Ann & Freddie

ARE MARRIED

Dear Guests,

This website presents information useful for guests attending our wedding.

The wedding will take place at 11:30am on 4th July 2015 in the City Hall in Mechelen, Belgium and will be followed by a reception and a dinner and dance party which will take place at De Witte Meren in Keerbergen, Belgium.

We advise out-of-town guests to arrive Friday, 3rd July 2015 and plan to stay until Sunday, 5th July. This will give you the opportunity to take part in all events.

Use the links on your left to find detailed information about the different activities, addresses, hotels, transportation, general advice, etc. including the online RSVP form. Please visit each page of our wedding website before completing the RSVP form.

We also advise guests to spend extra time in Belgium and learn to love this small country. Do some sightseeing. Explore medieval cities such as Bruges. Visit Anwerp's diamond district, which is dominated by Jewish dealers and appreciate the art nouveau architecture in Antwerp. Spend time in Brussels, the capital city of Europe and home to NATO and the UN. Go hiking in Wallonia, the French region of Belgium, which is more rural and hilly. Visit the sandy beaches at the Belgian coast. Or just enjoy the culinary side of Belgium with its wide range of Belgian beers, each served in their own special glass, and delicious local dishes, or the more famous (but less healthy) dishes such as chips with mayonnaise from a “frietkot”, mussels with fries, Belgian chocolates (pralines), Belgian waffles with strawberries and whipped cream or a "Waffle de Liege", which is a waffle with big chunks of sugar and Freddie’s all time favourite. Mechelen has a nice location and is well-connected to the major cities by train.

Information for tourists: http://www.visitbelgium.com/

If you would like to learn about Mechelen, the city where we will get married, please visit this wikipedia webpage: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechelen

Please know that we will be leaving on our mini-honeymoon to France on Monday, 6th July.

We truly hope you can join us on our wedding day and we will do our upmost to make your trip to Belgium worthwhile!

With love,

Ann and Freddie

Dinner and Dance Party

The dinner and dance party was held at De Witte Meren in Keerbergen, from 18:00 until the morning hours. 

Before dinner,  "Les Lacs du Connemara", a song by Michel Sardou, was played,  and we all waved our napkins in the air. This was very special indeed and we have never seen so many smiling faces!

Ann's dad, Roger, gave a speech in which he expressed his approval of Freddie as Ann's husband and as a new member of the family! We know that Ann's mom, Francine, helped in writing that speech. Thank you! 

Freddie also gave a short speech, it only lasted 20 minutes!!!!! The speech was titled "Gratitude" in which he expressed how grateful he was for this special day and how much every person who attended the wedding meant to him and to us.

The best men(s), Craig Sim and John Batten, also gave (more funny) speeches - they were perfect! Thank you guys! Friends forever! And we would also like to thank Julia Gale for her improvised speech, which made Ann blush.

After dinner, we had our first dance on a compiled Dutch and English version of "Ik hou van jou" and "In love with you" by Danna Winner. Our friend James mixed the songs for us for which we would like to thank him as it meant and will always mean a lot to us.

We also need to thank Teone for teaching us to dance to this romantic slow, very slow, song. Thanks Teone, for your patience, we know that we were your most challenging students ever!

The cake moment, prelude to the opening of the dessert buffet, was also somewhat spectacular as Mieke really surprised us with a sailing boat made of ice cream! Mieke, you are a very special person - thank you!

And people enjoyed the food, and the drinks, and the music, and they danced, talked, and laughed, and they had another drink and before we knew it, it was 3 o'clock in the morning when we all went to bed.

What a day - we will never ever forget any second of it! Thank you all! You made our day!