pia & hendrik 19 january 2008: WHERE TO SLEEP/ACCOMODATION

We have negotiated special prices for our guests with two hotels.

VANAJANLINNA
75€ / person / night (double room) including breakfast
50€ / person / night (aparment for 4 or 6 persons) including breakfast (there are: two 2 person apartments, four 4-6 person apartments and three 6 person apartments).

The wedding reception and party will be held here. Vanajanlinna is situated 10 minutes by car from Hämeenlinna city centre and railway station.

For room or apartment reservations at Vanajanlinna please e-mail to Riikka Nieminen at firstname.lastname@vanajanlinna.fi or telephone to +358 3 6102202 (she prefers to be contacted by e-mail). Rooms and apartments will be filled according to booking order. Please mention 'Wedding Pia & Hendrik' when booking your reservation.

SOKOS HOTEL HÄMEENLINNA
79€/ night (single/double room) including breakfast & evening sauna.
Sokos Hotel Hämeenlinna is situated near the railway station approximately 10-15 minutes away by car (taxi) from Vanajanlinna.

For room reservations at Sokos Hotel Hämeenlinna please e-mail to
vaakuna.hameenlinna@sokoshotels.fi or telephone +358 20 1234 636. Rooms will be filled according to booking order. Use booking code 'gpia80118' or '19 January Pia & Hendrik'.

15.12.2007 clothing

Last Friday we visited Vanaja church and we were informed that the church will be heated but can still be a little bit chilly in the middle of winter. Therefore, please make sure that you are warmly dressed. There is plenty of time to remove long johns and other winter wear before the reception and dinner that will follow.

For all the female guests, from a women to another women, I strongly suggest you leave your high heels at the castle and wear boots to, in and from church, otherwise your feet might freeze to the ground...

The Bride and the Bridesmaids will be wearing moonboots, hence your feet cannot be "underdressed".

06.11.2007 möhippa/hen-night

At 08:30 Saturday 3 November I opened the front door to find my four bridesmaids standing outside. Shortly afterwards my other friends started to arrive. I am guessing that you might hear or see something from my hen-night at our wedding so I will not reveal anything here. If you have never experienced a similar surprise it is impossible to explain the joy and excitement one feels when this happens. I am SO LUCKY, not only am I marrying the most wonderful man on the planet but I also have the most wonderful friends! THANK YOU!!!

pia 6 november 2007

helpful phrases in swedish & finnish

about the bride

Pia was born on 26 June 1975 in a small coastal town in Finland called Jakobstad. From an early age Pia came to appreciate travelling and had the oppurtunity to do so. Whenever the possibility arose Pia packed her bags and headed off for short adventures, some of which took her as far as Australia. At the age of 18, just having graduated from Jakobstad's Gymnasium, she left Jakobstad to explore the world. Her first stop was Lyon, France, where she worked at the Chamber of Commerce. After one year abroad Pia decided to go back to Finland and to study in Vasa, another coastal town 100 km south from Jakobstad. After one year in Vasa Pia got her first diploma in Business. Pia's year in Lyon had not quenched her thirst for exploring the world and in the autumn of 1996 she moved to Maastricht in the Netherlands, where she studied International Business. The University of Maastricht is a place that in the end gave Pia more than just a Masters Degree in International Business. Today Pia works for Dermoshop, a growing Finnish cosmetics company where she can make use of her creative and interpersonal skills.

The Bride Likes To:
1. Have Hendrik's delicious weekend breakfast and other cooking delights
2. Hang out with friends and PLUTT
3. Decorate, Design & Shop
4. Exercise (does not always like it, but feels great afterwards)
5. Travel
6. Sleep in
7. Read newspapers/magazines/books
8. Drink CHAMPAGNE
9. Make people laugh
10. Arrange parties and go to parties
10. GOOD NEWS

about the groom

Hendrik was born on 6 June 1979 in Gilberto's Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The son of a diplomat, travelling and moving around came to be commonplace from an early age. At age 14 Hendrik and his brother Kristiaan moved to Wassenaar in the Netherlands to attend the International School Het Rijnlands Lyceum in Oegstgeest. After graduation Hendrik decided to enroll at the University of Maastricht. Just as for Pia, the University of Maastricht gave Hendrik much more than a Masters Degree in International Business. Today Hendrik works as a business analyst for Nokia.

The Groom Likes To:
1. Hang out with friends and GULLE
2. Cook and have people over for dinner
3. Exercise
4. Travel
5. Dance
6. Be in the water (read beach, open sea)
7. Skiing
8. Eat other people's food
9. Watch football (with other focused football fans)
10. Indulge in the occasional glass of wine and champagne
10. Relaxing in the sauna

how pia & hendrik met

If you ask Pia and Hendrik when and how they met, they will both tell you that the first time they set eyes on each other was in the computer room in the University of Maastricht in 1996. Pia saw a gorgeous young man with long hair and a cap as she was working on a paper for one of her classes, thinking that it must be one of the exchange students from the United States and that he probably had no interest in her. Hendrik saw a beautiful blonde sitting 20 meters away looking absolutely stunning and thought much the same of Pia, that she would not be interested in him.

After their first encounter they would spot each other during lectures, in the university cafeteria or at exams.
Pia and Hendrik each explored student life and Maastricht separately. They would meet but seldom would they speak, only the mere gaze would say it all. Although many were the times that they stole more than a gaze, they would end up dancing salsa until late into the night. The first kiss felt like magic and it must have been special since Hendrik still remembers what Pia wore that evening.

After a whole summer (summer 2002) of chatting via msn and intense e-mail communication Pia and Hendrik decided to give it a chance and spend a long weekend together in Belgium. At the time neither had much finances; Pia had just finished her final thesis and was 2 weeks away from starting work and Hendrik was starting to write his thesis. Pia asked her mother for a loan to be able to buy the flight ticket and when her mother asked 'is it worth it?' Pia replied 'Mum, IT IS worth it, THIS might be the man I will one day marry'. Pia and Hendrik spent their long weekend (October 2002) travelling through Brugge, Gent, Eindhoven and Den Haag.

What followed was a two year long distance relationship where phone bills were sky high and travelling expenses rose to a maximum, and where every minute together felt like heaven and every good bye was heavy on the heart.

Finally in 2005 they were given the opportunity by the the help of kind souls and a bit of luck to be together on a daily basis.

Pia moved to Amsterdam and the rest is history...

pia & hendrik 19 january 2008

WHERE TO SLEEP/ACCOMODATION

NEWS 31.12.2007