Tying the knot
I recently watched in astonishment the clip featuring a Chinese bride-to-be interviewing local people following an earthquake in China. The reporter was filmed in her wedding dress, complete with veil. Clearly the woman should be admired for her dedication to her work, and it certainly made interesting viewing, but I still find it very sad. After all, your wedding day should be one of the happiest days of your life, a day when all that matters is you, your spouse to be, your friends and family. The one day when it is perfectly acceptable to be oblivious to what is happening in the rest of the world.The link of the bride reporter can be found here:
http://on.aol.com/video/dedicated-reporter-covers-china-quake-in-her-wedding-dress-517752339
I recently celebrated my 12th wedding anniversary, and have been reliving memories of my own special day. In fact, I was lucky enough to have two wedding days (to the same man). The reason being, that we had our first wedding in Scotland where we live, and the second in Romania where my husband is from. I am so glad that we decided to have the two events. We both shared traditions from each other's cultures, and thoroughly enjoyed doing so. The Scottish wedding involved kilts, a ceilidh, speeches, a wonderful day, but nothing you would find out of the ordinary.
The Romanian blessing, and wedding traditions, however, seemed very strange to a Scottish girl....
Firstly, I was amazed at the size of the elaborate candles that had to be carried by the Godparents (equivalent of best man and bridesmaid). The wedding party made their way to the church in a chain of taxis, all with their alarms going off, and afore-mentioned candles sticking out the windows as they were too big to fit in the cars. You can probably tell, it is impossible not to notice a wedding party en-route in Romania.
I was understandably nervous about what exactly would happen at the church. My husband had given nothing away, so I had no idea what to expect. The Orthodox priest seemed to speak for hours (I was later informed that it did not only seem like hours, it actually was hours). The priest conducted a lot of the service in song, with an excellent singing voice. I wonder if that's a requirement to join the priesthood in Romania? We had to wear silver crowns while the priest swung around incense. I did not convert to Orthodox, but I found it an interesting experience.
Following the church, we made our way by foot to the reception restaurant. Florin did not wear a kilt this time around (understandably), but my dad and some of his friends had. I will never forget the looks on people's faces as they saw men in kilts in Iasi, Romania. You would think they had just visited from Mars, rather than Scotland. I was told a local news reporter even made an appearance at the reception, but have no confirmation of that.
The reception lasted until 6 in the morning, we were kept going by industrial strength coffee. The meal was spread out over the entire night, around 7 courses, including...the dancing chickens! This consisted of roast chickens being set alight with flames, and the waiters bringing them out to music. Like I said, strange, but very entertaining. The food was very good.
Around midnight came another surprise...I was kidnapped! Some of our friends stole me from the wedding, and took me to a popular terrace bar. Florin had to negotiate for my release. By strange coincidence, there was another kidnapped bride in the same terrace. It was decided we would make this tradition unique, by switching places. I didn't think I would be getting in to wife swapping so soon into my marriage! I was escorted to the other wedding, where my new "groom" was highly surprised to find he had a Scottish wife. I danced with my temporary husband before saying goodbye and returning to Florin. The ransom? Drink champagne from my shoe...mmmmm, tasty.
The guests danced traditional Romanian dances, and taught the Scottish guests who all enjoyed joining in. I liked the Romanian traditional music, although at times it sounded like it was stuck on fast forward. The Scottish guests returned the favour by playing some Scottish music and teaching our dances. It was really enjoyable to watch people share cultures like that.
The wedding came to an end, with everyone exhausted, but having had a good time. There was one last surprise for me. I was called to sit on a chair in the middle of the room. My veil was removed, and replaced by a red headscarf. The symbolism was not lost on me...I was now a wife, someone to look after her man. I admit I was not very happy about that tradition, but tried not to take it too seriously. My sister was chosen as the next prospective bride, and the veil put on her. I suppose that's the Romanian version of throwing the bouquet.
So that's a summary of my somewhat unusual wedding day. How about you? I'd love to hear interesting stories about your big day.
P.S. Still on holiday, photos from the Romanian wedding coming soon...
P.P.S Photos now added! See "My unusual Big Day...a photo blog".
http://on.aol.com/video/dedicated-reporter-covers-china-quake-in-her-wedding-dress-517752339
I recently celebrated my 12th wedding anniversary, and have been reliving memories of my own special day. In fact, I was lucky enough to have two wedding days (to the same man). The reason being, that we had our first wedding in Scotland where we live, and the second in Romania where my husband is from. I am so glad that we decided to have the two events. We both shared traditions from each other's cultures, and thoroughly enjoyed doing so. The Scottish wedding involved kilts, a ceilidh, speeches, a wonderful day, but nothing you would find out of the ordinary.
The Romanian blessing, and wedding traditions, however, seemed very strange to a Scottish girl....
Firstly, I was amazed at the size of the elaborate candles that had to be carried by the Godparents (equivalent of best man and bridesmaid). The wedding party made their way to the church in a chain of taxis, all with their alarms going off, and afore-mentioned candles sticking out the windows as they were too big to fit in the cars. You can probably tell, it is impossible not to notice a wedding party en-route in Romania.
I was understandably nervous about what exactly would happen at the church. My husband had given nothing away, so I had no idea what to expect. The Orthodox priest seemed to speak for hours (I was later informed that it did not only seem like hours, it actually was hours). The priest conducted a lot of the service in song, with an excellent singing voice. I wonder if that's a requirement to join the priesthood in Romania? We had to wear silver crowns while the priest swung around incense. I did not convert to Orthodox, but I found it an interesting experience.
Following the church, we made our way by foot to the reception restaurant. Florin did not wear a kilt this time around (understandably), but my dad and some of his friends had. I will never forget the looks on people's faces as they saw men in kilts in Iasi, Romania. You would think they had just visited from Mars, rather than Scotland. I was told a local news reporter even made an appearance at the reception, but have no confirmation of that.
The reception lasted until 6 in the morning, we were kept going by industrial strength coffee. The meal was spread out over the entire night, around 7 courses, including...the dancing chickens! This consisted of roast chickens being set alight with flames, and the waiters bringing them out to music. Like I said, strange, but very entertaining. The food was very good.
Around midnight came another surprise...I was kidnapped! Some of our friends stole me from the wedding, and took me to a popular terrace bar. Florin had to negotiate for my release. By strange coincidence, there was another kidnapped bride in the same terrace. It was decided we would make this tradition unique, by switching places. I didn't think I would be getting in to wife swapping so soon into my marriage! I was escorted to the other wedding, where my new "groom" was highly surprised to find he had a Scottish wife. I danced with my temporary husband before saying goodbye and returning to Florin. The ransom? Drink champagne from my shoe...mmmmm, tasty.
The guests danced traditional Romanian dances, and taught the Scottish guests who all enjoyed joining in. I liked the Romanian traditional music, although at times it sounded like it was stuck on fast forward. The Scottish guests returned the favour by playing some Scottish music and teaching our dances. It was really enjoyable to watch people share cultures like that.
The wedding came to an end, with everyone exhausted, but having had a good time. There was one last surprise for me. I was called to sit on a chair in the middle of the room. My veil was removed, and replaced by a red headscarf. The symbolism was not lost on me...I was now a wife, someone to look after her man. I admit I was not very happy about that tradition, but tried not to take it too seriously. My sister was chosen as the next prospective bride, and the veil put on her. I suppose that's the Romanian version of throwing the bouquet.
So that's a summary of my somewhat unusual wedding day. How about you? I'd love to hear interesting stories about your big day.
P.S. Still on holiday, photos from the Romanian wedding coming soon...
P.P.S Photos now added! See "My unusual Big Day...a photo blog".
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