Kaisa & Sebastian | A Warmhearted Wedding in Hiiumaa
Sebastian and I met on June, 16th, 2016 in Birmingham. At the time we both worked for an international law firm with offices all around the world, including Tallinn and München. And in Birmingham, there was a huge marketing training conference for attorneys. That we even met there was an enormous coincidence.
“That we even met there was an enormous coincidence.”
Firstly, there was only a very limited number of participants invited from Estonia, and thankfully I was one of the people offered this chance. In addition, we were able to pick which day to go. There were actually 4 different days to choose from because there were so many participants! I was offered Thursday and I agreed. Later, Sebastian has told me that he had actually had something else come up on that Thursday and he tried to change his training day last minute, but thankfully it wasn't possible anymore.
Wedding photographer: Valdur Rosenvald | Rosenvald Photography
Host: Hannes Hermaküla
Videography: Henry Talvik Films
Preparation place: Hõbekala Guesthouse
Venue: Hõbekala Guesthouse
Pastor: Hannes Hermaküla
Bride’s makeup: Kersti Murumägi
Bride’s hair: Kersti Murumägi
Bridal bouquet: Ola la fleur
Florist: Ola la fleur
Bride’s dress: Iris Janvier
Rings: Tiffany & Co
Groom’s suit: Suitsupply
Wedding invitations: Tea Martin
Wedding cake: Oivaline Tervislik Tort
Catering: Eventering
Band: Marie Vaigla & Jonas Kaarnamets
DJ: Jonas Kaarnamets
On that Thursday at the conference, there were over 200 attorneys there from different countries, split up randomly into tables of 7. The whole gigantic conference room was filled with tables like that. I was the only one from Estonia that day, and completely alone. I found my table, took a seat and watched as the people started to arrive. And then came Sebastian. I immediately noticed him from far away. I thought: wow, how handsome he is! Tall, strong, dark-haired, and dressed in a super stylish light gray suit. When he sat down and started writing his name tag, I glanced at his hand: no wedding ring! :) I watched as he wrote his name and thought: what cool and characteristic handwriting! Later Sebastian has told me how he always used to get scolded in school for his handwriting and how I was the only person to ever like it.
During the day we didn't find much opportunity to just chat, but in the evening we, once more, happened into the same social circle and for dinner, we already sat down together. We talked through the entire night until all of our hotel's bars and common areas were shut down for the night and we became the only people remaining.
“And then came Sebastian. I immediately noticed him from far away. I thought: wow, how handsome he is! ”
After Birmingham, we began talking on a daily basis. With Sebastian, I immediately felt like we have all the time in the world together and we never needed to hurry anywhere. And I never even worried about him being a foreigner or how was any of this supposed to work. But despite that, this journey has still been quite a challenge. At first, because of work, we were only able to fly to each other maybe once a month for a long weekend and maybe one or two days of working remotely from either Estonia or Germany. But bit by bit we were able to reach an agreement with our boss that I can be in München for a week every month and Sebastian in Tallinn, also for a week, working from our local office. Over time we were able to create a situation where we can spend almost all our time together.
Through our journey, we have reached a conclusion that our life could metaphorically be described as a flower bouquet. There are so many different flowers that maybe at first glance might not even go together. To have an equal amount of flowers from Estonia and Germany, so that neither dominates over the other. To see our lives as enriched because we have a rare opportunity to use flowers from both nations. To have our children know to miss Estonia's bright nights, swimming in the sea and blueberry-filled forests, and at the same time feel at home climbing and skiing in snowy mountains.
When I met Kaisa, the first thing I noticed about her was her eyes which are seemingly able to change their color from brown to green (sometimes grey/blue also). Kaisa says that eyes do not age and that they remain the same throughout the whole life (which is a cool thought if you believe that you can find out a lot about one's character by looking into the eyes deeply). I also noticed very quickly that Kaisa has an "old soul", meaning she is very wise and has very deep and beautiful thoughts about love and life. I myself (despite being 5 years older) have a rather young soul which is very happy to learn from Kaisa's soul.
She introduced me to the book "The Little Prince". One of our favorite quotes in the book is: "The fox said: "To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you, I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world... People have forgotten this truth," the fox said. "But you mustn’t forget it. You become responsible forever for what you’ve tamed."."
We are quite adventurous together as a couple. We are open to each other's hobbies. Kaisa has tried out paragliding and mountain biking and even though she had never skied before, she has become quite a good backcountry skier (off-piste, as we call it in Europe). I myself have gone on sailing trips with Kaisa (and have almost always needed to throw up on these trips :) ).
One very important metaphor for our relationship is the one of a bouquet of flowers. Due to the cross-border heritage and background of our relationship, Germany and Estonia will and should always be important, no matter where we live. So the bouquet shall always have an equal amount of Estonian and German flowers in it to be more colorful. We both find that such a colorful bouquet is very enriching in many ways and so far it has made our life and relationship more interesting and worthwhile.
“One very important metaphor for our relationship is the one of a bouquet of flowers... the bouquet shall always have an equal amount of Estonian and German flowers in it to be more colorful.”
