10 Hour Wedding

Does everything take longer in Macedonia? I'm beginning to think so! I experienced my first Macedonian wedding today (our neighbor Lenche's Daughter). Now, when I say wedding, don't think with an American mindset- -there were 4 parts. There are a ton of traditions, but I will just fill you in on a few, since I still don't understand most of them!

Part 1: It started at 7:30am this morning at the mother of the bride's house (Lenche). The bride was waiting there with some of the family for the groom and his crew to come get her. The groom showed up with an entourage of 10 cars all honking continuously and among those who showed up was a small band playing their hearts out in the traditional way. There was a lot of dancing at this point- -keep in mind it was only 8:30am! People began to pin money on the groom, meanwhile the bride was anxiously waiting inside. At 9:00am, everyone started pouring in the house and someone went to the bride and told her to put on her shoes. Well, wouldn't you know it, her shoes are too big- -so he started giving her money to put in the shoes until they fit. The groom came in after that and kissed her. Everyone moved into the living room and ate and danced more.
I love this picture- you can see the three most popular hair colors in Macedonia- -bright red, purple, and bleach blonde! : )

Part 2: We all caravanned to the place where they perform the official government part of the wedding. Now, this building is in good communistic style. We all sat while they signed some official documents and took a few pictures. (not my favorite part, but it was the shortest!)

Part 3: We all drove to the main Orthodox Church in Center where the 3 priests were waiting to perform the church ceremony. There were chantings, incense, and candles. At one point, they even put gold crowns on the bride and groom's head and swapped them out about 9 times. Towards the end, they all walked in three small circles as people threw coins and candy for good luck.

Part 4: At this point it is 11:45am and I say to Jeff..."Wow, this is going to be shorter than I thought!" Well, we all went to a restaurant for a sit down lunch which didn't start until 3:30pm. So, what did we do for over three hours you might ask...we danced of course! The funniest part of the day was when they had a dance for the oldest Baba- -I have never seen such an old woman have such a great time! The end of the whole affair was actually similar to our weddings in America, with cutting cake and throwing the bouquet.



It was a great day and we got to get to know many of our neighbors better as well as meet a lot of new people! There is nothing like bonding while learning Macedonian national dances!