Danish Weddings (Part One)

Yay, it’s wedding season!
As my regular readers will know, I’m constantly amused and amazed by the quirky
traditions of those crazy Danes. From hitting
barrels with baseball bats to sending secret snowdrop letters, tradesmen
removing their shoes and marcipan pigs… And Danish weddings are no exception –
hooray!

Danish wedding anno 1975

Now, unfortunately, statistics say that over 40% of Danish marriages are
doomed to end in divorce. But, hey, many Danes go on to remarry – so let’s look
on the bright side…even more weddings!

So where does it all start? Well, you can either get married in the Danish
church (which also, by the way, performs same-sex marriages – halleluja! – an idea supported by a large
majority of Danes) or at a civil cermony (usually at your local town hall, but
can also be your back garden or at a hotel). And you can –
selvfølgelig – also choose to go the whole hog and do both!

The ceremony itself is short and sweet. Forget all those toe-curling
Hollywood film scenes where the bride and groom bumble through their marriage
vows… There are no lines to learn! Those practical Danes get straight to the
point. The priest or mayor will give a little speech then ask you two
questions:

• Do you take Morten/Christina to be your husband/wife?
• Will you love and cherish him/her until death do you part?

And if you reply “Ja” (Yes) to both questions, you’re married –
simple as that!

Oh, and don’t be surprised if the flower girls or ushers turn out to be the
bride and groom’s own kids. It’s very common for the Danes to get married after they have kids, not before.
Sometimes they even kill two birds with one stone and have a joint wedding/baby
christening…

Join me next time when we’ll be getting ready to celebrate!

Diane