a Costa Rican kind of wedding!

Saturday was so much fun! just so much fun! Denn's assistant's daughter married. She was actually married in a Civil Ceremony 3 days before. Here a Christian pastor doesn't have the authority to sign the official documents, the lawyer does in the Civil Ceremony. However, since Catholicism is the official religion, a priest can sign the official documents and no Civil Ceremony is needed. The family is present as witnesses at the Civil Ceremony.

Kailyn's church wedding was so precious. I didn't get pictures of the ceremony, I didn't want to intrude. The family walks down the aisle. Her sisters and their families, then her parents walked her down the aisle to the traditional wedding march. The men of the family sit on one side and the women on the other side. So the 2 mothers sat together and the fathers on the other side. I thought that was very interesting. The bride and groom are seated in pretty chairs facing the altar. The pastor gave a message about marriage. Then the audience stood for the remainder of the wedding. As they promised their vows and exchanged the rings. There was a kiss and the pastor said ESO. meaning that's it. The family walked down the aisle and then the bride and groom.

When we were dismissed to leave the church the bride was standing on one side of the passageway and the groom on the other. Most of the people were transported by a big bus to the Event Salon for the reception. We in cars followed behind the bus.

Loud music, lots of dancing, a beautiful cake, an arroz con pollo dinner plate, a toast which the bride's mother gave, the throwing of the garter and bouquet were all part of the reception. However a different thing for me to see was when someone wanted to dance with the bride or groom, they pinned money to the dress/suit. I found that interesting. My friend from Puerto Rico said they do that there too. There was a gift table as well.

Part of learning culture includes weddings and funerals. There is so much to learn and it was really fun to observe this part of Costa Rican life.

 One of our professors is teaching Renee how to dance Costa Rican style!