Three Parties in One

At the end of February, Doug and our teammate were gone for a week, attending a training.  While they were gone, I went up to the school where Doug was teaching at the time, and I ran into the office manager.

He said, "I really want you to come to my wedding this Thursday. I know Doug is out of town, but I really want you to come."

Since Caleb had soccer, I left Karis at home with Keira, and Kylie and I went to the wedding.

We didn't know what to expect, but as the popular saying here says, "What can you do?"

This event was the engagement, gold-giving ceremony, and wedding all rolled up in one.  It was also held at the girl's home, which was a smart move.  She wanted to save money so she could go on a honeymoon later.

Smart girl.

Kylie and I went with some other people from the English school, and we arrived pretty early and were led upstairs where the bride was sitting on a couch with some family members.  I had never met her before, but she enjoyed telling everyone about the preparations she had made that week for the big day.

The space upstairs quickly became full of people, so all of the Americans went down to a room downstairs.  The men had gone in a different entrance that led to the second floor, and we knew we wouldn't see them until later.

Kylie and I ended up in a corner, so we didn't get to do much visiting.  I said hello across the room to some women I knew, but besides that, we were kind of trapped.

After some time, some ladies brought out snacks.



They were so different from the packaged cakes that were put on the table in front of us at the last wedding. 

We each got a soda and an individual case with four different kinds of baklava (one of them was chocolate - first time I'd had that), a sesame cookie, and a piece of chocolate.

 

 I wasn't sure if we were expected to eat it all there, but after watching the rest of the room, I quickly realized we were.

You don't have to tell me twice.

After consumption, we were told it was time to go upstairs to the second floor to see the gold presentation.

There were people filling the entire room and lining the stairs up to the third floor.  The men were watching from above on the third floor.

Apparently, the bride had asked for a necklace, a bracelet, a belt, and a tiara, and they were exquisite.  I never knew the bride could request things, so that was new for me.

It was time to go, but I wanted to say "hello" and "goodbye" to our friend before we left.

I found an opportunity when the bride disappeared.  

Someone suggested she had gone to change dresses, so I knew I had time.

 Right as I was saying "goodbye," the groom's sister brought out the cake.  I took a quick snapshot.

You can see how different the bride looks in her daily life.

I have heard that trends are slowly changing.

Not too long ago, brides would use a white-ish foundation and powder on their faces and put so much make-up on that you really couldn't identify that they were the same girl you know and love in the neighborhood.

My friend who owns a salon says slowly it's changing where the girls want to be more natural (except not so natural they don't wear false lashes).

I mean, where would we be without false lashes?