Our next-door neighbor's daughter was married tonight. He invited us to the wedding at a local Catholic church. At first we didn't think we would be able to go because we had a meeting, but it was canceled. So at the last minute we all got dressed and left. Beforehand, the family of the bride came together to take pictures and sing songs over her. We heard drums and lots of singing and clapping from outside our window as we got dressed. Then we saw the crowd of people get in their cars and drive away. Thankfully our other neighbor was going as well, so they let us follow them to the church.
When we arrived, all the people were standing outside the church doors and up drove the bride's car. As you can see in the picture below, it was decorated with flowers and tulle. The bridesmaid got out of the car and then opened the door for the bride. Then her father came and helped her out.
Everyone still stood outside as the bride and father stood there waiting for time to go in. Slowly everyone shuffled into the doors and sat down.
Here is a closer look at her dress. It was so beautiful!
The father handed her over to the groom and they held their hands up as they began to enter the doors.
The bridesmaid and flower girl walked down the aisle, and then the priest stopped the couple before they walked down the aisle. He tied together some tulle in a bow and the couple untied the bow and proceeded down the aisle.
This was a Catholic wedding and you can see the ornate decorations inside. I have never been to a Catholic wedding before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. There was a lot of singing (a lot!) and the people stood up and sat down several times. I didn't know what all was being said, but I could make out some words from time to time. They had really bright lights in the front (I guess for pictures), and you can see those in the front. They lit candles together and knelt down together. The priest asked them some questions, to which they both said "Na'am", which means yes. The priest sang a lot, and the people sang a lot. They even sang, "Ave Maria"!
After the priest announced the married couple and told us to give them congratulations (mabrook), they then signed the marriage certificate right there in the front of the church while everyone watched. Some people were exclaiming blessings to the couple out loud and then making a noise (that I really can't explain to you.) Then people began to shuffle back outside the doors and this is what we see. Two doves in a cage.
Now this picture is a little blurry, but you get the idea. The couple released doves together outside the church. It was really beautiful.
Since Kevin just received an informal, verbal invitation to the wedding, we weren't comfortable assuming we were invited to the reception (and because we know there are two invitations - one to the wedding, and one to the reception - and not everyone is invited to both.) But we were thankful to get to have this experience.