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Wednesday, April 29, 2009

My Big Fat Greek Romanian Wedding! Part 2...

Bad blogger. Sorry to have kept y'all waiting so long. Can't wait until I hear that word again. :-)

Where did I leave off? Oh, yeah...

The second wedding is held in a church and unites the couple in the sight of God. This is what took place for D.T.'s niece on Saturday.

In years past, weddings in Romania were traditionally held on Sundays during the regular church service. This dates back to the days of communism when large gatherings of people were limited and regulated. I would assume that this is probably the most significant difference from most weddings in America. At least the ones that I've attended. A little more than a decade ago, weddings did begin to change a little here and brides are now welcomed to choose whatever day they would like to be married in the church. Some still choose Sunday, and many now choose Saturday.


So, what else happens?

Well, the guests gather and seat themselves. You can see that a lot of the older women still choose to sit on the left side of the church, as it is traditional for men and women to sit on opposite sides. Guests do not sit according to "bride's side" and "groom's side."


The groom and his groomsmen come in, and then the father walks the bride down the aisle. This is relatively new here because of the weddings being held during church. When we last attended a wedding here 11 years ago, I believe that was the first time a bride had her father walk her down the aisle during a wedding/church service. Everyone is more used to this now.



The wedding party is seated along with the guests and the bride and groom take their seats under a wedding arch on the stage.


There is lots of music, courtesy of the church's choir and traditional mandolin orchestra as well as family and friends who sing to the bride and groom.




A message is spoken, in this case, a short one by D.T. and then another slightly longer one by the pastor.


Vows and rings are exchanged, a prayer of blessing is spoken over the bride and groom, and then they are presented as husband and wife.





Then, on to the reception!


I wish I had some pictures to share with you from the reception, but our camera was dead by that point, and I am waiting to snatch some pictures from family.

I can tell you that everything was beautifully decorated and that the reception was very much in keeping with Romanian tradition with lots and lots of food!

Of course, no wedding would be complete without a little drama, and this wedding was no exception! For us, it came in the form of a small earthquake during the reception. I actually did not even realize what was happening, having never been through an earthquake myself. Apparently, though, everyone from Bucuresti had, and so everyone immediately ran for the door. All I had felt was the table vibrate a little (and I do mean very little), so in my naivety, I said, "Why is everyone going outside?" and then began to follow them. Um, yeah, I am probably not the person you want to consult during an emergency situation. Ha! ;-)

After things settled down with no more tremors, the celebration resumed, and as the evening concluded, the bride and groom cut their wedding cake to the sound of their guests serenading them with "La multi ani!"

The other exciting thing I learned that evening was that in 3 months and again in 6 months, I will be a great aunt, two times! All I can say is, how did that happen without us even having any children ourselves yet?

Life goes so quickly, reminding me often that this world is not my home.

Living in His JOY, HOPE, and PEACE...



***Don't forget to pray for someone today!

7 comments:

Kevin said...

Glad to hear your trip is going well. You are missed back home. I personally envy you both because I have wanted to visit Romania. Looking forward to having you both back.

Anonymous said...

Nice pictures! Thanks for sharing the differences, it's always good to say we learned something new!

He & Me + 3 said...

What a trip so far. Great pictures. Thanks for sharing, beautiful.

amanda said...

crazy earthquake. and yay for being an auntie. i just found out recently i am going to be an auntie!!

-stephanie- said...

Love hearing about your adventures. God shook the earth a little for you while you were there huh? Exciting!

Unknown said...

Wow, what a neat experience. I bet his niece was so glad you were able to be there. Thanks for sharing the pictures and details with us and congrats to your niece!

Mony Lopez said...

I read all your storys about your trip but most of all i liked the story about my wedding.Thank you!!! You are very sweet aunti! I will share with you some pics when i will get them..i think tomorrow i can meet with the photographer. Love you!

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