The Wedding

I love to go to weddings. So, I was extremely excited to be invited to my first one here in this country. I knew it wouldn't be like any wedding I had been to in the past, and I was excited to see what would happen. The wedding started at 5pm, and the bride and groom asked us to arrive about 4pm. Before I go any further, the bride and groom have already been married for a while, in fact they already have a sweet baby girl. They have just never had their formal wedding celebration. So, now that the wife is past her "3o days after giving birth" seclusion period, she can come out and celebrate. So, they decided to have their wedding.

We arrived at 4pm and the groom met us at the bus station, then took us to the hotel where the celebration would occur. We were escorted upstairs and sat down and met all the family. We ate sunflower seeds, candy, and visited with the bride, groom, and company until 5pm. At 5pm, everyone went downstairs for the welcoming.

As visitors arrived, they were greeted by the happy couple, given cigarrettes, candy, or sunflower seeds, then ushered to the money table. At this table people wrote down their names, the amount given, and then the giver signed their name.....there was even change being made in case you didn't have small bills. It was all very interesting. Lest you think the names were written down so "thank you" notes could be written....wrong. Names and amounts are customarily written down so you can know what level of friends you are with that person. For example, if we are just acquaintances....a small amount is acceptable. However, if we are BFF you better bring a large amount!!

We had been told about this custom so we were prepared. We had placed some money in a red envelope and were ready to hand it over when the groom told us not to worry about giving any money. We insisted and he took the envelope. We, however, didn't have to record our amount or sign our names to it.

After the greetings, everyone filed upstairs to the dining room. Each table was piled high with food. More food than we could all eat. Apparently another custom is for the guests to take away a "doggie bag" full of food from the wedding. Who knew? Our family was seated with 8 friends of the happy couple. We had a lot of practice speaking their language with them and were pleased we could carry on dinner conversations. Here is a pic of our table. Please notice all the food.....this was AFTER we had all eaten and there is still so much food.

After the meal, it was over. No ceremony, just a meal. It was very interesting, but fun. We really like our friends, the bride and groom. She has such a beautiful smile and is very warm and personable. He is very outgoing and friendly. We were very honored they invited us to participate in this special celebration with them. Ahhh......the obligitory peace sign picture.