Because so many of you are crossing the Atlantic to celebrate with us, we couldn't possibly ask for anything more.

However, for anyone who insists on being generous, we added a honeymoon registry! 👇

Irina van Dijk and Spencer Flagg on Honeyfund.com

Hi everyone, We are thrilled that our wedding day is on the horizon! For all our international friends: we are grateful and honored you’re willing to make the trip. Likewise, for our Dutch friends: we are happy that we’ve convinced you to spend a day east of Utrecht. For all of you: the biggest g…

Honeyfund

Vivian Capel

MAID OF HONOR

When Vivian and I discovered each other's love for bitterballen, our friendship was born. We met during college and over the years, Vivian has become an essential part of my daily routine and one of my dearest friends. We've cooked countless meals together, partied during amazing (non-)memorable nights, and spent hours and hours of talking, listening and supporting each other. Viev: my 10 years in Utrecht would not have been the same if I hadn't met you in the Voorstraat.

Fair warning, she's a born organizer, and will make sure everything will go smoothly on our wedding day. Follow her orders and you'll be fine.

Judith van der Salm

MAID OF HONOR

Judith and I met on our very first day in high school when we were both brugpiepers. With her contagious laughter, openness and mouth that never stops talking, we quickly became close friends. We've had many first-firsts, e.g. first night out (and second, and third, ...), first holiday without parents (and second, and third, ...), first time using random white paint. Jud: I'm grateful you have been in my life for all these years. You did not follow me to the big city Utrecht, but when we get together, we pick up right where we left off.

Fair warning, She is not that tall.

Viola, Myrthe and Dana

BRIDESMAIDS

My three lovely sisters. So many similarities, and yet so different. It means the world to me to have you in my life. It's probably safe to assume that of all people, I've expressed my least positive side to you the most. That is what sisters are for, right? ;) Over the years, our lives have become more alike and that has strengthened our relationships even more. I can't wait to see what our future holds and I am 1000% certain our sisterhood will always be as strong as it is.

Fair warning, these Van Dijkies prefer to greet each other with one kiss on the cheek.

Raymond Caron

BEST MAN

We met the first day of high school and never looked back. He taught me about the most important things in life: cars, metal 🤘, and Canadian Football. Despite living 2, 4, or 8 hours away from each other longer than we lived in the same town, our comedy and conversation sensibilities are still joined at the hip. Ray is the only person I have ever been on a 4 hour phone call with, and it happens more frequently than either of us will admit.

Brian Meierdeircks

BEST MAN

One of the indispensable RPI crew along with the Jo(h)ns, hall-mate, roommate, Taco Bell connoisseur, and Groeningographer; with the calculating brilliance of Rain Man and the ineffable charm of Tom Cruise's sunglasses, he's got it all. We mind-melded for a year back in Maryland and we can still finish a disturbingly-large number of each other's sentences.

Tyler Flagg

GROOMSMAN

My brilliant, charismatic, enterprising little brother, and the only man to approach both my physical attractiveness and ability to be correct about everything. If he had a podcast, you'd be listening to it.

Jonathan Edwards

GROOMSMAN

The guy who had the car at college, the man who taught me to be a techie and an early adopter and that HAM radio was still a thing, a consummate Spoorwegologist, the Riddler to my Batman, and one of the two best Jo(h)ns.

John Sullivan

GROOMSMAN

My first roommate, Minister of Silly Walks, the only man I know who has only ever coded for the sheer fun of it, one of the few people who I could debate for hours and love every minute of it, and one of the two best Jo(h)ns.

2018 - "Where did you guys meet?" "In front of a neon-lighted, beer-smelling bar in Washington DC."
From the very start of our dating life, we've been on countless adventurous trips with an iced coffee in our hands. Before Irina had to move back to Nederland, we flew west together to do an amazing pacific coast highway drive. End 2018, he made his first trip to Nederland. Spoiler: it was not his last trip this year. She met the Flaggs for the first time during Thanksgiving in Oklahoma.

2019 - His total count of trips to Nederland: 7. We did a south-west USA road trip. We went to Jamaica. He got his own bike in Utrecht.

2020 - He moved to Utrecht, Nederland. He put a ring on it.  

2021 - We met all the cats in the neighborhood. We got an ice cube maker.

2022 - JA! I do.

Future - En ze leefden nog lang en gelukkig / They lived happily ever after.

We'll spend all day at the beautiful Castle Wijenburg in the tiny town of Echteld.

In Dutch, it's Kasteel (kas-TAIL) Wijenburg (VY-en-berg).

Schedule

Festivities begin on August 18th at 1:30pm (13.30u).

That's all we're telling you. 😁

Hotels and Transportation

We'd love to party all night with you, and therefore we highly recommend you book one of the following 2 hotels close by for the night of August 18th.

Echteld is a small residential country town with a beautiful castle, but not much else. Unless you're helping us at the venue, we don't recommend arriving in Echteld or Tiel before the 18th.

1) Hotel Bal

Hotel Bal, a small hotel in a beautifully restored old building, is crawling distance from the Castle. Because of it's superb location, it's our number one recommendation.

Directions

• Utrecht Central Station 👉 Hotel Bal and the castle (🚗 40min / 🚆1:15)
• Hotel Bal 👉 the Castle (🚶‍♂️30sec)

Booking

Please reserve your room via email and mention our names in your reservation, and tell them if you'd like breakfast on the 19th.

2) Hotel Tiel (Van der Valk)

Hotel Tiel is a large hotel (with a restaurant, pool, etc) located a 5km (3mi) from the Castle. Tiel is also the name of the town, and Van der Valk is the name of the chain that owns it.

Directions

• Utrecht Central Station 👉 Hotel Van der Valk (🚗 40min /🚆1:05)
• Hotel Tiel 👉 Castle Wijenburg (🚗 7min / 🚌 15min)
  ⚠️ there's no city bus at night for the return trip
• We'll update this page with info on our shuttle-bus at a later date.

Booking

Book your room online and use the promotion code TIE-WIJENBURG for a 10% discount.

Dress Code

Ties, jackets, and cocktail dresses preferred. The average high temperatures in August are between 20°C (68°F) and 25°C (77°F), so it might be warm, but it's unlikely you'll be hot. If the weather allows, the wedding day will be partially outside.

Speeches

As per Dutch tradition - everything must be scheduled. No "Southern European" ad-libbing allowed.

Therefore, if you think you might want to give a speech at the wedding, contact our fine pro-bono party planners and they'll put you on the list. (The kitchen wants to avoid making your awkward speech more awkward with simultaneous food delivery). You can contact them directly, without our knowledge: weddingparty@irina-and-spencer.com

If you're arriving from the States, you have 3 options.

1) Relaxed

You book your hotel in Echteld or Tiel for the nights of both the 17th and the 18th.
(head back to The Wedding Day for the rest of the info)

PROs

You'll be able to wake up late, have brunch, and you'll be only a few minutes from the venue.
Hotel Bal 👉 Castle Weijnburg (🚶‍♂️30sec)
Hotel Tiel 👉 Castle Weijnburg (🚗 7min / 🚌 15min)
(we'll have shuttle info at a later date)

CONs

Echteld is a small residential town only a few blocks long, so there won't be much to do there on the evening of the 17th or the morning of the 18th.

Tiel is a larger town with a small shopping district, a few old buildings to look at, and some restaurants, but we can't guarantee it will be very exciting.

2) Invigorating

You book a hotel in Utrecht for the night of the 17th, and book in Tiel or Echteld for the night of the 18th.

PROs

You'll be able to explore Utrecht on the 17th, and a friend of ours will pick you up and take you to your hotel on the morning of the 18th.

CONs

You'll need to eat breakfast, check out, travel to Tiel/Echteld, check in, eat lunch, and get ready for the wedding all before 1:30pm.

3) DIY

On the 18th, you wake up off-the-grid. Maybe you're in Amsterdam, maybe you're in Rotterdam, maybe you're in 🤢Belgium, or maybe, God help you, you're getting off a plane.

We have no contingencies for this. Godspeed.

You'll likely fly into Schipol airport (AMS), which is the largest airport in the country.
Schipol is a short train ride to downtown Amsterdam, and a 30 minute drive or train ride to the center of Utrecht, where we live.

Utrecht is about center mass of the country. Amsterdam and the sea in the west, farms are in the north.

The country is small, and easy to get around. It takes about 2 hours to cross the Netherlands East to West, and 4 hours to cross it North to South. (Either driving, or taking a train.) Since most of the hot spots are clustered in the center, you're almost always an hour away from everywhere you want to go.

Planes

Despite the train-centric nature of Europe, Europeans will usually fly between cities instead of spending the day on the train.

Inter-Europe planes are generally cheaper than trains, and faster, but also include more waiting time, and security checks, etc.

Bikes

Bicycles are the most convenient way to navigate Dutch cities.
However, if you're a tourist, I'd proceed with caution.

• All bike paths are colored red - either bricks, pavers, or asphalt.
• If you are walking around and you see red beneath your feet, you have already been narrowly avoided by a dozen biking Dutch, likely with several "kut"s and "gatfer"s, and you should move immediately.
• Bike paths are narrow, walled with curbs, and support more lanes than you'd expect.
• Great biking prowess in the States is not sufficient for biking in the Netherlands. Bike paths can be little highways, with traffic, lane changes, and a few inches clearance between you and the bikes in front, behind, and to the sides. They have their own lights, signs, and conventions.
• Believe it or not: bike traffic jams do exist during rush hour.
• The official Dutch turn signal is a couple of fingers limply and momentarily gesturing in a direction with all the intelligibility of a cigarette ash-flick.
• 4 way bike intersections use the same convention that Americans are used to on roads.

Renting bikes

• Renting bikes is not that straightforward for tourists. If you're interested in renting bikes, contact us and we'll figure something out for you.
• Most train stations will have areas where you can rent government bikes. This is called OVFiets (oh-VAY-feets). However, it's not a good option for tourists because you have to register for a metro card before you can use this service.
• There are e-bike and e-moped rental options, like Tier.

Parking bikes

• Always double lock (lock the wheel and chain the bike to something) no matter how cute the neighborhood.
• Park illegally at your own risk. the Dutch will park their bikes anywhere and everywhere, and sometimes right on top of signs that say no-parking. The locals know when that's risky and when it's not, but you don't.
• A group of parked bikes will always tend to become a pile.
• Never leave anything attached to a parked bike that you care about.
• There are huge parking garages for bikes, and they are fun to use, but hard to navigate. All not-losing-your-car-at-the-mall conventions should be implemented 10-fold.

Trains

Trains are the recommended mode of transportation in the Netherlands.

They're clean, prompt, and bring you right into the center of basically every large and medium-sized city. However, trains don't bring you to small towns, and that includes the town with the wedding venue, but they will bring you to the hotel which is close by, and from there you have a few options.

There are mainly 3 types of trains: "intercity" (biggest and fastest), "sprinter" (mid-sized with lots of stops), "tram" (small and bus-like) which they pronounce like "trem". Trams exist in large cities like Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Den Haag (the Hague).

To travel on any of the three, you need to buy an OV-chipcard (oh-vay-SHIP-cart) and put at least 20 euros on it. They're available at the airport, big stations, and some corner stores. They work like the DC MetroCard or an EZPass: you fill the card up with money at a machine, then tap your card on a terminal before you board a train and tap it again as you get off and you're debited based on how much you've traveled.

Google Maps will be sufficient for navigating the routes and schedules.

Crossing borders

There are no passport checks on trains that cross borders in Europe - at least not as a rule.

Europe is a very train-centric place, but as noted in the Planes section, Europeans seem to prefer planes when possible.

Of note: The last time I took the train from Berlin there was a huge (5 hour?) hiccup which is somewhat common (as I heard from the other passengers at the time), so I wouldn't advise taking the train long distances on a day where timing is crucial.

Driving

I can't really recommend renting a car while you're here. If you're trying to get to certain special places, it might be very convenient, but for tourists I think the cons outweigh the pros.

Below is the list of cons.
(If you're adventurous, then below is the list of "stuff to watch out for".)

• Cities are not car-friendly, by design. Car paths inside cities seem particularly circuitous, especially compared to bike paths.
• Parking is awful. Dutch cities are all about as dense as Jersey City or DC.
• The roads are complicated. In cities, bikes, buses, and trams all have their own lanes with their own lights, and there are sharp little curbs everywhere to remind you, even between lanes. The highways have Jersey-level jug-handles. If you miss a city turn or a highway exit, you might be looping around until after the wedding.
• Bikes are everywhere and they do not care that you can kill them.  Bikes always have the legal right of way, and therefore the Dutch will cross in front of a car as if it wasn't there. In cities there are at least as many bike lanes as car lanes, so keep your head on a swivel.
• Manual transmission is normal; automatic transmission is luxury, and is reflected in rental pricing. If transmission mode is not specified, do not assume it's automatic.
• Neither of us knows anything about renting cars from the airport here. I don't think it's going to be as straightforward as in the Americas.
• There aren't a lot of highway cops, but there are a lot of speed cameras. Keep your favorite camera-sighting app ready.
• Conventions are different. EU signage is very esoteric - you can't just infer things like "no parking", "one way", "wrong way", "yield to oncoming traffic" from their designs.

• Also, there are these roads 👇 that look like single lane roads with two shoulders which are actually 2 lane roads with bike lanes on the edge, and you kinda straddle the lines to let oncoming traffic pass (assuming there are no bikers at the time).

Uber, etc

I tried Ubering a bit in the before-times, and it didn't work out too well. It exists, but at surprisingly low volume. Even if you're fine with the rate, the wait will be aweful. My guess is Dutch cities are frequently too car-unfriendly to get a good Uber market going. Fair warning.

(at the time of this writing there was one Uber on the map in all of 360k-population Utrecht.)

Uber Eats works like a champ, though. (It's all on bikes.)

And I'm not sure that cabs are a thing here.

The Netherlands is trying to go cashless, so many stores and restaurants will not take your physical euros. That might be workable for a tourist, except that in all likelihood they won't accept your Visa, Mastercard, or US debit card either.

Northern Europe has a separate system called "pinpas" (PIN-poss) which is kinda like a US debit card, but it's an entirely different technology. i.e. inasmuch as a US card reader can support credit and not debit and vice versa, a Dutch card reader can support pinpas and not credit. Pinpas is compatible with Maestro, so if you have the red & blue MasterCard symbol on your card, you're all set.

For everyone without Maestro, the best way to handle this is to carry a pocket full of euros just in case, and everywhere you go, before you start eating or shopping, just flash your credit card to the Dutch behind the counter and ask if it will work. They'll know.

• You can withdraw euros from most ATMs just using your regular debit card.
• Your bank usually gives you a more favorable rate than the guy at the airport.
• If your US credit card works at a store or restaurant, the card-reader will ask you to pay in euros or dollars. Choose euros for the best rate.
• There are likely small bank fees associated with all of the above transactions that won't hit your account immediately.

Tipping and Paying

Dutch don't tip that often, and if they do, it's about 5%

Their point-of-sale systems don't expect tips, so if you want to tip you need to catch the waitress in between the time she tells you the price and the time she enters it into the keypad so she can change it. This period usually lasts for about half a second. She'll say "the price is X" and you'll say "make that Y".

The Dutch word for cash register is "Kassa". The word for paying is "betalen".

It's unclear, even to locals, which restaurants take payment at your table and which take payment at the front counter. The staff generally will make you guess.

When you do pay, it will be via a handheld card reader. The registers and receipts are not designed for signatures and they don't usually carry around pens, so there's always a bit of a hassle when paying with a US card.

Almost all Dutch speak English very well, and in most situations they will switch immediately to English if your Dutch isn't perfect or if you look confused.

So you're less confused when reading things out loud...

• G = that infamous clearing-your-throat-sound
• OE = "oo", or the ou in you
• IJ or EI = "eye", or the uy in buy
• EE = "ay" or the ay in Ray
• J = "y" or the y in yak
• IE = "ee" or the ea in meat
• UI ≅ "ow" or the ow in now (not really, but that's as close as you'll get)
• OO = "oh" or the o in yo
• TJ = "ch"
• E at the end of a word = "uh"

Weather

Netherlands has 2 seasons. 8 months of cold, wet, and gray and 4 months of nice.

August is right in the middle of nice, so we're betting we'll be good, but you never know. The average high temperatures are between 20°C (68°F) and 25°C (77°F), and the average temps are mid 50s to low 70s.

Between the wind and the biking, I usually subtract 10 degrees F when deciding what to wear.

Time

They use a 24 hour clock over here, so expect to see 2100 or 21u instead of 9pm.

Restrooms

The Dutch say WC (pronounced VAY-SAY) or toilet.
Be on the look out for these words:

• WC
• Toiletten
• Mannen or Heren (men)
• Vrouwen or Dames (women)
• and look out for esoteric emojis

Other gotchas

• Sinks are small with cold water.
• Hand-drying does not seem to be a priority.
• Restrooms and stalls have a small occupied indicator located under the handle of the door, which the guy who comes in after you is going to completely ignore. It flips from white to red.
• Stalls are usually little fortresses in the WC with their own lighting and ventilation, and a door that goes all the way to the floor. Sometimes they look identical to the broom closet.
• All toilets inside stores, malls, and stations are pay-toilets. Sometimes they'll take pin-cards and sometime they'll take coins. I wouldn't count on them taking credit.

Food Conventions

• If you see a nice sunny terrace in front of a restaurant, sit down at one of the tables immediately. Don't wait around to be invited. The server will come around.
• Never expect free water by default at a restaurant.
  You can try to ask for "kraanwater" (KRAHN-vater).
• Never expect more than a single cube of ice at a time.
• Napkins come in paper form, one at a time, sealed in an envelope stashed neatly under your cutlery on the table. Be judicious.
• If you ask a Dutch for "Coke™", you will likely get a chuckle, even if they are not a 12 year old who just learned about drug slang.
• The Dutch call ice-cream "ijs" which sounds like just "ice". There, I saved you some confusion.
• Cafés are usually something like a bar and grill.
• Bruine Kroegs are the Dutch version of an Irish Pub. Dark paneling, low ceilings, locals, cozy ambiance, and cheerful drinking songs. Gezellig!
• Cafeterias or snack-bars sell late-night fried-food and cheap burgers.
• Menus are combo-meals. Menu-kaarts or kaarts are menus. Saavy?
• A citroen is a lemon, a limoen is a lime, limonade contains neither, and Bacardi Limon is pronounced Bacardi Lemon.

Stimulants and Depressants

Ahh, the infamous "coffeeshops"...

• Pot is legal everywhere in the Netherlands, not just Amsterdam.
  (no one is as excited about this as American tourists).
• Coffeeshops sell marijuana, not coffee.
• Coffeeshops sell marijuana, NOT coffee.
• Cafés sell beer, and only sometimes coffee.
• There's a lot of good coffee here, but if you want it you should look for the word "koffie" instead of coffee or café.
• Never expect drip/filter coffee. It's almost always Italian-style.
• If you ask for a "cup of coffee" or a "kopje koffie" (COPE-yuh-coffee), you'll get a 6oz long-pull expressed coffee, which is less concentrated than an espresso, and close to a standard american drip cup.
  (Alternatively, an Americano is espresso diluted with hot water)
• Never expect iced coffee. If you ask for iced coffee and get it, it will be a tiny, expensive glass of crushed ice, sugar, and milk that tastes vaguely like coffee.

The Netherlands has the same standard chain hotels as the US, although I'd wager not as many. If you're adventurous, I'd stay in an Airbnb in "the center"👇. The stairs might be narrow and the bathroom might be down the hall, but you'll be that much closer to all the neat Dutch things.

Cities

Most Dutch cities, big and small, share a lot of qualities.
i.e. old-town Amsterdam is not unique.

The oldest part of the city is called het centrum or "the center". It's usually the medieval, fortified part, offset from the rest with bastions or bulwarks, and surrounded by a moat called a singel.

Each centrum will likely be full of centuries-old, beautiful brick buildings, deep brick-walled canals, stone streets, and cute little shops. The focal point of each centrum is one huge church with an unmissable steeple, surrounded by a large square called a plein (rhymes with "mine") where the local open-air market will be set up once or twice a week.

In summary - Amsterdam is for dorks and squares. The truth is that almost all Dutch cities share the same quaint old-world beauty, and Amsterdam merely added a world-renowned tourist-trap. The locals tell me that most new expats live in Amsterdam for the first year and then move to a more Dutch city when they realize their mistake.

The Coast

The Netherlands has a long North Sea coastline full of dunes, beaches, and little fishing villages. Despite the latitude (the Netherlands would be tundra in North America) the coast is a nice destination in the summer. The water in August will be a tad brisk, but you can still head to a beach, swim a bit and catch some sun. Most beaches boast a handful of fun sand-blasted beach-side restaurants where you can grab a sandwich, a coffee, and a beer. In many cases there's something akin to a boardwalk.

There's great fresh fish here - and more towards the coast. Grab some fried fish (kibbeling or makreel) when you see it.

For the adventurous, kite-surfing is huge here and the coastal winds in the fall and winter are great for lifting daredevils 40 feet in the air. (I have videos to prove it)

Beach-town recommendations

Katwijk and Nordwijk - cute little coastal towns, great for a bed and breakfast.

Scheveningen - a neighborhood of The Hague (Den Haag). It has a huge enclosed pier that's something between a boardwalk, a carnival, and a shopping mall.

The Countryside

If you're looking for a more rural spot, farm country is everywhere, but especially in the north and west. The Netherlands is very densely populated, so the middle-of-nowhere is still not going to be that far from a major road.

There are many great little Airbnbs on farms, in small towns, and in the occasional forest. They'll be hard to get to without a car, but the idyllic vibe is worth it.

Irina and I are extremely excited to see everyone this summer and we're thrilled that so many people are interested in travelling so far to celebrate with us!

🇺🇸 My fellow Americans...

I've been living in the Netherlands for about 2 and half years now. Time flies! While it hasn't been, say, the BEST couple of years to live in Europe, it's been really fun exploring a different part of the world, and I'd love to share some of it with you guys.

Furthermore, most of you have had precious little time to get to know the lovely Irina van Dijk, and we'd like to fix that.

Therefore, I want to officially ask, beg, demand, and/or entreat that you stay in the Netherlands (or close by) as long as you can so that we have a chance to hang out and show you around!

The wedding is on a Thursday, we're taking off work the weeks before and after the wedding, and we have no plans to honeymoon directly afterwards - therefore we'd love to do at least one or two activities with each of you outside of the wedding.

These activities may include, but are not limited to scenic boat rides, walking tours, biking tours, a day at the coast, touristy stuff like Kinderdijk and Volendam, climbing the Dom Tower in Utrecht (Spencer still hasn't been up there!), and "borrelen" (happy hours) at heel gezellige bruine kreugen.

Even if you don't come for week or two, I highly advise arriving several days before the wedding so that you're over the jet lag by Thursday. (You don't want to fall asleep in your bitterballen.)

To sweeten the deal, I've included a bunch of useful info about traveling in the Netherlands on this site.

🇳🇱 Mijn mede-Nederlanders...

Na lang wachten is het nu bijna zover: Spencers vrienden en familie komen naar Nederland. Exciting! Aan ons de taak om ze te laten zien wat voor moois ons landje te bieden heeft. Wij nemen de week voor en na de bruiloft vrij en gaan niet direct op huwelijksreis, zodat we genoeg tijd met iedereen kunnen doorbrengen. We zien onze bruiloft als slechts een van de activiteiten die we met ze zullen ondernemen. Wil je ook ergens aansluiten? Of heb je leuke ideeën? Laat het me weten; hoe meer zielen, hoe meer vreugde.

Everyone en iedereen...

Please RSVP by July 18th using the button below.