Current mood:	nostalgic
Current music:	Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World

My Nephew's Tall, Elegant Hungarian Wedding
Darby and Agnes were married in a small town named Komarom about an hour outside Budapest. We rode there on a chartered double-decker bus. Komaron has this neat fort disguised as a hill, which we saw bits of, but obviously couldn't tour. Another thing on my list to go back and see. The church was a lovely yellow and cream confection with a tall tower and a big clock. A huge spread had been laid on in the vestry. We sat and chatted until it was time for the wedding. The inside of the church was simple and elegant with smooth cream wall and a beautifully carved pulpit. The reason they were being married in this church was that Agnes' grandfather had been the preacher in this church.

Darby looked more elegant than I'd ever seen him look before, wearing a beautifully tailored suit in perhaps the only shade of brown that a brown suit can look good in. Agnes looked stunning in a white sheath dress and a beautiful hairdo (which remained immaculate until late in the evening!) holding a sheath of white calla lilies. The wedding was entirely in Hungarian. Hopefully Darby didn't promise to do anything he couldn't follow through on. After the wedding we got to throw actual rice, which I found a charming throwback. The flower girl. a little blonde kid who looked about four, threw petals and then carefully picked them all up and threw them some more. When that ceased to appeal, she threw her skirt up over her head. Meanwhile, Darby and Agnes stood on the steps and were thoroughly congratulated and photographed. Darby's mother was smiling so hard I thought the top of her head would come loose.

We then retired to the vestry and ate pastries and cakes and sipped champagne. More pictures were taken. Around sunset we boarded the bus, went back to the hotel to rest up for an hour. Then we had the reception. It was in this incredible building overlooking the Danube with high vaulted ceilings. First came a seven course meal with four different wines. A wonderful clarinettist and a delightfully mad guitarist played during dinner. The guitarist actually bowed his guitar, and then, he turned it over and played it like a drum with brushes. He used a bottleneck, not on the frets but down where you pluck. It was amazing!

After dinner, and toasts, there was this lovely ceremony. Darby and Agnes sat side by side in front of a low table. Everyone placed a lit candle on the table, and gave the bride and groom a wish. It was lovely. And then they played Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World. (this was totally unfair!) I dissolved into tears. It was just about the most beautiful thing I've ever seen done at a wedding.

Following that, there was dancing and cake. I folded about 1AM, feeling like a wimp. Agnes's hair STILL looked immaculate. Wow! I understand that there was a late-night buffet laid on after I left. Honestly, I don't know how anyone managed to eat another bite after that amazing dinner.