Norwegian Confirmation Weekend

This past weekend, we traveled 6 hours back to Norway for two very traditional Norwegian Confirmations. Thomas' cousin and his niece (both 15 years old) were being confirmed on the same weekend.

In Norway, confirmation is a huge celebration of the individual. After they spend the year in classes for church they end with a special church service and then a reception for family and very close friends. 

The Norwegian women that attend the service or reception wear a special dress called a bunad.

Here is a picture of Thomas' nephew, Adrian, his sister Anne-Lise, his niece Ida, and his mother Kari. 

These bunad dresses are traditional for the Norwegians and they wear them to special events, such as weddings, baptisms, confirmations, and on their National Holiday, May 17th. (Like our 4th of July). Bunad dresses vary depending on the region of Norway that you have ties to (ancestors), and the dresses that Thomas' family is wearing comes from the Lillehammar area. 

I looked it up on the Internet and learned that there is a special Bunad Council that dictates how official bunads are to be made and it was quite interesting. They are made of wool and all hand embroidered. They are meant to last a lifetime, so they make them to be expandable for some growth. Because of all the criteria they must meet to be official, they are very expensive and can cost $5000. 

Small children often wear look-a-likes, because they grow quickly out of them, but for an occasion like a confirmation, it is a great time to get one because then you probably won't be growing much anymore. 

Ida had her dress made this year and it was quite exciting. She had to have her fittings in Lillehammar (2 hours away) since this is the region she was getting her bunad from.  At Christmas time she brought us into the shop in Lillehammar where her dress was already being made. So this was obviously a long process because she just got the completed dress in September back in Lillehammar. 

Also notice the jewelry they are wearing. It is typically handmade silver or gold. And their dresses usually have a purse attached to the dress that also follows the same embroidered pattern as the dress as you can see in the picture above. 

Onto the confirmations...

Saturday was Mikael's day and it was a small church so only the parents and godparents attended the service. After Thomas' aunt and uncle held the reception at their house. The table was laid out beautifully for about 27 people with place cards and all...

We ate a delicious lunch and they had people close to Mikael give speeches. His father and his aunt said the nicest things about him in front of everyone. It is truly touching to hear (even in a different language). 

Here is Mikael with Adrian and Alex.

Ben in a suit...

The next day was Ida's day and we did go to the church. Thomas is Ida's Godfather. 

Outside the church (the same one both of my kids were baptized in) with Thomas' parents. 

Here is Ida outside the church right after the service.

After the service we headed to a restaurant for the reception. It also happened to be the same place both my boys held their reception after their baptism. Ida had a photographer there for her picture outside before the dinner. 

The godparents of Ida and the grandparents.

Cheers Ida (that's just apple juice).

The table inside was set again with place cards and we enjoyed, a salmon appetizer and then a chicken dinner.

During the dinner, her brother Adrian was the "Toast Master". There is a very common tradition of not only speeches, but also songs to be written for the confirmed. Her father, Thomas, and Edgar, the grandfather all gave wonderful speeches and we sung in Norwegian different songs written by her brother, mother, and grandmother. We were all given programs with the words and melody to sing it to. 

It followed by cakes and coffee. 

Similar to our weddings, there is typically a doll on top of the dessert. 

We said our goodbyes and headed out that night for our long drive back to Sweden.