The Story of Per and Lilly (née Christensen) Falkenberg-Andersen
The Organist's Secret
It was Sunday afternoon. Lilly stood in the porch of the Old Dickson Church, waiting for Here Comes the Bride to start. Everyone was seated. The violin music should have stopped. Where was the organist?
Suddenly someone got up and left the church. Someone who had discovered the organist's secret––a nap every Sunday afternoon. He woke the organist and they ran to the church. The organist muttered an apology as he entered the porch and pushed past Lilly.
The music was magnificent. After all, the organist was well rested.
The Norwegian Pastor
The wedding was filmed for the family back in Denmark. A Norwegian pastor conducted the service. He did not speak Danish, so the service was in English.
Per and Lilly invited the pastor to the wedding dinner. A mistake, they were told. You'll have to serve ginger ale instead of wine.
The film revealed something unexpected. Sprinkled throughout the wedding ceremony were Norwegian words and phrases. Nobody––including the bride and groom––had noticed at the time.
Wedding Customs
Good friends invited the newly married couple home between the ceremony and reception. The Danish custom of toasting with Akvavit followed––to settle the bride's nerves, they said. The customary small glasses were not available, so they used tumblers.
Then Canadian custom reigned: the drive around town in a big Ford Monarch, tin cans rattling and horn honking.
The Danish Skål certainly settled the bride's nerves. By the time she arrived at the reception, Lilly was nearly asleep!
Lilly's Wedding Cake
Lilly had made her own traditional Danish wedding cake, using the best of ingredients. But the cake would not obey tradition. It refused to stand up properly.
Lilly laid it on its side, creating a perfect horn of plenty—a traditional symbol of fertility and inexhaustible riches.
Adapted from the 2007 Heritage Book,with permission from the Federation of Danish Associations in Canada
More Immigrant Stories:
• What happened to the newlyweds the next morning? See Married at Last
• Ask about Per and Lilli's wedding film at the Dickson Store Museum
