Okay, so we got hitched, started the party off with lots of kissingby all and sundry and have heard a lot of speeches.
What’s next? Time to dance? Nope! The serving staff are handing round papers and ourhardworking Toastmasterhas announced the first sing-a-long!
Now this is the part of the wedding celebrations when the grannies, aunties, sisters, mums and mother-in-laws are totally in their element. For weeks (sometimes months…) they’ve been hard at work writing funny, sometimes embarrassing but always sentimental rhyming ditties to be sung by the whole wedding company. And every copy of each song (80 copies for, say, 80 guests) is carefully printed on coloured paper, rolled up and tied with ribbon, dotted with heart-shaped stickers or folded into hearts or origami animals. Hey, these crazy Danes are crazy creative!
If you’re not feeling quite so creative or are having writer’s block, there are selvfølgelig plenty of online companies who’ll write a song for you. But the best songs are, of course, the really personal ones which mention pets, anecdotes of what the bride did when she was 3 years old or the groom’s stag night. Anything goes, as long as it rhymes! 😉
Naturally we need a familiar melody. Which is usually “Fra England til Skotland“, “Det hammer, hammer fedt“, “Yesterday“, “I en kælder sort som kul” or “Der bor en bager“. Don’t worry, even if you aren’t Danish, once you’ve been to a couple of weddings, you’ll be singing along like a native. Just remember to keep your glass filled, because there will be plenty of “Skål!”s between verses…
Join me next time when the happy couple finally takes the floor!
Diane 🙂
Oh, Diane! You cannot imagine how much I've needed a series of posts like these!
I am myself part-time wedding planning and it is crazy how hard it is to pull out a wedding!
Happen to have any tips to share? ;P
Love every one of your posts, keep it up!
Hilsner,
Natalia
More on Danish weddings coming soon, watch this space! 🙂