From kidnapping the bride to setting houses on fire, Veronica Stivala had her baptism, quite literally, of fire in a typical, and not so typical Bavarian wedding.

Two separate ceremonies were held.

I had been looking forward to Stefan and Stefanie’s wedding for months. While there have been years where I have had too many weddings to cope with, or afford, 2015 strangely has, as yet, provided me with only one wedding to attend. And that wedding was extra special, for many reasons, but one being that it was in Bavaria, specifically Munich (the civil ceremony), Neubiberg (the Mass) and Linden (the party).

On the whole, I would say that Bavarian weddings are quite similar to Maltese ones in that there is a church ceremony, followed by a party. But, there are also some features that make a Bavarian wedding typically so, and it’s not just because they all speak German.

For starters, the wedding celebrations are divided into two: the civil ceremony is separate from the church one. I am told this used to be the case in Malta too, before they were merged. This separation is often used as an opportunity to have more than one matrimonial celebration. Often, people have the civil and church ceremony months and even around a year apart.

Stefan and Stefanie held their two ceremonies a few days apart. The civil ceremony was a very small affair and family and witnesses gathered in the town hall. I was lucky to be one of the invitees since my boyfriend was the best man. I think one of the memories that sticks out most for me is the lovely outfits the couple and guests wore. As is typical on special occasions they wore the traditional Bavarian country-inspired tracht: lederhosen (breeches) for the men, and a dirndl (a special dress) for the ladies. Stefanie wore a beautiful deep red dirndl, with a delicate white blouse underneath and a gathered pale blue apron.

The couple tried to put out the fire in vain, as Stefan’s mates had pimped the wooden structure with a can of oil

The ceremony was short, but poignant; the master of ceremonies read out a rather moving text where he congratulated the newlyweds, wished them well on their new journey together and encouraged them to announce their union to the world. The event was followed by a family barbecue in the Stefan’s family’s gorgeous garden. I have to mention the two bought cakes we were served. They were so delicious I really should dedicate a whole paragraph to them.

The couple was pranked by the groom’s workmates.

The day of the church ceremony definitely featured more ceremony and this was the day when all friends and extended family were invited. First came Mass which, although an Anglican ceremony, was pretty similar to the Catholic wedding Mass. The bride and groom arrived together and, as always, all eyes were on the bride in her beautiful, white dress. There is no consecration of the Eucharist in this religion, so the ceremony was much shorter and people were soon drinking champagne and munching on divine cakes and fresh, soft pretzels.

And then, suddenly, a fire siren went off. Responding to the siren and to their names being called, the newlyweds rushed to pick up a hose and put out a mini wooden house that had been wheeled out ablaze. I should point out, here, that Stefan is a voluntary fireman and the voluntary fire department and the firemen world featured strongly in this wedding. Stefan and Stefanie rode away from the church in a beautiful vintage fire car, adorned with flowers.

But back to our little accident. To the amusement of the guests, the couple tried to put out the fire in vain. The joke was on them, as Stefan’s mates had pimped the wooden structure with a can of oil, making it practically impossible for him to defuse the flame.

The newlytweds with their respective families. Photos: Alexander Sobolla

The piece de resistance was the kidnapping of the bride, which seems to be a regular feature of Bavarian weddings

Once the flames had subsided the celebrations could begin and we headed towards one of the loveliest wedding venues I have ever been to. Located bang in the middle of the countryside in Linden, the party venue was a converted farmhouse. So we essentially had the place, and the view of a good chunk of rolling hills and sprawling plains all to ourselves.

There were some 120 guests which, by German standards, is a large number and, typical of such weddings, it was seated. Perhaps it was because of the natural wooden interior, or the pink and purple fresh flower bouquets that adorned each table that also had a jar of homemade jam with our individual names on each – whatever the reason, this wedding had a wonderfully relaxed feel to it, although most definitely a huge amount of work went into the planning. We started with the cutting of the cake and then proceeded to a four-course meal which was punctuated by various activities, including a ventriloquist speech by the father of the groom, a Q&A with the bride and groom and, the piece de resistance: the kidnapping of the bride.

In traditional attire.

This seems to be a regular feature of Bavarian weddings, which sees a group of ‘bandits’ kidnap the bride. Together with the help of the entire entourage of guests, the groom must then go in search of his beloved bride. While this has gone terribly wrong at other weddings, where the bride went lost for hours, luckily for Stefan, Stefanie was merely taken to a neighbouring room, where we could all feast on wine, snacks and dance, Oktoberfest-style to schlager and stamp our feet on the table.

The wedding came to an end all too soon after we danced our feet sore late into the night. Three cheers to Stefan and Stefanie.