General Information

Master of Ceremonies

Sonja van Beekveld -

Venue

Both the ceremony and the party will be hosted at Herberg Vlietzigt. The party will start at 20:30.

Hotels

We have also made a selection of hotels, both near the venue and a bit farther away, at which you can stay. You can find these on the Hotels-page on this site.

Gifts

We are saving for a new bed, if you would like to donate to this cause, we would very much appreciate an envelope with some money in it.

Taxi

You can order a taxi, on your own account, from Herberg Vlietzigt at the end of the night.

The history - according to her

As per Sonja's advice, I started creating an account on a datingsite called Paiq on a rainy night in March. While still in the process of creating my profile, I got into a chat with Ben. Here is how Paiq works: you chat with each other, and after a minute, you can indicate if you want to continue chatting with that person. I clicked yes ervy time, also because I was curious to see Ben's pictures, but these do not show until you have chatted for a couple of "rounds"...
Ben was a bit unlucky in this regard, because I was not able to upload my picture at first. Eventually, we just decided to exchange MSN addresses and this is how he got to see a picture of me.

After a whole bunch MSN chats and some text messages, we had our first cup of coffee at a beach club named the Blue Lagoon. It was raining (again), and I was not really in the mood and Ben was late. He had to buy a public transportation card, which he forgot. Thanks to Sonja, who pushed me to go anyway, we actually did have that cup of coffee and had some delicious pizza.

We officially decided to be a couple on April 30^th 2008, backdating the offical date to March 30^th 2008, and so "Meet the Parents" began. My sister, Suzanne, wanted to organise a dinner and had heard that I was dating. She suggested to invite Ben to come along. Ben said yes and got a big introduction with both the Siegers family and the Van der Laan family. We did first go to have a cup of coffee at my parents before we went to the restaurant.

After this positive and very sociable first meeting, we continued our dating. At that time, Ben still lived in his studio in the red tower next to the Haagse Hogeschool and I had my little house in Scheveningen.

However, Ben was told that he had to move out of his studio on April 1^st, 2009. The question was: what is next? Back to his parents, find his own place to live, or live with Evelien? Eventually, it became a combination of the last two options, in the sense that Ben started living with me, and we started searching for a new (and bigger) place from there. This place was found on the Sneeuwklokjestraat in The Hague.

They say that rebuilding and moving places is a good test for your relationship, and yes, we passed the test, after rebuilding for six weeks, our dream palace was finished and we were ready to move!

Something special happened on the morning of December 30^th 2011, (however, it actually started the night before with a very nice dinner which Ben cooked for me). I also got a breakfast on bed and suddenly Ben was down on his knees asking the question: "Will you marry me?". My first reaction was "Seriously?!?", but then, of course, "Yes, very much :-)"

March 30^th, 2013 is the day that we will be together for five years and it will be our wedding day!

The history - according to him

On a rainy night, March 12, 2008, I was browsing on Paiq, an online datingsite. The site works by matching questions you have answered on your profile, as so many datingsites do these days. However, Paiq also had the option of doing "speeddates", which basically means you have a minute-and-a-half of chat-time with a random person, and if there is a mutual interest of continuing the chat, you can get two times one-and-a-half minute extra, after which you have the option of adding each other to your contact list.
The four-and-a-half minute with Evelien flew by, after which I eagerly clicked "yes" to have Evelien added to my contact list. At that moment, I had not yet seen a picture of here, as she was having some trouble uploading her photos.
After some chats and exchanging MSN addresses and more chats, we decided that it might be fun to go for a cup of coffee. We decided to do this at a beach club, the Blue Lagoon, at Scheveningen on March 16^th.

After arriving at the Blue Lagoon, a bit late and a bit hungover, I noticed a pretty girl sitting outside, and I remember thinking "That cannot be her", however, it turned out to really be her. After a somewhat difficult start, because of the hangover and shyness, the conversation started going and we had a very nice afternoon. Afterwards we went for some pizza and a movie, and I actually never left.

After meeting the parents and families from both sides, Ben's family on his birthday, and Evelien's family on a dinner organised by her sister, we decided on April 30^th that we were officially together since March 30^th 2008. Yes, we backdated it a bit :-)

During these first few months, I still lived on the 13^th floor (14^th, if you count it the "English" way), at the Stamkartplein, which was the studio I rented during my studies. Having stopped my studies in August of 2008, I had to vacate my studio on April 1^st 2009. Having started working at Capgemini in September of 2008, the time had also come to find my own "real" place to live. At first, I started searching by myself and for me alone, but along the way, Evelien got more involved in the search, which eventually meant that we were searching for a place where we could both live.
A choice had to be made in March 2009, when it became apparent that buying a place was getting difficult before April, the choice being: back to live with my parents, or move in with Evelien, as she had her own (small) place. Naturally, that wasn't a very hard choice to make, so I moved in with Evelien.
My birthday in April brought me a gift that I did not think was going to happen that soon: the bid we had put in for an appartment in The Hague had been accepted! After celebrating, I asked Evelien if she wanted to move in with me. Luckily, she agreed.
After a quite intense rebuild, which apparently is a test for your relationship, we started living in our appartment at the Sneeuwklokjestraat in The Hague from August 30^th, 2009.

After also surviving a couple of vacations together, we started to see if we could go to Canada, because I had lived there for a year as an exchange student. Naturally, people started wondering whether that would be the time that I would ask Evelien to marry me. To be honest, initially, this was the idea, but since everybody was asking that question, I thought to myself "No way that is going to happen over there".
After searching for an engagement ring, I finally went down on one knee on December 30^th, 2011. After a bit of a scare, since Evelien's first answer was "Seriously?!?", she finally said yes!

Dress code

Cocktail with a dark blue accent

Men can wear a black suit and tie, or opt for a white shirt and jacket in black or other dark color. Women can have a little more fun with their outfits, and dresses can go above the knee for cocktail attire. The "little black dress" is perfect for this event. Think about what you would wear for a fancy dinner.

Special dress code for the day guests:
Women: Long dresses
Men: Suit with a dark-blue accent
There is an option to change clothes before (or after) the dinner, to the cockail dress code, however, this is not mandatory.

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Getting to Herberg Vlietzigt

Car

Herberg Vlietzigt can be reached from 2 sides via the Jaagpad. There are signs which indicate a dead-end, however, this is not true, as Herberg Vlietzigt is situated at the end of the road.
Also, please ignore the signs on the Jaagpad which indicate it is a bike-path. This is not true and cars are permitted.

When arrving from The Hague or from the Highway A4, the shortest route is the "Rijswijk-side" of Herberg Vlietzigt. You can enter Jaagpad 5c in your navigation system instead of number 7.
When arriving from Delft, Westland or Rotterdam, you can enter Jaagpad 7 in your navigation system.
Both sides provide free parking, during the whole day and night. If the parkings are full, you can park in the shoulder of the road along the Jaagpad. You will not receive a ticket for this, as long as you are not parked on the road, due to the fact that emergency vehicles need to be able to pass.

Public Transport

Tram 1 - Stop Vlietbrug (Pay attention, not at Stop Hoornbrug) +/- a 10 minute walk.
Tram 17 - Stop Patentlaan +/- a 15-20 minute walk.