It’s our Danish Copper Wedding today…12 and a ½ years of wedded bliss!
For the non-mathematicians amongst you, that means we got married on 11 April 1998. (If you’d like a – sort of – explanation of this quaint Danish tradition…I already wrote one for you, it’s here.)
Instead of celebrating the traditional way – a formal dinner for family and close friends – we’ve decided (is this beginning to sound familiar?!) to do our own thing… At the end of this month we’re throwing a big ‘let your hair down’ party with retro food, a DJ and – the icing on our Copper Wedding cake – a live performance by (our own personal favourites) Denmark’s finest rock band “Magtens Korridorer”. Just because we’ve been married for so long, doesn’t mean we have to act like it too..? And – just like at our wedding in Scotland – standing on the chairs will be allowed! 🙂
Have a marvelous married Monday!
PS: Those of you familiar with Magtens Korridorer will no doubt remember that their very first hit was “Lorte Parforhold“. Rather apt in the circumstances? [ I have refrained from translating the title for fear of offending my more genteel readers…. Use ‘google translate’ at your own risk! 😛 ]
DH and I have started the detailed planning for our Copper Anniversary in October. How many years have we been hitched? Em, that would be twelve and a half… For those not familiar with this quaint Danish custom of celebrating wedding anniversaries 12 years and 6 months after the fact, it’s all explained in a previous blogpost – Those Crazy Danes (Part 4)
The celebrations will include a big party and, of course, a professional DJ. And, as DH iswe’re paying, we get to choose what he plays – he he! I’m putting together a list of essential tracks, which I’ll add to my Flylady Copper Anniversary Control Journal. Lots of stuff from the 90s (when DH and I first met, aww), new hits and, naturally, some oldies but goldies. Guaranteed floorfillers, each and every one… But, as this list is only a starting point, please, please won’t you feel free to chime in? Here are the first tunes that popped into my little head. Errors and exceptions (and country music) excluded! 😉
* * * * * * * * *
War – Low Rider
Gil Scott Heron – The Bottle
Curtis Mayfield – Move on Up
Rose Royce – Car Wash
Sugar Hill Gang – Rapper’s Delight
John Paul Young – Love is in the Air
Oliver Cheatham – Saturday Night
Blondie – Heart of Glass, Atomic
Dead or Alive – You Spin Me Round
Black Box – Ride on Time
Bizarre Inc – Playing with Knives
C+C Music Factory – Gonna Make you Sweat
The KLF – 3am Eternal
Snap – The Power
Depeche Mode – Enjoy the Silence, Personal Jesus
Crystal Waters – Gypsy Woman
Moby – Go
Edwyn Collins – Girl Like You
Dee-Lite – Groove is in the Heart
Inner City – Good Life
Faithless – Insomnia
Bech – Loser
Oasis – Cigarettes + Alcohol
New Order – Blue Monday
Everything But the Girl – Missing
Stereo Mcs – Connected
Culture Beat – Mr Vain
Haddaway – What is Love
De la Soul – Me Myself and I
Blur – Boys and Girls
EMF – Unbelievable
Deee-Lite – Groove is in the Heart
Corona – Rhythm of the Night
Michael Jackson – Thriller, Billie Jean
House of Pain – Jump Around
Jamiroquai – Cosmic Girl
George Michael – Star People, Flawless
Mylo vs. Miami Sound Machine – Dr Pressure
Kent – FF
Justin Timberlake – Sexy Back
Madonna – Vogue, Hung Up
Beyoncé – Crazy in Love
Blackeyed Peas – I Gotta Feeling
Calvin Harris – Acceptable in the 80s
Calvin Harris + Dizzee Rascal – Dance Wiv Me
David Guetta (feat. Kelly Rowland) – When Love Takes Over
David Guetta – Memories
Agnes – Release Me
* * * * * * * *
Have a fabulous Friday…see you on the dancefloor – mind you don’t step on my handbag! 😉
My (darling) sister-in-law asked me yesterday for the date of our Copper Wedding because she wanted to keep her calendar free for the big celebrations we should (she inferred) be planning. So how long have DH and I been married if we are going to celebrate our Copper Anniversary? Well, if you google it, you could choose between 7 or 22 years in the USA, 9 years in Scotland or 32 years if you live in France….
But you do know that those crazy Danes love to do their own thing, don’t you? They don’t worry about what others think and are very liberal. And thank the heavens for that – that’s one of the best things about living here! 🙂 One of the first countries in the world to have a woman minister, Nina Bang, in the government of 1924, one of the first countries to decriminalise homosexuality in 1933, one of the first countries to allow women to vote at local elections in 1908 with full suffrage in 1915. And…the only country in the world to celebrate a Copper Wedding after 12½ years of marriage. 12 and a what? Where on earth did they get that ½ from?!
Cynics might suggest that, as one in three Danes get divorced, there isn’t much chance of actually making it to 25 years and holding a Silver Wedding party. So they just divided it in half. Pardon? Whatever the reason for it, the Copper Wedding is a ‘Big Thing’ in Denmark and not to be taken lightly. Family and friends expect you to throw a Party. Hire a venue kind of party. And will sneak in to your garden during the night and put up an archway (but just half!) of flowers around your front door. And expect to be invited in for breakfast at 7am on the morning of the glorious 12½ years. Yikes, Shaggy, I’d better make a Flylady Control Journal and get planning…and hope DH is writing another good speech.
DH and I got married on 11 April 1998. So officially our Copper Wedding will be 11 October 2010. Mark it in your diaries now! 😉
