July 14th, Cecilia and I woke up mega-disoriented and pre-hungover thanks to a genial multi-venue evening of drinking, loud music and friendly shouting in Vaasa the previous night (more on this activity in my next post!). Groans of physical and mental distress were issued, cellphones/wallet/purse were retrieved from the previous night’s rubble, dress clothes were located/chosen, makeup applied.
For the first time in known history, I had ironed my shirt the day prior and managed to get out the door on time – odd, as punctuality was never my strong suite. Not even a perfectly prepared, punctual shirt could make me appear significantly less beat up, though.
We found ourselves behind schedule almost immediately – we were due in Kaskinen (“Finland’s smallest town”) in two hours for the wedding of one of Cecilia’s friends (I served as a happy, willing plus-one). These two hours included a one-hour drive south in Cessi’s mother’s slightly underpowered Citroen, which was having a hard time convincing what horses it had to pass on two-lane Highway 8. No time to waste – onward, steel chariot!
High speed breakfast!
We arrived, parked, and rallied with other attendees on a small dock and shortly boarded a boat for a 10-minute ride to the small island of Sälgrund in western Finland’s archipelago. Ten minutes was just long enough for cold salt spray issued from the sides of the boat to wake us up and take all of our semi-polished formal looks down just a notch. This was going to be fun!
me / her / us / we!
photo of Sälgrund from Kaskinen’s promotional website. Imagine wedding tents in front of the building on the right.
Early goal, any wedding, any part of the world: establish yourself at the cool kids’ table. This wasn’t hard – Cessi’s friends Nanna and Linda and their respective beaus were warm and funny in and out of languages I understood.
an actual kid at the cool kids table. fairly good dancer, too.
There’s a certain self-deprecating sense of humor and willingness to be the butt of one’s own joke that seems to run somewhat constant with the Finns I’ve met, which makes it easy to get along – plus, almost everyone I’ve met has been gracious enough to switch to at least some English when I’m around. After a few beers, ciders or (and!) long drinks, we’re all speaking the same language anyway.
A packaged Long Drink, or “Lonkero” in Finnish. Mix gin with grapefruit soda for an equivalent. A bit sweet for my tastes, but a favorite in Finland since the 1952 Helsinki Olympics.
The ceremony was short and tasteful – bride in white gown, groom in a shiny gray suit (look completed by batman-themed Chuck Taylors). After short vows and long kisses on top of a boulder overlooking the water, religious and legal status-related matters took a back burner to camaraderie and fun.
girl got hitched!
ASIDE: Though Finland has a largely Lutheran heritage with a majority of its populous still claiming adherence to the Lutheran church, organized religious has been losing ground rapidly over the years. Many Finns consider themselves non-religious, and even the faithful may find themselves at church service only for Christmas, weddings and funerals. Accordingly, the number of Finnish persons with no religious affiliation has doubled from 1990-2010.
Click through to link to a site with greater detail than I can provide!
Dinner started with a salmon and potato soup with dill, and led into a buffet line of home-prepared foods, including (as observed/labeled by a non-Finn):
- Smoked fish (salmon and others, and fresh as can be – I believe there is a fisherman in the bride’s family)
- Reindeer meat and bread/cheese for building awesome open-faced sandwiches!
- Pasta Salad with more fish!
- Green Salad with feta!
- Meatballs
- For dessert: Wedding cake with strawberries, plus coffee, irish cream and cognac.
After dessert, I was still experiencing the symptoms of ACD (acute cognac deficiency), but not to worry – our one-man-band entertainer passed around a bottle of jaloviina, a Finnish cut brandy that tastes strongly of cognac, it’s main ingredient. A song would later be dedicated to me by with the note that “I found an American that likes jaloviina!”
We sat in the sun, exchanged stories and fetched one another beers until the sun was low in the sky. The entertainment churned out multiple sets to be witnessed by an enthusiastic crowd on a homemade plywood dance floor platform. “Proud Mary” led to some serious Turner-style stamping on said platform. “Summer of ‘69” got played at least twice (first by choice, second by request), with convincing Bryan Adams vocal timbre. Finnish favorites turned into convivial sing-alongs.
The prettiest lighthouse on the island.
On musical breaks, an iPod DJed, and metal-friendly Finland couldn’t get through the night without at least one nod to shredding and heavy double-bass drum pedal thumps, via a melodic metal cover of Titanic’s/Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On”.
I still prefer the surf cover by Los Straitjackets, though. Click through to have your heartstrings plucked/strummed.
After dinner, the groom and bride took the stage and the mic.
photo by Cecilia!
We got one slow dance in before going down – sleep took us a bit after midnight.
As with every wedding, I was quietly wishing for a convincing cocktail of dance music and, well, cocktails, but it probably would’ve been a bit odd to start slamming electronic and house through the speakers with the sun still glowing above the horizon so late in the day. Understandable. Cover of night tends to kindly disguise fancy footwork that may not have been all that fancy to begin with.
With no way off the island and no energy or desire to leave, we crashed in a small lower bunk of a shared bedroom of the main building on the island, to be joined by eight-plus other snoring wedding attendees.
We slept presidentially, in the White House. This picture is from Kaskinen’s promotional website – I was too lazy to climb the lighthouse.
Mid-morning, we awoke to find that there were still a few hours to wait before a boat could carry us back to the mainland. We got our hands dirty, tearing down wedding tents with our roommates to kill the time at hand, and consumed one Finnish cookie bar after another, chased by about twenty Dixie cups of strong coffee.
A five minute walk through a pine forest led to a ten-minute boat ride back to the car, in which the hour drive home to Vaasa went by quickly enough. I lazed in the passenger seat while Cessi growled at the (still slightly underpowered) car while passing (or attempting/failing to pass). Triumphant return to Vaasa meant well-earned naps were enjoyed by all. Well, Cessi and I, anyway.
The Finnish archipelago had taken me in for 24 hours under the best of circumstances. Kiitos/Tack to the bride, groom and their respective families – I had a great time and wish you the best!
Oh no, here come the waterworks – I always cry at wedding-related blog posts!
NEXT POST: THREE WEEKS IN VAASA
Love love love your blog!
Hey, thanks! 🙂