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Hi!
We’re so glad you’re coming to our wedding! We’re currently planning it and we want to hear from you so we can make the best day possible together. We also have some things to let you know, so here goes!
How to get to Latvia and the wedding venue?
If you haven’t booked your travels yet, we recommend to get started sooner rather than later. The most convenient way of travelling to Latvia is by plane to Riga. Another alternative is going by ferry to Tallinn, Estonia’s capital and then taking a few hours’ bus ride to Latvia. To have a stress-free day of the wedding, we recommend that you arrive in Latvia on Friday the 4th of July, the day before the wedding, and arrange your own accommodation that night. In Riga, we recommend either the Metropole or the Konventa Sēta hotel but there are many good options. You can also choose to travel to Valmiera on the Friday, the city closest to Brūtes, meaning you will have less travel time on the wedding day: There we recommend hotel Wolmar.
We will help you get to the venue of the wedding. When we know your plans for getting to Latvia, “when and where”, we can organize some kind of common transport to and from the venue, since many of you will probably be in the same place. This is why we ask this in the questionnaire below, and please let us know if your travel plans change or if you need something from us to get this part sorted.
The Wedding Day
Some things to know about the wedding itself: It starts at 15:00 (Latvian summertime) in Brūtes. When you arrive, there will be time for you to land in your room, before joining the wedding activities. The ceremony will be held in the territory of the venue. After that, we will share a classic wedding dinner and later in the evening we hope to see you on the dance floor!
Speeches
If you would like to participate or perform during the dinner in any way such as singing a song, holding a speech, or showing a video on a projector screen, please let us know! There is room for you in the plans for the dinner, but you need to reach out beforehand by emailing to sveiki@undawilliam2025.com or reaching out directly to our toast master Jens Rehn (+46 76 – 163 66 34) or toast madame Paula Žuga (+371 28635631). Write or tell them a little about yourself, what you would like to perform such as holding a speech or showing a video… As a rule of thumb, we’re going to keep the dinner engaging and give people time to eat by limiting speeches and the like to around three minutes.
Flowers & Gifts
We love flowers, but please don’t bring them as a gift as we won’t have the opportunity to bring them with us after the wedding! If you want to give us something, what we would most appreciate is a contribution to our future honeymoon. For help with practical matters, reach out to our toast masters.
The Day After
We will share a breakfast together in the same venue, and then we will go our separate ways. You can tell us about your travel plans so we know how we can help you back to the airport or if you have to leave early.
Now, so that we don’t cause any allergic reactions during those speeches, we’d like you to fill in this form below 😄
Tourist information
Since it will be the first time for many of our guests, and you might spend some time around in Latvia before or after the wedding, we wanted to give you some tips!
RĪGA
You will most likely spend some time in Riga either before or after the wedding. Some recommendations on what to see while you’re there:
- Old town has many historical buildings, cute streets, a lot of cafes and bars with terraces, live music and local crafts markets
- Freedom Monument is located in central Riga and on the edge of the Old town. It is a symbol of the freedom, independence and sovereignty of Latvia. The woman on the top of the monument is called Milda (common woman’s name back in the days) and she is holding three stars representing three historical regions of Latvia.
- Art Nouveau district – if you’re into architecture, buildings in the Art Nouveau district are something for you to see. Fun fact: Riga has the highest concentration of Art Nouveau architecture in the world. The district is a short walk from the Old town.
Song and Dance festival
Depending on when you plan to arrive/leave, you might see the signs of the Song and Dance festival in the city that happens to be held on the same week as the wedding. Every four years thousands of choir singers and folk dance groups from across Latvia and in the Latvian diaspora meet in Riga to perform in various concerts. If you see someone dressed in traditional clothing, they are probably part of the festival since it is not common to wear traditional clothes on a daily basis 🙂 Read more about the Song and Dance festival here.
Practicalities
The currency in Latvia is Euro and larger places such as hotels, restaurants, and grocery stores accept card payments. If you plan to go to smaller places or shop in e.g. craft markets, prepare some cash since it can happen that the place is “cash-only”. People in the service and tourist industries speak English as well as the younger generation. Tourist-oriented places in Riga will typically have signs and menus in Latvian/English/Russian but your local bus driver will strongly prefer Latvian.
Useful phrases in Latvian
Sveiki – Hello
Paldies – Thank you
Lūdzu [long “o”: loodzo] – Please
Priekā [long “a”: priekaa] – Cheers!