One Surreal Wedding on Viirelaid

I wrote in a previous post about a hitchhiker named Adil and how we met. If you want, you can search for it on my wall to remind yourself.

Anyway, I didn’t want to talk about that strange encounter but about a mini wedding that my partner and I ended up attending.

So, we got a request to organize a wedding for two at our Moon lodging. As usual for me, I responded with a big yes, as I do to most questions 😃

But the story of how they ended up with us was also a lesson, perhaps, for those in the hospitality industry?

When I landed my first job as a porter at the Schlössle Hotel, we were trained never to say NO to a customer and to always find a solution. This has largely guided me in my endeavors.

So, this couple ended up with us because when they wanted to have a wedding for two at one of Estonia’s top accommodations and wished for Tanel Padar to sing for them at the hotel’s restaurant, they were told NO. The reason was that Tanel might disturb their other guests with his singing.

Then, trying to find a solution, they wondered if it might be possible to dine in a suite and have Tanel sing there. Again, the answer was NO. We don’t serve food in rooms.

So, they came to us, and I said YES to everything, of course, we’ll make it happen 😅

They arrived on the island a day earlier to prepare for their wedding. Since they were big champagne enthusiasts, which was anticipated by the restaurant owners, we naturally had a bubbly time. And our character, the hitchhiker Adil from Israel, also drank with us. By evening, we were pleasantly tipsy, and then suddenly, just before night, the bride remembered something she had forgotten.

Namely, they had a makeup artist, photographer, Tanel, etc., for the next day, but they had forgotten to book a videographer. We thought about it and figured Adil would be the most suitable for the job 😅😅😅 But of course, he had never worked in that field, but where do you find a videographer on a secluded island overnight?

The next day, the bride and groom were beautified, sent to Kuivastu with Adil, and their journey with a Tsaika began. The bride in a dress, the groom noble, and Adil with dreadlocks in a plaid wool shirt. And so, he filmed the entire trip to the church, the ceremony, etc.

Meanwhile, Tanel arrived on the island with his instruments, a sound engineer with speakers, and other equipment. We set everything up on the Kuuli terrace, and to keep things dry, we also rented a large tent for them there. After the soundcheck, the musicians came inside to eat and drink. We chatted pleasantly, and suddenly, the wind rose in the courtyard. And it rose so much that things started flying around, and a whirlwind flew through the courtyard, lifting the tent, which had been secured to the terrace, high into the air along with instruments and other items, which were tied down, and it landed in the middle of the island in pieces.

I had to figure out what would happen to the wedding then. Well, we had no choice but to move all the stuff inside and decided to have the concert indoors. There was quite a bit of damage 😀

But when the wedding guests returned to the island, they knew nothing of the incident and were very pleased with their trip to Kuressaare and also with Adil’s video performances.

Moving on from the island adventure. The couple had ordered a four-course gourmet dinner, bubbles, and a Padar concert, and we had to do all this in a 28m2 room because the complex was hosting a summer event.

I can indeed prepare a four-course gourmet meal for two, but since the order was given, I ordered them from Rado Mitro from Tallinn along with a manual on how to prepare them. I got the first course ready and headed towards Kuuli.

Upon entering, I saw this scene – Tanel was singing in a corner, the table was set, and the bride and groom were kissing each other uncontrollably, Adil was sipping beer next to the minibar and filming it, the photographer was sitting on the bed taking pictures, and the sound engineer was sitting behind a corner in the bathroom with his soundboard 🫣😅

So, I tried to get through them and served bread and butter and the first course. Then the bride offered me some champagne, and they started eating. With the first bite of food, the woman looked at me with wide eyes and said, damn, this food tastes so familiar. Where did you get this from?

I awkwardly said, you know, Rado helped me out with that. And then it turned out that Rado used to work as the head chef in the bride’s ex-husband’s restaurant, and the bride had once been involved with the kitchen there.

What an unreal coincidence.

Anyway, the wedding was fantastic, and everyone was satisfied. The fun didn’t end there; after drinking three bottles of champagne, the newlyweds thought it would be cool to visit our complex and the ongoing summer event. So, I went to fetch them with an ATV and brought the couple to our party room. And voila, the first song that the DJ played just as they walked in was Caatri’s “Osi-ne-ne” 😅

That song became the couple’s first “wedding waltz.” I’ll never forget them jumping in the middle with the entire crowd from the summer event dancing around them 💃🕺👯👯‍♀️👯‍♂️

You’ve got to have fun in life, and if you don’t make it yourself, then who will? 😀