I'm related to Royalty now. This is my cousin - Big Big Forums

janelle · 01-12-2004, 06:38 PM

It took Alexander Schweickhardt longer to marry Brenda Exline than to know she was his one, true love. Brenda was with a date in a Manhattan restaurant when an Austrian businessman and aristocrat sat down nearby. “I was staring at her for over two hours,” admits Alexander. “I knew in a second that this was the woman I had been looking for all my life.”
Brenda was disconcerted, but accepted Alexander’s card. “I was curious who this gentleman was,” she confessed. Returning from a week on the road, Alexander anxiously searched for a message: “I had at least 100 e-mails, but I was looking for only one.” They met again a month later, and rendezvoused six more times over the coming months. When Alexander took Brenda to Venice for her birthday, he asked for her hand. “I didn’t say ‘yes’ that night,” says Brenda, even though “I knew in my heart I definitely wanted to be with him.”Within 24 hours, though, “I grabbed him and kissed him and told him that I would marry him.”

Brenda planned a three-act wedding that embraced autumn and Austria, bringing together 250 guests from around the globe. At the welcome party, guests sampled the local harvest at a wine tavern overlooking Vienna. Alexander hoisted an accordion and pretended to accompany the Schuhplattlers, a traditional dance group; guests donned dirndls and lederhosen. “Everything about the night was authentic Austrian,” says Brenda. “It was something out of ‘The Sound of Music.’”

Departing at 10 a.m. the next morning, a lavish train modeled on one used by Austro-Hungarian royalty carried guests through the green countryside as they enjoyed a hearty Austrian breakfast. At Schloss Grafenegg, horse-drawn carriages took guests to meet the wedding party, who arrived by helicopter. Brenda laughed that her Pascal Milletdesigned gown, topped with an equestrian-style riding jacket, “took up the entire helicopter.”

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Photo Caption & Credits
Wedding Coordinator: Hemma Hoyos, Vienna, Austria. Stylist: Yasmin Asaria, Vienna. Location: Schloss Grafenegg, Austria. Florist: Doll, Salzburg, Austria. Bridal Gown: Pascal Millet, House of Carven Haute Couture, Paris. Photography: Yves Samuel,The French Photographers, Paris. Written by Kim Knox Beckius

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janelle · 01-12-2004, 06:40 PM

I can't get the pictures to post but she is in a great wedding gown. I remember her as a little snot nosed girl from Wichita KS. GEE.

Dolly<3 · 01-12-2004, 06:43 PM

Awww how romantic!

Congrats!

janelle · 01-12-2004, 06:46 PM

Well I'm just a little ticked. She could have invited her relatives to the wedding. I haven't seen her since she was little but that doesn't make any difference. I talk to her parents and they still live here. Maybe they will come here for a reception. Ya think?

janelle · 01-12-2004, 07:24 PM

http://www.weddingstylemagazine.com/...?ArticleID=156

Too cool, it's online. Now you can see the pictures.

MamaFairal · 01-13-2004, 11:16 AM

is it just me or is it the more they spend on wedding dresses the UGLIER they get.

That is nasty looking! All fluffy and poofy....yuk
JMO

tsquared · 01-13-2004, 02:16 PM

Whew Janelle i thought you was talking about being related to me......As i have been called a Royal Pain in the a$$ before....lol
Congratulations.....

feliciac · 01-13-2004, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MamaFairal
is it just me or is it the more they spend on wedding dresses the UGLIER they get.

That is nasty looking! All fluffy and poofy....yuk
JMO

My thoughts exactly!!! lol But what a cool story.

janelle · 01-13-2004, 11:50 PM

I agree about the wedding dress but her reception dress was gold with rinestones and she wore a mask. They had a masquerade ball and everyone came in costume. They had Brazilian dancers and they had wild costumes. The wedding party came to it on trains.

Talk about living life La Veda Loca. LOL They have a house in Vienna, another in Paris and an apartment in New York. DROOLLLLLL. I went out and bought the magazine. It has lots more pics. It was neat seeing my uncle and aunt in the pics. Not sure how my uncle got over there since he has Parkinson's and my aunt had surgery to lift her stomach. My uncle looks frail.

They took lots of pictures so I'll have to go see them all. Still hoping they have a reception here for them but her family does not live in mansions so she may not want to come here.

flute · 01-14-2004, 12:17 AM

cool, janelle & deff. oogly dress

janelle · 01-14-2004, 02:41 AM

This one's not so bad. Actually, if I was being married to royalty I would pick the longest train I could find. I really do not like the oh so plain wedding dresses of today---just a little frock. Not for me, I got married in a beaded all over long honking train of a dress.

Only get married once and I wanted to be a princess. Give me flamboyant. LOL

Whoops, just wanted to show her gold dress but they all came with it.