First comes love...

The greatest celebration in life is love, because without love there is nothing and there can be nothing. Love is the energy from which everything stems, from which everything is drawn, everything is created, everything formed, the creative strength from which everything arises. This book therefore begins with a single and singular word, the word "Vertrauen" (trust). And this word has, in regard to this book, a centre, a heart, from which everything derives, from which everything radiates like the rays of the sun, allowing love to stream out into everything that makes a celebration of life from its own celebration, for that is indeed a reason to celebrate.

In Japan, they say that the kitchen should form the central point of the house, because that is where the fire burns, the fire where the cooking is done and people can be fed. If we compare a celebration to a house that has been planned down to the last detail, then the centre of a celebration should also be the kitchen, where the cooking is done with love and joy. Because – and this is the secret – the more love and joy that goes into each individual dish, the more joy will blossom in everyone, nourishing body and soul alike. This affectionate "feeding" of body and soul by the chef produces wonderful conversation and genial encounters: thus the essence of the celebration, the togetherness, the being together, the opening of the heart. Every fest therefore begins with the core, with love, with the centre, from which all other rays stream into each second of the celebration, which is then no longer an instant, but becomes just as important as the core.

Have you ever watched a chef cooking with love, watching how he plucks the tiniest of herbs, or how he is completely absorbed in filleting a fish, or tastes his exquisite red wine sauce with a beaming face. Just as fine cuisine requires love and perfection in the smallest of actions to together produce a magnificent whole, the same holds true for major celebrations.

The success of a major celebrations is not measured by the provision of some form of highlight at every possible turn. Success is ultimately the product of the love and perfection that is put into it, by the love and perfection in everything, down to the smallest, most marginal detail. Because then there is no longer such a margin.