The wedding of Mr & Mrs Thorpe

We found the perfect place, at Schloss Prielau, nestled just north of the lake, situated in beautiful grounds. The owner, Anette Mayer, was so warm and welcoming, and we knew we were in safe hands. The resulting work from Anette and her team went far beyond our expectations; from the ideas suggested, to the attention to detail. Anette more than helped to make the day run smoothly, organising people and the various suppliers. We found her to be the perfect person to lead the wedding day.

We kept the wedding to family and our closest friends, and not entirely traditional. My brothers, Rob and Tom, were my best men. Rebecca had two bridesmaids, Robyn and Ella. That was it for the roles.

Prior to the wedding we had a chalet in Fürth, southwest of lake Zell, where we stayed with my family. We had a week long adventure around the Zell am See region before the wedding where we had perfect sunshine and temperatures at around 30C.

We got to enjoy the scenery, the mountains, and the adventure that Zell am See offered us. We also took the opportunity to prepare for the wedding day, and greet guests as they arrived into the area.

The night before the wedding, I remained at the chalet, whereas Rebecca moved into the castle grounds, where we were to be wed the next day. She stayed in the very nice Fishing lodge apartment outside of the castle on this night.

The next morning Rebecca, along with her mum, and the bridesmaids all got ready in the spa area of the castle. We had two girls from Saalfelden do their hair and makeup.

The videographer, Timotei, along with his assistant Paul and the photographer, Radu all met Rebecca in the morning for shots of Rebecca getting ready. I turned up mid morning to capture some shots of myself getting ready, before heading up a nearby mountain pass that would give us views over the lake for our first reveal.

After a week of perfect sunshine, the wedding day was forecast rain almost all day, with temperatures dropping to 13C. We didn’t let that stop us though, and we made the best out of it. The rain stopped momentarily so we headed up for our first reveal.

A first reveal is a little bit different, but a lot of our wedding was. They’re ideal for destination weddings where you can see each other for the first time in a romantic spot. It can help break the nerves and allow you to get more photos in, so you don’t have to worry about the guests later.

I stood there waiting for Rebecca’s arrival. It was dry as I waited, so I had no umbrella to hand, but then it started to drizzle. Rebecca arrived and stepped out into the wet, and with the help of her bridesmaid, Robyn, and an umbrella over her head she made her way over to me. With the bouquet of flowers to hand, I turned when Rebecca was behind me, and I saw her for the first time. I was wet but over joyous.

After some wet photos we headed back to the castle to dry off. I met the guests as they arrived, whilst Rebecca had photos with the bridesmaids not planning to make an appearance to the guests until the ceremony.

Time soon came around as I lead the guests to the ceremony room inside the castle. We were thinking about having the ceremony outside, but with the cold rain outside we had it inside. I’m glad we did have it inside too! We both felt, along with the guests that the room gave such a great ambience, and lent it’s decor to help set the atmosphere. It gave a more intimate feeling, and helped the sounds of the harp and the words spoken more easily heard.

I was waiting at the front with my brothers as best men beside me. All of the guests took their seats, with my father at the front on the one side, and Rebecca’s mother at the front on the other. The harp started playing and a flood of emotions just hit me, as I tried to hold back the tears. The bridesmaids came in first, with Rebecca following.

We sat as the service began. The registrar read some beautiful words, and during the ceremony we passed a ribbon weaving through all of the guests. We passed the rings along the ribbon so all of our guests could hold the rings and say kind words to them. The rings went past each guest before returning to us. More words were read before we both said the words “I do” and I got to kiss the bride.

We ended by signing documents to certify our marriage, with the best men signing as witnesses. We wanted it to be legally recognised at home and abroad, so we had to sort out all sorts of paper work before we went.

We led everyone downstairs to the dining area to start our cocktail hour. Prosecco was handed to all of the guests as they came through. Me and Rebecca stayed near the entrance to speak to all of the guests came through, and everyone said their congratulations.

We had a finger buffet served, and our first glimpse at the restaurant’s two star Michelin rating.

Up on the mantle piece in the main dining area was a painted board of the castle with our names and the wedding date on it. We were later able to reveal to the guests that this was the target for a shooting game we had organised. We led everyone outside where we each took turns in shooting the target with a paper overlayed so we could score everyone.

Most people did well and the target on the painting is well and truely destroyed, with the odd stray shot that has hit the artwork. We had 26 out of the 30 people play the game.

The scores can be revealed below.

The closest, being just a millimetre away from the bulls-eye, was won by Rob.

The overall score was won by Sanny. I’ve scored this by adding up the numbers on the target, using inward gauging, so the closest part of the pellet hole sets the number.

As the shooting game progressed and everyone had their turn, the weather had a break from rain, so me and Rebecca had some photos in the ground.

Shortly after a blue train arrived, unbeknown to the guests. We asked everyone to get on, and then we were off.

leWe had a short trip to the pier at the lake, where we had a boat waiting for us. We climbed on board and soon set off for a trip around the lake. We had the wedding cake on the boat, so once we set off we cut the cake, and served this up to all the guests with some beverages.

Me and Rebecca braved the outside to get some photos on the top deck. It caught the wind quite a bit on the lake, so once we came back inside Rebecca borrowed my jacket to warm herself up.

After our boat trip we came back to Schloss Prielau ready for the wedding breakfast.

Rebecca sourced the table decorations herself, with her plan in mind and with the help of Anette and her team, they set up the most beautiful room to host our reception.

We came back to an applause. Everyone was seated and then came the wine and bread baskets.

I used the opportunity before we started eating to give a speech I prepared. I’m not one for public speaking, and with elements of the speech bringing up to emotion I must have delivered a third of what was written.

We had further speeches from my best men, my father, and the bridesmaids. The speeches were separated by courses.

We had Prielauer wedding soup to start. Austrian soups are amazing; you either get the cream soups or the clear soups, both delicious. This was a clear soup with semolina dumplings, pancake strudel, and pressed cheese dumplings. Rebecca loves her pancake soup when we go skiing, so we had to add this to the menu. Schloss Prielau offer a 2 star Michelin restaurant, and this was perhaps everyone’s first time eating at a 2 star establishment.

My father added in a quick story, explaining how the Royal Mail sent all of our documents needed to officiate the wedding in Austria to Australia instead! He found the perfect mug in Zell am See that correctly states there are no kangaroos in Austria! Suffice to say, the Australian mail sent this to Austria and they did get delivered. Royal Mail still, even today, have the item as undelivered and in transit.

Rob kicked off the next round of speeches after the first course; their were nice words mixed in with memories, and not always the good memories! My other brother, and best man, Tom rounded the speech off with a toast to us.

Our next starter dish was Austrian whitefish and pikeperch fillet in saffron jelly, with curry-vinaigrette and herb salad. The pikeperch fillet was wonderful, if only in too much jelly. My father had also prepared a speech where he shared some very kind words to us both.

The main course was next and we had saddle and shoulder of Pinzgau organic veal with condiments, potato strudel and port wine sauce. This was perhaps the nicest main I’ve ever had. The meat was perfectly cooked, and it was all well complimented. After this course we had a speech from the bridesmaids, Robyn and Ella. Their speech was excellent, and well written, telling stories and jokes. I especially enjoyed their description of me!

Next up was the dessert round and we had Applestrudel with whipped cream, and stewed apricot. You can’t go to Austria with trying their soup, veal, and having an applestrudel, so I think we had a pretty good menu to show how great Austrian food can be.

We soon finished up eating but had a cheese platter with grapes and paprika jams available in the bar area. The owner was a gin enthusiast with over 50 gins from around the world in stock, a fact that caught the eye of Rebecca’s uncle to enjoy.

I had a video playing in the bar area highlighting mine and Rebecca’s lives growing up.

Before we started the disco, we had group and family photos in the main reception area. Rebecca threw the bouquet, and to Luke’s delight was caught by Robyn. We also had a guest book made by Robyn whereby everyone inks their thumb and stamps it onto a page which had a tree with the castle in the background, with their thumb print creating a leaf on the tree.

It was time for mine and Rebecca’s first dance together as a married couple. We choose our song as Ed Sheeran – Perfect.

Everyone else then joined us to dance the night away.