With the truths, emotions, and uncertainties of planning an epic lifetime experience.
Here we go...
Where and how to begin this blog was very difficult. A few years of contemplating, combined with a move to Spain and traveling abroad the past few years has prolonged the completion of our destination wedding story. We wanted to share the experience, truths, uncertainties, costs, and a few hoops we had to jump along the way while planning a destination wedding in Munich, Germany from San Diego, California...
How it all started...
One Sunday morning back in 2016 while siping on some coffee having a conversation to what really began as a Joke and a big what if, would turn into a reality in the coming year of 2017. We joked around with nonsense like, let's go to Scotland and wear kilts and gowns, or the country side in Ireland? We knew a destination wedding of that type wasn't traditional or the way its suppose to be done, so it continued as just simply fun conversations. We really had no emotional ties to any of these places, until we thought... What about Germany? Yes! Imagine Germany, a traditional Bavarian wedding! Maybe even at a Castle?! After all, you don't have to be royalty to have a fairytale wedding at a castle. We also knew enough about Germany as it was our first adventure over seas years prior. So why not? It's our day, our lives, we love Germany, the culture, intrigued with its history and above all those who follow our blog know, we live for adventures!
We knew this would be very challenging and difficult for our immediate family to even grasp and comprehend. We both are from a Hispanic family, raised in similarities, so a destination wedding where we come from was not very common. If there was a destination wedding, it was usually somewhere in Mexico, nothing wrong with Mexico, it still felt very traditional within the box to us. Why not step way outside the box to Germany? And so it began, our first foot forward, planing a little at a time. We started with a "what if" with our immediate family, just to test the waters. We advised the family, if we plan this, we absolutely wanted no wedding gifts, money, or any kind of help, but rather they use their money for themselves for a plane ticket to join us in Germany at all possible. We just kept moving forward...
How we came to choosing the Werngberg-Köblitz Castle...
The next step before moving any further was to first find a castle. Most don't know this part of our story but we actually chose and contacted the famous Neuschwanstein Castle first! Most know it as the famous castle that inspired the likes of Walt Disney for the Disney Castle, which we had visited this castle years prior and actually witnessed a wedding there, so we knew it was possible. At the time we didn't even know of the Wernberg-Köblitz Castle , let alone it's existence! We did manage to get a initial response to possibly reserve a day for a wedding at the Neuschwanstein Castle, but that was the last time we would hear from them unfortunately after numerous attempts of trying to contact the castle. We eventually would give up and move to plan B...
Plan B..?
We never had a plan B! We just jumped on our laptops, and began a search on google searching for castles near Munich, Germany. That is where we came to find a smaller, yet beautiful 13th century castle called Wernberg-Köblitz Castle, sitting high on top of a hill, hidden in the brush towering a small town below also called Wernberg-Köblitz. What appeared like a small cozy village, was known as a small market town in the district of Schwandorf in Bavaria, about two and a half hours Northeast of Munich. We continued with our research, learned about its history and we gave it another shot, and this time it was a success! We got our day reserved in writing within the first few days of contacting them, about one year prior to our wedding day. At this point, it started getting real, a wedding, our wedding at a castle in the Bavarian Alps? The nerves and anxiety would begin to kick in...
It starts to get real...
Shortly after the big announcement, came the wedding invitations, photographer, the search for that perfect dress, and all the things that follow after setting a date. But then also comes the beginning of all the criticism crashing in from family and friends. A tough pill to swallow as the criticism came from our closet loved ones, but we knew there would be many whom are very close to us, that may not make it. Because lets face it, jumping the pond and heading for Germany for a wedding is not easy, let alone cheap! The criticism is something we expected and mentally prepared for when dealing and accepting that many of our close ones would not make it unfortunately. My husbands grandparents, godfather, my sister and a brother, all who we are really close to would not attend. We both had many friends and family who are a big part of our lives, who would not make it. This by far was the hardest part for us when planning the wedding.
To give you an idea, our original invite list went from 175-200 guest to 100 invites that actually went out and only 28 people returning the rsvp. A grand total of 30 guest with my Husband and I would be in attendance. At this point in time, we thought, maybe we are in over our heads and should just cancel and have our wedding in San Diego? We had hoped 50 to 75 guest would rsvp, but we fell way short of that. After days of thinking, we decided if only 28 guest show up, its really okay, after all it's our wedding day and we were thankful and blessed to even have 28 people willing to make the trip to Germany for our wedding day. We had lots of support from family and friends, even support from those not attending, so we kept moving forward...
No Bridesmaids, Maid of Honor, Grooms Men, or a Best Man?
This was a tough decisions for us, due to us having no idea who would eventually make it out to Germany for the wedding, even if they did rsvp. We decided not to put any pressure or obligation on any of our guest, so we opted not to have any traditional wedding roles. We also were asked by the castle if we wanted a traditional American wedding or a traditional German wedding? But of course we chose a Bavarian German wedding, with my husband wearing the traditional Lederhosen attire, formal wool coat and all.
I went with the traditional brides dress, but the rest would be all German traditions. So now with a German wedding being planned, our guest had no idea what was coming! Then again neither did we! In the end, we would simply be grateful to all our guest who join us.
A Photographer who is now Family...
Next task was finding a photographer, but with so many options and even video, where do we begin? Most websites for photographers were in German language only, a bit intimidating. We came across a photographer with great reviews called Carito Photography. We reached out, got a response instantly, and in English, even better! She asked to Skype with us to meet and get to know us and our story. She would even offer help with anything we may need with translating to other vendors as Carito speaks like 10 different languages! Maybe I'm exaggerating but she is fluent in Spanish, German, English, French, and I think even Portuguese. Just mind boggling! We were lucky to have met Carito, which to the day we still catch up with her for a Beer when in Munich. An incredible human being who is now considered family.
Help arrives...
My Sister in Law would offer us help planning as well as she was living in Japan at the time and being hours ahead of Germany in the time zone, it may be very helpful with communicating and relaying information to and from the Castle and vendors a lot quicker. She would eventually lose her mind by the time the wedding day arrived from all the stress and literally be drunk for 72 hours straight at the wedding. True story.
Finalizing the last few details...
A few months prior to the wedding day, we were sorting out the last few details like the hair dresser, make up, and my bouquet, all services and vendors the castle would provide. Now the fact that I, the bride, had no idea who was going to be doing my hair or make up was pretty frightening...
But all hair and make up would turn out just fine. I did have trouble communicating with the stylist as she only spoke German, but she was the sweetest! I did have Carito there, our photographer, who helped with translating. This is where I saw her awesomeness, when my Mother in Law who spoke Spanish was up for her hair and make up, Carito stepped in and spoke perfect Spanish to my mother in Law, then translated back in perfect German to the hair dresser, then back to perfect English to me, amazing!
Now moving forward to more important things, like transportation for our guest from Munich to the Castle, and preparing for different arrival times for our guest at the castle. This was crucial as we had some guest arriving on different days prior to the wedding day. We worried more about everything going right for our guest than our personal wedding needs. Our guest would have traveled too far for things to go wrong for them, its just the mentality we had through out our wedding planning.
We would have guest from France and Germany, and a few guest from the states, who took advantage of the trip for some exploring and traveled to other spots in Europe on the way to our wedding. With different arrival times and little to no English communication at the Castle, we were responsible for making sure their reservations and rooms were ready as they arrived. In the end, there was a few rooms that got mixed up anyways, with guest of four or more stuck in rooms for two guest and vise versa, guest of two getting bigger suites! Just one of many things that went wrong. Some were sorted and some were not, so sorry to those guest.
This 13th century castle which was converted into a hotel in 1953 was an incredible site with stone room walls, a guardroom and even a dungeon hall. All rooms and halls were different with no two rooms being the same. The rooms were elegantly furnished with age-old artistry with modern comforts. From our Princess suite to the duchess suite, each castle room gave you that medieval feel out of a fairytale movie.
Our Princess suite
A culinary experience for our guest...
The food menu and alcohol which should have been a fairly simple task was of course a difficult task for us. We couldn't exactly go on a drive for the weekend to the castle and taste and sample the menu options given. With 7,000 miles between us and the castle, and translating words on the menu from German to English, like König Fisch Carpaccio mit Charentais Melone und Schalotten marinade, we had no idea what we chose, let alone what to even expect on arrival. We later would come to find out the restaurant in the castle called Kastell Restaurant is actually a Michelin "two" star restaurant! Who would have known that food enthusiast from all over the world come here to dine for a culinary experience!
The rehearsal dinner plans would be finalized via email but no idea what part of the castle the dinner would be held at other than just the name of that part of the castle, and a few pictures which would turn out to be in the dungeon! It's just things we couldn't simply look up and clearly find online. We also had the task of hiring our own marriage officiant, all done over Skype interviews and email.
We also apparently checked off on three days of open bar service, 24 hrs a day! This was our mistake once again due to the fact all that was going on leading up to the wedding, things like a 24 hr open bar slipped through the cracks. All was ever so clear on the final billing, just laying down some truths how mistakes happen. None the less, it didn't matter, our guest who made it, deserved that and more! Like the Germans say... Prost!!!
A word of advice for those who never been to Germany, beer is cheaper than water! If you ask our family and friends, who have joined us in prior years at the Oktoberfest in Munich, they will also tell you, there is something about German Pilsners that is so good! The days spent at the castle, Pints of Augustiner-Bräu were served daily from sunrise to sunset, by far one of our favorite beers in Germany. Anywhere you were standing at the castle there were waiters and waitresses ready to serve you a cold pint, Good times indeed!
A close call, just weeks prior to the wedding day ...
About three weeks prior to the big day, we lost all contact with the castle, with emails and phone calls to the castle never returned. My Sister in Law who was seven hours ahead of Germany in Japan was trying to contact the castle as well with no luck. We just figured all is fine and we should relax and not overreact, as our wedding coordinator at the castle is probably just busy.
About two weeks prior to our departure, we finally got an email response that all is okay! Apparently our wedding coordinator assigned to us for the past year was no longer working there. The castle staff would reassure us all is fine and our wedding day is still reserved and set for Sept 20th of 2018... 2018!.. Wait!.. What!.. We are set to get married in less than three weeks! Sept 20th of 2017! Two zero, one seven! Not next year! We thought, could this really be happening? The castle staff told us they would get back to us within the following business day and let us know if they have an opening for us on the 20th of September, which was in three weeks! We were already passed the point of no return with no refunds, with a deposit of 50% of the grand total already done, wired months prior! We couldn't help but to freak out a bit. The following day, after a full day of suspense, the castle confirmed they went ahead and reserved the day for us. We laugh about this now, but back then, at the time, when you have 28 people with a purchased plane ticket to Germany, it is not a laughing matter.
Traveling with the family...
The majority of our guest had never travelled outside the US or Mexico. We had our hands full with making sure they all arrived okay and their well being was okay. From the airport, to luggage, then jumping on the Munich trains, which has an incredible transit system, where its 3 seconds off and 3 seconds on and train is gone, literally! We had to make sure our parents, along with our friends were jumping on the trains with us and nobody left behind. Their first twelve hour flight overseas, combined with Munich's S-Bahn trains, they would be exhausted of course, but if you ask our parents and friends, they would do it all over again!
Arrived in Munich, Germany...
The day was finally here, our arrival in Germany. Most of us met at our go to hotel in Munich, the Motel one, and if ever in Germany, this is a very nice chain of hotels, fairly priced and has a 24 hour lounge and bar... sold! I wouldn't stay anywhere else. The rest of our guest would eventually venture in from different parts of Europe with some finding themselves in their own adventure just trying to get to the castle. Their stories alone were quit the adventure.
As for my husband and I, this Munich trip instantly felt different, due to the millions of emotions running through our heads. The butterflies, anxiety, excitement and lots joy on the days leading up to the wedding. At times even disbelief that we have gotten this far! We literally got the family to fly overseas! Once away from our family and friends inside our hotel room, we could not help but think we are about to embark on a journey to a castle in a few days to a place we have never ever seen, only pictures through a website! What if its just a small building painted as a castle, we started to think, all the what if's? There was no turning back now, we just hoped for the best. We just felt in our hearts, it would all turn out fine, with crossed fingers of course, we enjoyed the moment!
Rental vans for transportation to the Castle...
This part only happened due to my husband and his friends wanting to drive on Germanys autobahn. We could have just had a private company drive us all to the castle. But I figured what the heck, what better then a bunch of us caravanning in two big vans in groups of ten, driving over 100 mph on the autobahn? And one more small sedan with three more of our friends. Driving in the city of Munich was tough at first, I will admit within minutes of leaving the car rental place, my husband ran a red light out of confusion with the stop light lay out, trains and seven way diagonal intersections. But eventually with trial and error we got the hang of it, as the roads in Germany are fairly easy to grasp. The autobahn in Germany is such a well maintained highway, nothing close to it in the states. Driving 100+ mph is really the norm there. At times at 90-100 mph, we were still getting passed constantly, but we kept it safe under 95 mph, most the time. As for the drive to the castle, it was simply beautiful, with a green scenery and snow top mountains across the horizon. The fields of huge beer hops across the countryside were stunning!
Arrived at the town and castle of Wernberg-Köblitz...
We first arrived at the small market town of Wernberg-Köblitz which sits below the castle. As we pass through in our caravan, we can't help to notice how deserted the town is. A very bosom town with a population of just under 5,800 people. As we make our way to the castle, we notice most business were closed with only a bakery and a gas station in service. We begin to get the feel of a scenario out of a scary movie, sensing people staring at us through the curtains of their bedroom windows as we drove through. After all, we definitely did stick out like a sore thumb, but it was all our imagination as we later would find the people of the town were really friendly and welcoming people. A very intimate and peaceful town that looks up to the castle.
We began to make our way up the hill to the castle with a sense of urgency building in hope that this castle is real! As we begin to make our way up the hill, we begin to cross small wooden bridges and gardens as we got closer and closer...
Upon arrival at the castle, we instantly notice it is real! The pictures we had seen actually did no justice. But beyond the castle being real, there is really no words to explain the kind of hospitality and first class service the castle provided, absolutely amazing service. As we arrived you can't help but to see their well deserved 5 star gold plaque at the entrance. Standing next to it was four hotel porters waiting to unload all the luggage from the vans and welcomed us into the castle. The service provided from the castle staff is something we had never experienced. The extraordinary customer service the castle has is world class. We then realized we may have chosen the perfect castle after all, we suddenly felt an instant relief.
The hospitality the castle provided is what really made the wedding all so special. My husband once stepped outside our suite one morning with a small luggage bag on hand, on his way to my In-laws room, when a member of the hotel staff yelled from the quart yard below,"Hold it sir!" and sprinted across the courtyard then up one of the tower spiral wood staircases towards our suite, and offered to carry the bag for my husband. The look on my husbands face was priceless!
Our guest would also have the same experience during their stay at the Castle. No matter the need, the castle staff was always there in a blink of an eye. Even guest who would arrive lost miles down the road at a local train station in the late hours of the night, the castle would immediately send out a vehicle for pick up, something we were truly thankful for.
The rehearsal dinner...
The early morning arrival at the castle would also be the day of our rehearsal dinner later that evening at a wine cellar room. We had about 20 of our 28 guest attend as the remainder guest were still making their way to the castle from France and some relatives in route from their current travels around Europe. With only 20 guest and tables set up for 30, just met more food and beverages for all!
This evening would turn out to be a night we would never forget. A small intimate gathering inside a stoned wall cellar and a part of the castle where the tale says the castle ghosts are known to wander. Only a few handful of pics were taken this evening as this was one of those perfect evenings where not very many bothered to reach for their phones, only reaching for another pint of beer filled with speeches from our guest. You can even see in a picture above where in all honesty I was simply crying tears of joy, yet spiced with German pilsners with my future Sister in Laws. It was at this point, my husband and I knew we had pulled off gathering our closest loved ones for a celebration at a castle in Germany. It was also at this point, we came to terms that what ever went wrong at tomorrow's wedding, wouldn't matter, we would have not traded this experience and evening for anything.
A little something our guest never knew, until now...
At about midnight, my husband and I would say our goodnights to our guest and head for bed as we knew we had a long day tomorrow, after all it was only the wedding day! We wanted to be fresh and hang over free! Just being honest as we had a long day ahead of us. But what our guest never knew is that we told the castle staff to close down the open bar quietly and sneaky as we also wanted our guest to be fresh for the wedding as this evening could get out of hand quickly...
Well that didn't happen! The following morning at sunrise we had some guest drinking through sunrise. We had guest walking back from outside the castle grounds who wandered off into the town below to find a pub of some sort and who knows what else! What ever happened that night, stayed at the castle amongst our guest! We later found out, soon after my husband and I went to bed, my soon to be Brother in Law, would open up his own tab to keep the party going, which would later be a nice 600€ tab owed prior to his check out, about $670 US dollars. A Prost to my Brother in Law!
The Wedding Day...
September 20th, 2017 had arrived, the day we started planning 18 months ago while having coffee one day was finally here. Although just the evening prior we agreed not to panic and try and relax, we still could not help but have the normal wedding jitters. This is where most the shenanigans planned started to go a bit sideways. We had our good friends from France still making their journey to the castle from Marseille. We had cousins who woke us up to their texts in the early morning, who had just arrived at the train stop a few miles away. Needing help on how to arrive at the castle, combined with other drunk guest from the rehearsal dinner wandering into the castle grounds from God knows where in the morning hours of the wedding day is how the wedding day began! The wedding day jitters were starting to explode!
The hair stylist, make up artist and the photographer arrived first thing around 8am. My Mother, Mother in Law, and my Sister in Laws were all going to get their hair and make up done after me. While I was getting my hair done, one of my cousins, who knows a little something about style and swagger, walks into the room still drunk and starts blabbing away at the hair stylist on how my hair should be properly done! Poor girl! He would not stop criticizing her! Oh my God, was he out of control, and I lost it! I truly love him but I had to kick him the F@#$ out! So he calmly returned to his room and passed out. Once my hair and make up were close to being done, none of my family was in sight for their hair and make up session, as they were all in their rooms still sleeping or hung over. Everybody was in their rooms hurting and or just exhausted from the night prior. After all, some had just gone to bed just a few hours ago. But with the hair stylist and make up artist waiting, I sent my husband off to knock on everybody's door to wake up! Only a few responded, most were simply still tired, jet lagged, drunk and passed out.
Eventually my Mother along with my In laws would arrive, half asleep, tired eyes, and pillow lines across their faces, but made it in. My Mother and Sister in Law would assist me with my dress and accessories. My other Sister in Law would continue to just get drunk where she left off the night before! No Joke. Now remember this was a traditional German wedding, so we did not know what was next once ready as far as the order of the wedding ceremonies.
Having no idea what order the ceremonies are like the procession, pictures or even the first meet? We never rehearsed any kind of ceremonial events! It simply added to the ever going adventure we were currently living, as we just awaited instructions from the castle staff as the day carried on.
Once my husband and I were dressed and ready, we were instructed to head over to the castles gardens and the moat below the castles cross bridge for the first look and photos.
The moat and gardens surrounding the castle are filled with trees, beautiful green brush and flowers through out the moat. Another thing our guest did not know is we originally were suppose to have the ceremony here at the moat but with rain in the forecast and drizzle through out the day, the ceremony was moved inside the castle to the Kaminsaal Zimmer which translates to the Fireplace Room in English.
The first look and photos, really gave us a moment before the wedding ceremonies began to connect with each other and take a deep breath and soak in the moment. It was precious time well spent, just the two of us.
We had a good hour together at the first look together with our photographer before the start of the ceremony. This was perfect as it bought our guest time to get ready who meanwhile were still coping with jet lag and hang overs. By this time now our guest list was complete, including our friends from Marseille, France who were the last to arrive.
The Wedding Ceremony...
Soon after the first look, about 20 minutes prior to the wedding ceremony, we were instructed to head back up to the castle to prepare for the ceremonies. I was told to wait in our princess suite along with my Mother and Brother, who would join me and walk me down the aisle. My husband would wait with our guest and the wedding officiator at a higher part of the castle in the Kaminsaal room where our ceremony was moved to.
Another close call...
About 10 minutes prior to the ceremony starting, which I found this out days after the wedding. Apparently only about five of our guest were ready at their seats as the rest were still asleep or just still getting ready! We thought our guest would have plenty of time but again, that rehearsal dinner took its toll on our guest! I was never told any of this, so I wouldn't freak out. My husband would later tell me Olivar calmly asked him, "Um...Yorgen, where are all your guest?" My husband "Jorge", but "Yorgen" in German with all that was going on, didn't notice everyone was missing until the wedding officiator asked and he turned around to empty seats! He once again ran to knock on our guest rooms and yell out for everyone that they had minutes before the ceremony starts! They somehow all made it in within minutes on time, hopping on one foot, putting on heels, shoes, coats, attire and all!
And another close one and a funny hiccup...
Before walking down the aisle, we were suppose to have the song Paradise from Coldplay run, but um...yea, we totally forgot to bring a iPhone cable to connect the speaker, let alone download the song as there was no Wifi in that part of the castle to make matters worse. This happened five minutes before I was suppose to begin walking in. One of my husbands nephews managed to some how download it on his phone and was able to play the song seconds before walking in by connecting numerous cables together. Once we got our cue to walk in, nobody noticed, but My Mother, Brother, and myself tried to walk in side by side at the same time through the narrow doorway and we crashed and smashed each other in the entrance and almost all fell like dominoes! I don't think anyone noticed? But who knows?
My husbands youngest nephew, the ring bearer would walk in before us, also wearing the lederhosen attire. This was a day all brides wait for their whole lives, and from what I can tell you as all the brides out there can relate, is that it's so difficult to really enjoy the moment as it goes by so fast. With so many happy emotions running through our minds through out the wedding day, you almost wish you can slow down time, as the ceremony felt like it happened in ten seconds. You have to breathe and relax, and look around and embrace the moment.
Our ceremony as you can see was very small yet surrounded by a extraordinary group of guest that are all close to us. Although so many loved ones were missing, it was as perfect as it was going to get having traveled half way around the world for our wedding.
It was official! Bonded together and suddenly all the butterflies that come in hand with preparing for a wedding disappeared and left with only joy in the air, together with all our guest of honor, we were truly blessed to have those special 28 with us on this day...
We gathered outside on the castles balcony for a few pictures, then headed down the castles tower staircase to the Burglounge Bar for cocktail hour, a much needed drink indeed!
Cocktails and Hors d'oeuvre at the Burglounge...
From the wedding ceremony we made way to another part of the castle, a beautiful lounge and bar in the lower level of the castle, the Burglounge Bar.
The champagne flutes started flowing, along with the hors d'oeuvres making their way through, which were quite the delicacy. I only mention this because once again we found ourselves having no idea what would be served for hors d'oeuvres. The hors d'oeuvres options back when we were planning, was also difficult to understand the ingredients thru email or pictures, even with translation. So we just left this part up to the castle. We do recall one of them being topped with lemon sea foam but all were delicious.
From the cocktail shenanigans we all headed out to the castles courtyard for some Crossbow target shooting. We kept going with the castles guidance and roamed to different parts of the castle on to the next shenanigans!
Crossbows and Pilsners...
With the ceremony behind us, appetizers and flutes of champagne flowing, the celebrations started to take off a bit, with pints of beers following closely behind us as we roamed the castle. We just continued lounging around the courtyard celebrating as we waited for our turns for a shot at the target!
What our guest do not know until now is that the crossbow shooting was never part of our wedding plans. We were suppose to have a toast high above the castle with a 15 minute firework display in the later evening, but due to the time of year and the annual Oktoberfest at full swing, the firework vendors had bigger and better things going on then to be at a small wedding. We tried hard to make this possible, but in the end that idea got shot down and we moved to a crossbow session.
Off to the Castles Dungeon hall...
Now with a German traditional wedding, we were guided to a Dungeon room for the cake cutting first! prior to dinner? We just kept going with the flow, as our guest would look at us in question what was next? But their guess was as good as ours! We would be directed to head below the ground level of the castle to another beautiful stoned walled hall with armored knights. A medieval dungeon turned modern for cutting the Wedding cake!
Just a perfect atmosphere for the cake cutting. A room with extraordinary deserts, cake pops, and pints of pilsners still flowing! The castle staff never let us see our glasses half full, always a full pint!
The wedding ceremonies kept flowing! Not knowing the order of the wedding ceremonies, our guest would begin to do their speeches, after all this was our 57th toast! It was an absolute blast! Speeches would come from many as they were our wedding court of honor.
We would continue celebrating and exploring the different parts of the castle as they day went on. If we could do it again, we would still go with a traditional German wedding. Because Culture rules!
Another hiccup that could have been costly...
Yet another one our guest didn't know happened. This dungeon room in the early morning had a buffet breakfast completely set up. My husband had taken a stroll in the early morning to check out the castles amenities and ran into this dungeon hall and noticed a full buffet set up with staff ready to serve. He walked in and asked where he can purchase a voucher or something to grab a bite to eat. The staff kindly let him know this is all for your wedding and your guest and your guest were suppose to be here an hour ago?! My husband took a step back in confusion, as this was not part of our plan. This was brought up at one point in the months of planning but this would eventually be scratched off as we figured this would have to be very early in the morning, the day of the wedding. We thought with so much going on, it would be too much for our guest. We preferred to give them more time to relax and get room service, instead of running around with festivities in the early morning. Which as you can see was a good call, because during this time, our guest were still sleeping or simply passed out drunk, almost arriving late to a 2pm ceremony!
The castle would clear it all up, as this was something that must have happened back when we switched wedding coordinators at the castle months prior. A potentially costly issue that can happen with wedding planning. The castle understood and made the necessary adjustments. That was a close one!
A few more toasts and maybe another pint before heading to the next part of the Castle, the Fürstensaal Zimmer for dinner.
On to the Fürstensaal room for Dinner...
It was time to make our way back up the castle tower and up the stairway towards the Fürstensaal room for dinner. To no surprise, it was another beautiful, well decorated medieval room yet uniquely different from the other rooms. Every castle room and hall would tell its own unique story.
The table settings and arrangements for the dinner would all be handled through email and pictures. Unlike the dinner menu, the decor was fairly easy to translate, figure out and arrange accordingly.
The Kastell Restaurant chefs would go on to serve and prepare a few dishes at a time on what would be an incredible four course meal. From Beef fillets with leek and cipolline to King fish carpaccio to ricotta ravioli with mushrooms and parmesan foam and more. Each course consisted of nicely presented dishes with intense taste notes is how we could best describe the experience.
By the time dinner got here, which was much needed with all the drinking that went on through out the day, the vibes once again started to escalade at a rapid pace! A dinner evening filled with more speeches along with our thank you speech to our guest. But one thing we should mention, that again our guest didn't know until now, is that my husband would go on and completely mix his whole speech up due to the fact that he was focusing on his breathing and emotions, to not tear up! So he cut it to just I love you and thank you before he was remotely even close to beginning or finishing his actual speech!
After dinner we would head back to the Kaminsaal room where our ceremony took place, but this time converted into a dance hall. The unfortunate thing about this part for the blog is, at this point in time, all cameras, cell phones, and pictures would come to a halt, including our photographer who would join our family and friends in celebration of our big day. Our DJ would actually arrived late with an adventure of his own trying to get to the castle. The poor DJ would end up running up and down the castles towers setting up his music equipment. The Dj who would go on to do an awesome job, would later join the party as we would take over the music with an iPod and playlist once the tequila bottles would start to flow in. The rest of the evening would go onto be an incredible night filled with epic memories of a wedding in a castle that we had pulled off!
The End...
The last few post wedding shenanigans and a thank you...
The following day my husband would meet with the castle management for a goodbye and of course, the final billing. We would all make our way back to the city of Munich for the Oktoberfest. Our last gathering before everyone would say they're fair wells and depart our own ways, wether it was back home or off to explore another country, but first.. One last Prost!!!
My husband and I would continue traveling through Europe for the next few weeks on our honeymoon. Then a few minor aftermath bumps would come after, like paying our DJ who notified us one year later, he never got paid! No clue what happened there, none the less, we wired payment over of course. Thank you to our DJ for his trust in us.
For those of you who may think a destination wedding is for you, we thought about disclosing cost of the wedding, as we are in NO way royalty or celebrities! Let's just say, if you are thinking of a destination wedding, we can definitely tell you that anywhere in the world your dream destination may be, its all possible! Those closest to you may not agree, which can be the toughest challenge. If your loved ones will be funding your wedding, we don't have an answer for you there, but if that's not your scenario, do remember, it's your day, not theirs, dream big and go big!
There will always be the stress that comes with wedding planning, even if its in your own backyard! So why not embrace the stress and go for it! It will all fall into place and if it doesn't, who cares! Our guest never noticed anything and everything that went wrong as they were too busy on their own adventure, grasping the journey they made arriving somewhere in Germany at a 13th century castle.
This wedding adventure is what began the conversations of us moving to Europe which became a realty and triggered a ripple affect for the next 3 years, which eventually led to our wedding guest who never traveled prior to the wedding, who are now constantly traveling on their own adventures around the world. Then soon after came our travel blog and 26 more countries and a move to Spain! Taking a step outside the box has manifested an epic journey.
Thank you...
We truly appreciate and thank you for reading our journey on planning a destination wedding. We decided to create and finish this blog during the Covid-19 pandemic for a good positive read during these difficult times filled with uncertainty and negative news across the globe. Travel is the last thing on peoples mind during these times, so instead of the next travel story, let's blog about a destination wedding adventure!
We currently have friends who were planning a destination wedding set for the coming months and have now hit a wall with their wedding day unfortunately. We know in the end, it will all turn out fine for them. Together with the rest of the world, we will beat this crisis, wishing everyone love and health.
A special thanks to our family and friends who couldn't make the journey for their continued support and love, and last but not least, thank you to our 28 guest who made the journey to Germany. Love you all!
We leave you with a link below of a video our good friend created, who documented his first journey overseas along with the wedding, shared on his YouTube channel...