When Petra and I decided to get married we discussed the difficulties in trying to involve all of our families and friends into one ceremony. After much deliberation, we came to the conclusion that we would need to have 2 separate events to mark the beginning of our life together. We planned to have our official wedding in America due to issues with her residency status. We also planned to have a second “reception” or party in the Czech Republic with the rest of her extended family shortly thereafter. We soon discovered, due to the snails pace of the U.S. government (or any government, for that matter) we would probably have to wait until almost a full year later before the second party could happen.

So we saved; and we waited.

Nearly 1 year later, Petra and I traveled with my parents to The Czech Republic to meet and celebrate in her home town of Sumperk with the rest of her family. We were also shown around to many other scenic towns in the northern region of Moravia, the eastern part of the Czech Republic. The second part of the trip was located in the western region of The Czech Republic known as Bohemia, where Prague and Cesky Krumlov are located.

The kindness, hospitality, generosity and altruism bestowed upon my wife and parents was nothing short of unimaginable and humbling. We learned very quickly not to comment on how we liked something, lest it be quickly wrapped up and given to us as a gift in a matter of minutes. The love Petra’s family has for her is profoundly apparent and the time and energy put into making our stay there enjoyable, was awe inspiring.

This was one of the most incredible trips of our lives thus far and I was overjoyed that I could share it with 3 of the most important people in my life.

Seeing Petra’s family together and how they treated all of us, confirmed to me once again that I had chosen the perfect partner and new family to experience my life with. I found it overwhelmingly joyous to sit there the night of the party and watch as both families sang “Country Road” together in Czech and English while family members played guitars and percussive instruments in unison while clapping and dancing to firelight. The language may have been different, but the melodies and sentiment was the same:

This is a time to celebrate.

From the very bottom of my heart, on behalf of my family to all of Petra’s relatives in the Czech Republic; “Dekujeme moc”.

(Cesky Preklad)-

Kdyz jsme se s Petrou rozhodli vzit , premysleli jsme, jak to udelat, aby byli obe rodiny pritomne na jedne slavnosti. Po delsim zvazeni jsme se rozhodli, ze usporadame 2 udalosti na oslavu naseho spolecneho zivota. Nase oficialni svatba musela byt naplanovana v Americe kvuli tomu, ze Petra nemohla po urcitou dobu odjet ven z USA. A tak jsme si rekli, ze kratce po nasi svatbe v USA budeme mit druhou “recepci” neboli mejdan v Ceske Republice. Brzo jsme vsak zjistili, ze kvuli zdlouhavym imigracnim procesum (a to nejen v USA) budeme muset pockat skoro cely rok, nez muzeme neco usporadat v CR.

Tak jsme setrili a cekali.

Skoro o rok pozdeji jsme s Petrou a mymi rodici vycestovali do CR, abysme potkali zbytek Petrine rodiny a pote v Sumperku oslavili nas snatek. Navic jsme se podivali do okoli a videli nekolik krasnych mest na Severni Morave – vychodni cast CR. Druha cast naseho vyletu smerovala do Cech – zapadni casti CR – do Prahy a do Ceskeho Krumlova.

Vsechna ta laskavost, pohostinost a stedrost, ktera nam byla nabidnuta, bylo vic, nez jsme si mohli predstavit ci prat. Brzy jsme se naucili nechvalit to, jak nam vsechno moc chutnalo, protoze jsme to pak okamzite dostali zabalene domu jako darek. Bylo velmi zretelne, jak moc ma Petru jeji rodina rada, a bylo uzasne, kolik casu a energie pro nas vsichni obetovali

Tohle byla dposud nase nejuzasnejsi dovolena a jsem velmi stasny, ze jsem ji prozil se 3 svymi nejdulezitejsimi lidmi v mem zivote.

Videt celou Petrinu rodinu pohromade a to, jak se o nas vsichni starali mi jenom potvrdilo, ze jsem si vybral tu perfektni partnerku a take novou rodinu, s kterou mohu sdilet cely svuj zivot. Bylo pro me obrovskou radosti sedet se vsemi na tom nasem svatebnim mejdanu, zpivat spolecne “Ved me dal, cesto ma” v Cestine a v Anglictine, zatimco ostatni z rodiny hrali na kytary a vozembouchy a tleskali a tancovali do rytmu hudby. Nas spolecny jazyk mohl byt jiny, ale ty melodie a sentiment byly uplne stejne.

Tohle je duvod na oslavu!

Z celeho sveho srdce, a taky za mou rodinu, bych chtel vsem Petrinym pribuznym v Ceske Republice za vsechno moc a moc podekovat!

A little movie I made of the trip: (Give time to load)

Virtual Reality Images. Click to experience. (Give time to load)

Click on images below to see slideshows:

Lastly, if you’re having trouble viewing the video on this site, you can view it on YouTube HERE for a short time before they find out I’m using music that I don’t have the rights to. At which point, the sound will be removed.

or on Vimeo HERE. (Vimeo will not remove copyrighted music like YouTube)