Prague Trip Report, Part 4

Above - Marianna's bridesmaid, Misha.

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Thursday – “Big Fifth day” “Cinco de Mayo”
This was the wedding day for Carol Anne's brother, "Philee" and Marianna Křenova in New Town Hall. We crowded into a ground-floor room before being led up the stairs and arranged into a procession; wound up sitting on the groom’s (left) side just behind Phil & Barbara. The marriage was in old vaulted council chamber. The mayor read (in Czech; his remarks were periodically translated) that Philee and Marianna would keep their last names but any children would have the last name Seeger (Carol Anne has a different memory of the translation of the mayor’s remarks). Many cameras were present; I think most viewing angles were well covered; I think some people who didn’t have still or video cameras covered the wedding by shooting fotos from cell phones.

Wedding details:
Dorothy Seeger writes:
Dear Pat,

Thank you for this colorful rendition of your visit to Prague. I get the impression that it was mostly wining and dining, or beering and dining. It sounds like one continuous party.

You didn't tell me important details about the wedding! What did Marianna wear? Philee? Did she have a bouquet? What? Were there any bridesmaids? Did they have a cake or do they not do that in Cesky? How about flowers? Decorations? Come on! It is a wedding!

Dorothy,
They wore clothes at the wedding -- c'mon, I'm a guy. Okay, Marianna wore something with a dark open-back dress and a sort of a plum/purple vest/coat sort of thing and a white scarf thingy and Philee and Jerry had beigeish tuxedo sorts of things and the mayor was in a nice business suit and most of the ladies were in dresses and most of the guys were in suits and a picture of Marianna & Philee at the wedding is on their website (Feugo's place). I think everybody also wore shoes. Mine were slightly scuffed cordovan leather with brown shoelaces.

Misha, the red-headed girl whose name I was embarrassed to not remember was Marianna's bridesmaid and Jerry Seeger was the best man and about twenty people were taking pictures.

The cake was cut and part of it was consumed at the family wedding dinner right after the wedding and nearby at the Novemesto Restaurace (new town restaurant); what was left over was brought to the party at the Pivovarsky Dum that evening. Czech specialty foods were served at the wedding dinner; I probably don't qualify as enough of a "foodie" to describe them. "They put food in front of me and I ate it." -- at that rate I don't qualify as even a crude gourmand, much less gourmet.

I was one of the few short-term American (Spolynich Statu) visitors who enjoyed the goulash at the Pivovarsky Dum. Of course, some folks were still quite sated from the lunch/dinner at the Novemesto restaurace.

The day after the wedding, Marianna cut her hair short again.
Pat

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Carol Anne's report...
Dorothy –

OK, in society-page terminology:

The bride wore a floor-length black velvet skirt and a burgundy camisole of metallic fabric, topped with a black blazer and an ivory chiffon scarf. She carried a large lozenge-shaped bouquet of mixed burgundy and ivory roses. The groom and best man wore beige tuxedos with black ties and burgundy waistcoats. The maid of honor (if I remember correctly, her name was Misha) wore a black chiffon cocktail-length dress, which she accented with burgundy-hued spiky hair to match the accents of the rest of the wedding party. She carried a smaller bouquet of burgundy and ivory roses.

The cake was small by American standards, but it was very rich. It consisted of many different layers of cake and frosting, with a variety of flavors -- chocolate, vanilla, espresso, amaretto, buttercream, and something very much like a Mexican "tres leches" cake. It was decorated with loads of frosting, whipped cream, and chocolate wafers. I never did find out whether that's a typical Czech wedding cake, or a special concoction for this particular occasion.

Oh, one other note: while Bohemia is well known as a beer-producing and -drinking region, Moravia -- the other part of the Czech Republic -- is very much wine country. Marianna's stepfather's family has a winery there, and he brought vast quantities to the day-after-the-wedding party. So we had a whole lot of both beverages.

Carol Anne