Nurai and Ahmed's Wedding

***So my computer wasn't working for two months. I'm gonna catch up on my posts.

A week before the wedding I met Nurai, the bride, on the street and she invited me to her wedding. Her husband, Ahmed, is the counterpart of a volunteer in a town near mine. The wedding was a three-day event. On Friday they went to the mosque and had their religious ceremony with family. On Saturday we went to Ahmed's family's house where everyone was meeting. They put the Americans to work, having us blow up balloons for the cars. We all got in cars and drove around the villages in a long train, honking as we passed people. Everyone stopped their work to watch us and the children jumped and waved as we passed.

 

We went to different houses, picking up family members. At each place they had a little ritual they did such as reading something or exchanging banitsa. A band played in the streets and we danced. Others walked around handing out a lot of sweets and cookies.

 

 

 

Then a few of us went back to the house to have dinner. The bride and groom are ethnically Turkish so we had a traditional Turkish dinner. We sat on a carpet on the floor of the barn with a small table in front of us. A hen walked around, a Turkish baba sat watching us and a donkey brayed nearby. We each had silverware and we ate from a communal bowl. When each course was finished the baba would grab the empty plate and put out a new one.

 

Then we all walked to the center of a village where a band had set up. They played and we watched as every baba in the village came, carrying a small stool with them. They sat in a large circle around the village square, watching us dance and celebrate. The whole village came out to watch, standing behind the babas and admiring the wedding party.

 

I can't take good pictures at night (or indoors with my camera) but this is the best I could do of us out in the square.

On Sunday morning we watched as Nurai and Ahmed walked to the civic center with a small band announcing their arrival.

This was the civil ceremony in the mayor's office. There were many traditions: breaking bread, drinking wine, cutting the string tying together the wedding rings and giving the parts to the single people in the room and one of the many "first dances".

 

The trippy ceiling of the room.

 

The father, mother, uncles and sister of the groom.

 

Next we walked to the reception hall across the street. It was filled with about 300 or more people. We were lucky enough to sit in front with the wedding party. They brought out food, gave us drinks, the band played and we danced.

 

Arrival at the reception.

 

Many people came (even all the way from Turkey).

 

When the man plays the sax in your ear you have to do your special dance move.

 

At the end of the ceremony people came up to give money or maybe a gift to the bride and groom. People stood in a line and a man with a mic announced from who the gift came and the amount. They received leva, dollars, euros and Turkish lira. If you gave a significant amount then the band played a short song and you had to dance with the bride and groom. When Joe and I walked up and gave our gift they decided to play a swing dance song and we had to impress everyone with our American dance moves.