tables for foodness. I was at one of the head tables with Cindra, Erin, Jennie's brother Waylen, and his girlfriend Stephanie. For some reason I was sent to retrieve yet another thing from the room; this time it was the bible Jennie and Jani had been given at the ceremony. I still don't know why they needed it. Coordinator Margaret was dismissing tables one at a time to go to the buffet, but she forgot to let ours go when I wasn't there. ;_; But we waited paitently like good school children until she noticed us.
The first course was all cold things, and the food served was very Finnish; lots and lots of fish (eww). I did find some good flat bread and bell peppers. Next came the hot dishes; I had lamb and it was yummy. Following the food was the cutting of the five-tier cake, which was white sponge cake with mango cream filling and an outer covering of white chocolate; pretty good stuff. I did something very strange at this reception. I drank a glass of champagne and two cups of coffee! I don't like either of those things and I don't know what possessed me to drink them, but surprisingly they actually tasted pretty good.
After the food the dancing started. First song was Jennie and Jani alone, the next song they were joined by their parents, then whoever else felt like it. After a few of these Jennie was hauled off to change dresses. Apparently the Chinese tradition is to change outfits as many times as possible during your wedding; the more costume changes you have the wealthier it means you are. For this they decided to compromise and do one change into a dress that was Western style but made of Chinese material. She says she'll be doing a lot more dress changes at the San Jose reception.
Well anyway, the photographer came along for the dress change because she hadn't been there when Jennie was getting into the first dress earlier in the day. So Jennie came back out in her pretty red and gold dress, and she danced with Jani some more. But near the end of the dance she was "kidnapped," and Jani had to win her back by making up a poem with five words she had given earlier. I don't remember what the words were, other than "pickle" and "Aksu" (Jani's cat), but I have videos of the poems he made up. *g* He read the first one to her over a cell phone, but the "bride" they brought out was a bald guy wrapped in white towels. *l* He had to come up with a second poem, and this time he got Jennie back (even though the first poem was better than the second =P).
There was some more dancing and then the traditional bouquet and garter tosses, which were caught by two Finnish people I didn't know. Lots more dancing, including Jennie rocking out by herself and then being caught completely by surprise by the videographer who'd been filming her the entire time. *l* Finns really like to party...they got kind of mad when the dj started finishing up around 11:30pm, which was already half an hour later than he should have stopped. They finally managed to get everyone out the door by about 12:30.
So that was the end of the day! Congratulations, Jennie and Jani! ^_^