a wedding night poll

augiesannie, I don't know if I should feel honored or horrified, and I still don't understand why I'm so fascinated by this moment. (Apart from voyeurism and charachter exploration...) Definitely voted for "hotel in Salzburg". Plus, trains surely were slower, so I'm leaning toward it was probaby a whole day's journey. (Though what happened during that journey...) I still can't imagine a world in which the Captain's social standing didn't necessiate a wedding reception of some length that would make a train ride to Paris that night unlikely. This is also a moment where I find Maria being soothed by the Bible, and I'm unsure how to feel about it (the wedding at Cana, just an observation, don't want to start drama). I just can't see his wanting her in every way being trumped by the desire to be in Paris. Plus given that she is clearly in love with him, I think it would transpire in an awkward way--isn't that normal for any virgin, no matter the context?--but in a mostly patient, if occasionally exasperated, manner.

Plus, as I've commented a few times, Georg--as good or average as want to think he is--knew he had a lot of rights to his wife's body, no matter what she wanted, and it was a question how much he was willing to listen to her opinions and wants. In the ideal world, I like to think "a lot", but who knows, in the end.

I voted for the first option. In my head, they drive away from their reception/party directly to the train station. I debated between 1 and 2 - I think in a private sleeper cabin the second could definitely be a possibility. (But I'm old and pragmatic and after many years of working nights sleep trumps literally everything in my life... so 1.) I agree with galan that their first time was probably a little awkward, but they spend A LOT of time ironing out the kinks (ha - pun not actually intended!) in Paris.

Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one who has tried to research train schedules from Salzburg to Paris in the 1940s. lol.

I voted "something else". Cuddles only in the hotel in Salzburg, no overnight train ride (so nothing happening there), then the real deal in Paris. 

Here's how it goes in my head. They have the wedding, big fancy reception (that neither of them actually want, but they do it anyway because society expects it), don't get to their hotel until really late, and are too exhausted both physically and emotionally to do anything but sleep. They wake up early and leave for Paris, arrive in the evening, decide to stay in instead of going out on the town, and...

In reality, the hotel in Salzburg is a more likely scenario. Georg would have been ready even after a busy day, and Maria would have had the Catholic guilt of the marriage not being official until it is consummated weighing on her mind. Still, I didn't vote this way. Even at this place and time, I see Georg as both having tremendous love and respect for her (so wanting her first time to be special, not just yet another to-do item on the wedding day) and also experienced enough to know that waiting until she is comfortable would be the best way to make her want to engage in..these activities, both the first time and every time going forward (as opposed to just performing her duty at his request). Waiting a night or two when he has already been waiting months wouldn't seem like that big of a deal if that was what it would take to put her at ease. Like I said, in reality, things were probably different, but this is how it works in my head.

You definitely are not.

Yes, I remember that, and I briefly considered including that in the poll, but just … no.

Voted for Something else. I will be loyal to my previous post in the (epic) thread "did they wait for the wedding night or didn't they?" and I'll quote myself (sorry for this cockiness):

"I like to imagine a wedding in style but the 'just married couple' "fleeing" from their own celebration as soon as they were allowed to escape: surely that same night they got into the car to Paris, making sure that the children stay well cared and safely. So once everybody are attended and guests are satisfied, nothing is more romantic than a honeymoon getaway and of course stopping halfway to indulge in each other before reaching their French destination. I confess this is a bit weird but it doesn't seem entirely far-fetched to me if we bet they haven't done anything by then, so their party will most likely be concluded by them sooner rather than later in order to enjoy their marriage asap "

Maybe a long day to me today but, why does everyone assume that they went by train to Paris? I always imagined them in a car enjoying their roadtrip 🤪

Do we have a particular reason to think they went to Paris? I had always imagined they went to Venice!

But I am with reverendcaptain and missisa here, with option 4 ,'Something Else'.

He having had PLENTY of experience and she none (and, let's face it, not expecting to have any, until the gazebo), I think a gentleman of integrity would play it slow and gentle, allowing her imagination to do the trick of slipping her into the mood when she was ready. Things like...candlelit dinners, holding hands on walks, cuddling by a moonlit river, sneaking a kiss when hidden from sight, and exploring without trespassing until it was all too irresistible...all over maybe a few days until the time was right.

I think they did all that during the brief engagement time but definitely not after the "yes I do".

this whole exchange is making me laugh so much. I do tend to agree that G may have been infinitely patient before the wedding but not so much afterward. Plus I feel like Maria, while innocent, exhibits a certain eager enthusiasm that he might find difficult or unnecessary to resist (there's something about that final kiss in the gazebo). Also, speaking of first times, I have written a lot of steamy TSOM stories, a habit I am trying to break myself of, and I frequently do try for a mix of confusion, frustration, disappointment, patience and understanding, when first-time reality doesn't match expectations, but I didn't know it had a name for it!