Wedding Bells

The bride wore sequins, her hair pulled into a high bun of fake locks with a glittering crown of Greek-goddess inspired gold and silver leaves. The groom wore a striped polo shirt. Following local custom, neither the couple nor their guests smiled for pictures. Although the fires were lit at mid-afternoon and by early evening onion skins littered the courtyard it was well past 9 before the meal was served and – to one guest’s dismay – so poorly announced that only basic rice and fish were left to be had. The lack of electricity within 10 miles didn’t stop the party, which roared through the night with the help of a generator, a single light bulb and a showroom-worthy display of amplifiers. With the smell of gas fumes lingering in the air, the main event began at 10:30 as a “wedding party” of sorts was called to the middle of a large semi-circle of guests. To the casual on-looker it appeared like a dance-off was about to begin until the happy – yet unsmiling – couple entered the middle of this smaller circle of friends to do a hora-esq routine. Pictures followed dancing, with the couple still standing in the semi-circle crowd and guests coming up in small groups to hand deliver wedding gifts and have their photo snapped. Despite the temptation to stay up all night dancing, this was the last I saw of the evening.

A second day of festivities included more picture taking with the bride, cooking in mass quantities and a village-wide moratorium on all non-tea related activities. Apparently this is also the day when something ceremonial happens with the bride moving to the groom’s house. A n additional ceremony consists of the sound system being moved from the bride’s house to the groom’s house so that the party can continue for a second full night.

Still not had enough socializing? Not a problem! On day 3, there is even more eating of oil-soaked rice, tea drinking and general lazing around at the groom’s house. And yes, the sound system is still there and pumping out greatest hits until the wee hours of the morning. Luckily, the groom lives just a few houses down so even when you don’t have the strength to socialize there’s no need to miss out on the fat beats blaring from the 12 foot subwoofer.