WHY A TRADITIONAL
FOLK WEDDING?

That question had an easy answer!

The groom's ethnic background is a mixture of Danish from the area of Odense, Scottish (Clan MacKay) and "Volga Germans" who settled in Russia during the reign of Catherine the Great.

The bride is 100% Norwegian and her family lines come from Romsdal, Nordfjord, Gudbrandsdal, Sør-Trondelag, Lindesnes and Buskerud.

Active in cultural and heritage organizations, the pair knew that heritage would be an important part of the wedding celebrations. We also had the following priorities:

• A wedding is a life-affirming event that should be shared by people of all ages. We wanted a celebration where both chidren and older people could have a good time.
• Family and friends are precious and no bride or groom should be asked to base their guest list choices on finances. We wanted to be able to invite anyone who wanted to come.
• We were tired of seeing the way most weddings are done today. Nothing unique, nothing different, nothing personal. It didn't "fit" us.

While researching Scottish and Norwegian wedding traditions, we discovered a number of common elements that also reflected our personal preferences. Much to our delight, we found the way to meet our priorities -- and create an unforgettable weekend for us and our family and friends -- was to create the feeling of community that was present over 100 years ago in weddings in the "old country." And that's where we started...

Even into this century, Scottish and Norwegian (as well as other European) country weddings were celebrated over the course of 3-7 days. Everyone from the village was invited and all were part of the preparations and celebrations! We followed tradition by planning a weekend full of activities that allowed our guests gather in a relaxed and festive atmosphere. Most of the activities took place within a one mile radius.

In old Norwegian wedding traditions, every day of the festivities had its own name and purpose. We followed that tradition and have borrowed the Norwegian names for those days from Nordfjord, Norway, an area where the bride has a long line of family.

Come and join us for the story of the celebration!