An Ecuadorian Wedding
My morning (Saturday) was supposed to start by being at the church by 10:00 a.m. to do the flowers for the church. The couple that were getting married are a wonderful young couple that go to the local church. Oscar, the groom, works at the MAF Hanger helping in various jobs. Although I don't really know them that well all the missionaries do, so the wedding was a big deal in this little town of Shell. I was asked if I knew anything about arranging flowers. Of course I knew something--I know how to arrange flowers and put them on my dinning room table! So before I knew it I was accepting the job of arranging the flowers to decorate the church! No problemo, all you need is some wire and ribbon and any one could pull that off!
My story continues. I got a wake up call with the buzzer from the gate. It was someone asking if I was doing the flowers and they were there to help at 8:00 a.m.! I threw on a hat and in my broken spanish/english told her I had to brush my teeth and comb my hair and I'd be there in 30 min. I got to the church and started in. Three hundred roses greeted me, along with a variety of other wonderful Ecuadorian flowers, all in huge buckets waiting to be ARRANGED! (roses here cost about $2.00 for a dozen long stem.)
I had my working apron on and went for it. I started with displays of flowers for the pews, and thought no problem, this will go fast. Then I had to tell them how to do the arch, which then went to a floor display and the word they used was GRANDA! So they wanted a "big" display. OK, I could do that to. Some other gals from the church started to help me and another missionary. I was told that there was a florist doing the bride's, bridesmaids', groom's boutonniere, and the reception flowers. No Problemo! I thought great, this will be easy. About half way through I was asked to finish to granda displays that were also to go at the front of the church. They saw what I did with the other one and thought, 'oh she could do these ones to'. So onward I went.
Then a sweet Ecuadorian came to me and asked if I could do the matron of honor's flowers, the bride's bouquet, the bridesmaids' bouquet, the boutonnieres, and the reception flowers!! YIKES! What had I gotten into? I couldn't say no because who else would do it? It was then I realized I was the FLORIST!! Duh! You think I would have figured that one out much sooner!
Well, at 3:00 p.m. I was also supposed to be the photographer! At 2:30 I went home, changed my clothes, washed the green off my fingers, and went back to the church! Pictures were supposed to start at 3:00 p.m., but one cultural difference here from where we come from is that nothing starts on time! So at 4:00 p.m. we started taking pictures! There are 9 bridesmaids and 8 groomsmen, a huge family, and no air conditioning! So without speaking English I was able to coordinate a photography session. I did have help from an MAF couple who were my shadows and spoke when I didn't have the words! I am going to be great at charades! They laughed at me a lot but they knew what I wanted and did it. I took the bride pictures with all of the wedding party. I was supposed to take the groom's pictures after the ceremony.
The wedding was to start at 5:00 p.m., at 5:00 the groom showed up--he had fallen asleep! Well with the congregation filling the seats, we took all the pictures of him with his family while people watched! How embarrassing (for me)!
At 5:30 the wedding began! (They said that that was good as far as Ecuadorian time goes.) So I start taking pictures. When the bride came down the aisle I was there to get the shot! But no one told me that when I turned around there were going to be five other photographers!!! Yikes! How was I going to do this? Someone told them that the bride and groom where buying my pictures and I should get first preference in the shots! These guys where amazing! They were practically on the stage! The room felt like a sauna, the flowers were wilting and the wedding went on!
It took about an hour. They had about three long songs, and on the third one my "shadows" told me I needed to get a shot of the rings on the Bible! That meant walking up on stage and taking photos of the bride and groom's hands!! You gotta to be kidding! My "shadows" said, "They don't care, really, go for it!" So I did! It took every bone in my body to muster enough gall to do that one. They were right, they didn't care!
Another tradition is for the bride and groom to give each set of parents a gift. The bride gave her mother and father Oscar's baby outfit, and he gave her parents a toy car. They both were gifts from when they were little. Like any traditional wedding there had to be pictures afterwards! The bride and groom together with all of the family and wedding party! Which I did! By then they knew all the poses and I didn't have to direct much at all.
One neat thing they do here is the bride and groom have "God parents" for lack of a better word. They're not godparents to their future children, but to them as a couple. They are the ones that hold them accountable in their marriage! This couple receives more honor than the wedding party, and almost the parents! So I had to get pictures with them too.
The RECEPTION...have you heard enough, have I rambled on way too long? Well guess what? The reception was LONG. Actually long isn't the word. How about "forever". I could hardly stand watching. There were probably 250 people there and 3 people to serve them! It started out with one tray of cookies that get passed out. When that was gone the people that didn't get one, didn't get one! They only had so many! (They were stale from sitting out and the moisture had gotten to them.) They had to do toast after toast, and games! Then the three waiters had to pick up all the plates at the tables so they could put food on them and bring them all back out! Oh, the juice got poured by one waiter and you were only allowed one glass! That took a huge amount of time because he only had two pitchers! But remember, time is not an ISSUE! Eventually they got the food out, carrying the plates two by two. They wouldn't think of carrying more then two platters at a time.
We then had to throw the flowers and the garter! The garter was an incredible game! It went through many different phases, and took about 20 minutes! No lie! I didn't know what to expect! They did not have dancing, but they had the groom sing a few songs to the bride! Sweet! But by then you could see the bride was wilting and her beautiful glow was loosing its oomph! Oh, don't forget we had cake and ice cream! That too had to be passed out to all the guests that were left. By then it was almost 10:00 p.m. and I was running out of film! I crossed the room to take a few more pictures and sat down. Then I realized everyone was looking at ME! Roger, a missionary doctor, motioned to me to stand up, and he quickly said they are thanking you! I was so embarrassed. Nothing like having no clue what is being said and then acting like you heard every word and understood it. I smiled with a dumb smile, said Gracias! and wanted to go and hide my head in the back room.
Well, we made it and all the guest finally started to leave after the bridesmaids kidnapped the bride and drove her around town and brought her back! As the guests were walking out they started taking all the flowers out of the displays to take home with them!!! Oh my, there went all that work, but you know me ..... waste nothing if you know it brings joy to others!
I loved every minute of it. I was truly in my element! I went with the flow, I got to meet many Ecuadorians and had a really neat conversation with one of them who speaks some english. I am thrilled to be able to help them. Like I told many of you before I left, I will be doing the same thing here as I do at home. Little did I know how true it is. Just a little more stretching.
All in a days work.
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