Wedding #3 (The End)

The Party Bus arrived  outside of our gate.  

I knew because I heard the music blaring on the speakers.

It came to the neighborhood to pick up the mom, sisters, grandmother, nieces, nephews, and aunts.  

No brothers, uncles, or father of the bride went.  In fact, some of the aunts didn't even go because in their household either they believe or their husbands believe that parties with dancing, etc are seen as shameful and they go against their religious beliefs.

A HUGE story occurred between the first picture and the next one.  I won't go into all the details, but there were three cars of Americans following the Party Bus on a night when there happened to be a big wreck a mile down the road.  

Traffic was crazy, and we couldn't keep up with the Party Bus, and we never saw where they went.  We goose-chased for a while based on what the girls in my car were telling me.   We stopped twice to ask directions, and finally a taxi driver had heard of the "hall" we were looking for (it was WAY outside of town).  

However, the sad part is that the girls in my car telling me where to go were the twin sister of the bride and her sister-in-law.  They were on the phone with the bride, who was waiting for us, but no one could give us good instructions on how to get to the hall.

So...we missed the bride and groom walking in.  (They did let us borrow the DVD later, and we watched the whole thing). 

When we arrived, the red carpet was being rolled up, and the bride and groom were already seating on the stage.

I felt so bad for her sister, but thankfully, she didn't seem to mind.  She was just ready to get in, see everyone, and dance.

These beauties also rode with me.

If you remember, I told you that in the last hall where we had one of the wedding parties, they were selling balloons and snacks and drinks.

The same thing was happening in this hall, with the addition of the equivalent of shaving cream spray in a can.

Awful idea.  

Truly awful.

When I watched the DVD, I saw a kid come up behind the bride JUST as she was about to walk in the hall, and he sprayed it all on her head.  

No one said a thing to the kid.

Nothing happened.

A few ladies helped her get most of it out, and off she went.

Later, before the cake was cut, a kid sprayed some on the groom's pretty hair.

And in between, kids were having shaving cream fights on the dance floor, making children sticky and the floor slippery.

Awful idea.

The dancing began to the loudest music you can imagine.  

This is the one time I ever see women and men touching.

This is what it looks like when the dance line comes by your table.

Anyone who wants a picture with the bride and groom goes up at anytime for a photo.

More dancing.  The small girl in white is the bride's younger sister.

The bride's twin is in the green dress, has the LONG hair, and is beside her younger sister in white.

I spend so much time with this family at their home and at picnics, etc, that it was a nice night of visiting.  I know most of the ladies on the bride's side of the family, or I can at least recognize them.

One of my favorite "aunts" is in the black and maroon, to the right of the sister in green.  She also looks like a friend of mine in Mississippi, so I enjoy seeing her when I get the chance.

And then came the food.

Two men who work at the "balloon" shop, went around passing out sodas, water, and "ding dongs."

I guess, in America, we could cut down on the cost of the sit-down dinner weddings by just serving some snack food.

Later in the evening, the bride and groom came to the middle of the floor to cut the cake in a partitioned off area.  

This picture was taken SECONDS before the groom got attacked with shaving cream.

They cut the cake with a sword.  Pretty cool, huh?

And shortly after cutting it, the partitioned area was jammed with people coming in to get pieces of cake.  

Cake was being handed out bite by bite over heads.

I remember at the weddings in Africa, the cake would be cut in inch square pieces, put on plates, and handed around so everyone got a square.  I looked for the picture of it, but I couldn't find it.

Here, it was more of a feat of survival if you wanted a piece of cake. 

I'm sure my older two girls could have stayed longer, but it was time to get Keira home, so we left soon after the cake cutting.

Sadly, soon after the bride was married, the rest of the family moved out of our neighborhood and out to the village, where it was cheaper to live.  We still see them from time to time, but we really miss having such amazing neighbors.