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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 27, 2009 23:54:58 GMT
Because only civil marriage ceremonies are legally recognized in Mexico, many couples wed but wait for quite a while before having a church wedding with the attendant festivities afterward. These festivities are always fun, so I was very pleased to be invited to the wedding yesterday of a couple whose extended family I know. Since the town of Nazareno was moved to its present location in 1970, it has a modern church. Here is the interior after the nuptial Mass, when the couple have moved to the side of the altar to sign the registry. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The flowers in the church were beautiful. Here's a standing arrangement and a closeup of one. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ At the moment I snapped this picture, the firecrackers outside were deafening. That's the bride's father in the foreground. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The couple exit the church in a rain of rice. This is the bride's maternal grandmother outside the church. She's holding a basket she'll later fill with wrapped hard candies to fling to the party attendees. Note the band and Monte Alban in the background. The sister-in-law of the lady above is a friend of mine & told me to come along to her house. She and her daughter were madrinas (godmothers) of the fruit. This meant that they provided some presentation fruit bowls for special guests, plus a bushel of apples for throwing to the party guests.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 27, 2009 23:55:56 GMT
Here we are at my friend's house. She is the sister of the bride's maternal grandfather. I attended a wonderful wedding party here when her grandson got married. The purpose for gathering here was to allow time for the wedding guests to gather at the home of the bride's parents, where the party was being held. This part of the family will arrive with a band and the traditional gift of a wardrobe. In this case, it was a chest of drawers, which was the bride's preference. I helped put together these fruit bowls. Okay, my job was to wipe the bloom off the apples, but still ........... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A wheel of fireworks that will be set off sometime today. Here come more family to swell the ranks of those who will dance their way to the main party. The members of the band file to their seats. And the band cranks up! The guy in front is mobilizing the men who will carry the chest to the main party. These men are not simply carrying the chest -- they are dancing with the chest! The band continues playing as everyone gets ready to dance all the way to the party headquarters. I carried the bushel of apples, the mixed candies, and a case of beer in my car, so no dancing in the dusty road for me.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 27, 2009 23:57:49 GMT
The chest and its weary bearers arrive at the home of the bride's parents. (I noted some of the dancers helped on the way here by carrying pulled-out drawers.) The chest is set up and some brief speeches are made with its presentation. It is symbolic of the couple setting up housekeeping together. I have been to many parties at this house. I'm struck by the arrangement in the round bowl. A friend who recently returned from Los Angeles told me about the citrus slice innovation in flower arranging, but this is the first time I've seen it. Aren't the arrangements hanging from the ceiling with swags of organza lovely? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Really, everything is beautiful and the overcast day is doing its best not to rain on the festivities. More flowers on my table. That is the host's sister and her daughter sitting across from me. The plant matter on the table is hierba del borracho -- "drunkard's herb" -- traditional at weddings. (botanical name: Satureja macrostema) I noticed men hanging it on themselves when they were dancing. Apparently it was traditionally used in Oaxaca for wedding wreaths, and I saw one woman take some from the table & make a wreath for her head with it. I'm a teensy bit worried by the speaker set up. This is only half of it. Most local parties operate under the "more is better" theory of music volume. That's the first performer there in the mariachi outfit, and those are his helpers. He has a good voice and delivery, although I don't like him because of his homophobic "humor" as he presents the very popular songs of Juan Gabriel. I believe the big speakers got put into operation much later, as the party rocked until midnight. Our host is in the meat business and this barbacoa was wonderfully tasty and moist. It was cooked in a pit with avocado leaves. That's green chile and avocado salsa on top, black beans and homemade tortilla on the side. We had this after a big serving of tripe soup. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 27, 2009 23:59:14 GMT
The party livens up immensely with this turkey dance. I've never seen this before, and it is something! Four men, four turkeys ~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The guy in the striped shirt was particularly into swinging his turkey over his head. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They're exhausted. Swinging turkeys is hard work. What's that you say? You're having trouble envisioning men dancing with turkeys? Here, take a look at this: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 28, 2009 0:00:23 GMT
When the turkey dance wound down, these ladies circulated giving gifts of lovely white cotton rebozos, "so you can keep dancing", as one of them said when I received mine. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And the band plays on and on ...................... Now it's time for some real fun -- apple and candy tossing. The groom has a mean underhand toss, as his bride scrabbles for more apples to throw. You know, I think he could have gone professional! <---It's a grounder, but she's got it! Grandmother tosses candy --------->
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 28, 2009 0:38:27 GMT
Of course there was dancing at the party, although fairly sporadic until later. As is common in Oaxaca, women frequently dance together. Don't you adore those red shoes?! The bride and groom start off a bit of traditional dancing. They are first joined by my electrician's wife and son, then some others and it all heats up a bit. note: video had to be rotated, which makes the dancers look squatty.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ But what is going on here? This is the set-up for the vibora (viper) dance. The groom is holding out the bride's veil for all the women who hope to be married to dance underneath it. Here we go ............. It gets wilder ................. Wheeeeeeeeeee The bumping and attempting to dislodge the groom are part of the fun. You can see his helpers struggling to keep him upright. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And the bumping and rough-housing increase when it's the men's turn to dance under the veil. Let's check that out in motion -- first the women, then the men: Of course there was more, the cutting of the cake, for instance. Note the lights over the stage for the dancing that went on until midnight. I wanted to stay and dance, but it was getting dark and threatening rain, so I wisely went home instead.
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Post by Jazz on Jul 28, 2009 1:16:21 GMT
This is great, Bixa! I feel that I've just been to a Mexican wedding...god knows it's more festive than any wedding I've ever attended! There is so much in the photos, its hard to know where to begin. Did you stay to watch the wheel of fireworks?
One photo I like very much...the two women sitting with the green pitcher, sliced limes in another clear vase and the greenery. Beautiful. I wonder what they were thinking? You could frame this and have it on your freshly painted walls.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 28, 2009 1:43:53 GMT
Oh, thank you, Jazz! It was a completely different experience being there taking pictures. I finally just decided to snap what I liked and sort it all out later. Those two women were my table mates. I really wanted a picture of them with the older woman's mother, who was sitting on the other side of her. The young woman looked just like her. Here is our host, brother to the middle woman in the "green" photo, hugging their mother: I don't know when that wheel of fireworks was set off. It may have been when they danced the chest and baskets to the party, since I went the other direction in my car, or it may have been after dark. Believe me, there are ample opportunities to see and hear fireworks here!
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Post by imec on Jul 28, 2009 3:47:47 GMT
This is great bixa! Only problem is, I can't stop laughing about the Turkey dancin' ;D ;D ;D. Absolutely fabulous!!!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2009 4:22:31 GMT
This is fantastic, Bixa, and quite unusual for a wedding because it actually looks like fun. The pictures really bring it to life, because it is all of the little details that count rather than if groups were posing, for example.
I'll need to scrutinize this a few more time to examine the myriad of details. The apron lady has her eye on things like she is the person secretly in charge of the whole event.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 28, 2009 4:36:08 GMT
For people who are immensely fun loving and downright zany, Oaxacans be be awfully stone-faced, giving the wrong idea entirely. If you look closely at the first shot of the apron lady, she's sidling by, trying not to get hit in the face by a flying turkey. Look at the serious lady in purple opening the styrofoam plates in the last section. Now look at this picture taken moments later. Gives a different impression of her personality, doesn't it?
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Post by hwinpp on Jul 28, 2009 5:22:45 GMT
Country weddings are nice.
How was the food? Do the guests stay on until everything has been eaten or drunk or do they leave early?
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 28, 2009 5:33:29 GMT
The food was good. You could really taste the anisey flavor of the avocado leaves in the meat. No utensils are given you with the food -- you eat it all by picking it up with tortillas. So, it was good and it was filling, but that's it, except for the cake later. If you stay till the end and keep drinking, you'll be well and truly tanked. And believe me, the beer and booze keep flowing.
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Post by tillystar on Jul 28, 2009 8:47:50 GMT
Oh that looks like a fun wedding! What brilliant pictures! I love the dancing through the bride’s veil – is that a local tradition? The turkey dancing is absolutely crazy, I would love to see that!!
Are the citrus arrangements made of glass bowls full of cut up lime? I couldn’t see if it was that or slices arranged against the inside of the bowl maybe?
It is true that these pictures need looking at again and again to get all the detail!
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Post by spindrift on Jul 28, 2009 9:23:51 GMT
Yes, there's so much to see in the pictures. I'll be looking at them for days! What a treat it's been to view a real Mexican wedding. I love the tradition where men dance with the chest but I'm not at all keen on dancing with turkeys and I'm worried about what happened to the turkeys after the dance! I suppose they were made ready for the pot? I can see that Mexicans put their 'all' into celebrations. It's so nice to see people letting go and enjoying themselves. Bixa - did you dance under the bride's veil? The food is simple yet delicious. I didn't know that cooking over avocado leaves produces an aniseed flavour. Mexicans have a zest for life that's sadly lacking in us northerners.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2009 10:52:19 GMT
Zest for life as others noted seems to encapsulate the whole experience! I love the idea of handing out rebozas "so you can keep dancing." The tossing of the apples and hard candy is a zany tradition,hope no one get hurt. The turkey dance is hilarious. I too ,looked for you in the vibora pic but then I thought I saw you with a citrus lined vase under your new reboza leaving the party. Great pics,thanks for sharing this. (I was really lusting after the green pitcher in the traditional Oaxacan glaze,had never seen one that beautiful and elaborate. Are these only pulled out for special occasions?) Also,seeing this thread ,I totally "get" why you love living there ,even more then I already did.
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Post by lola on Jul 28, 2009 15:05:21 GMT
What a wedding. What a cake. How fun, bixa. Thanks so much.
I once attended a wedding in the mountains of New Mexico (supposedly more isolated from 1600's Spain than Mexican influence, though). Something there I had never seen was where men who dance with the bride would pin money to the front of her dress, so she was soon papered with it. It's also traditional for a big fight to break out on such occasions, but I left before that part. It was also lively and fun like this one.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 28, 2009 15:52:07 GMT
Oh ~~ thank you all! I am so glad you enjoyed this. Let me try to answer the questions in sequence. The dancing under the bride's veil is done all through Mexico, as far as I know. On the citrus slice arrangement, I assume there's something stuffing it in the middle, as slices would float around too much otherwise. If you look at the close-up in Reply#2, (with the two women & the pitcher), it looks as though there are whole limes in there as well. Turkeys are a major festive food here, although usually not in the roasted and stuffed version that most of us know. You can see the dancing birds are not nearly so like Big Bird as the ones offered for US Thanksgiving, for instance. Well, boogying birds do get more exercise, so would be more lithe. Yeek ~ no dancing under the veil for me. I have no desire to be married. Avocado leaves are a component of cooking throughout Mexico. Different varieties have leaves with more or less flavor, but you can try it at home with any avocado leaves. Either toast some leaves over an open flame, then grind them to powder, or simply crumple a leaf and put it in what you're cooking the same way as you'd do with bay leaf. If you have access to enough leaves, line a roasting pan with them, put in the meat, then cover with more leaves. Re: leaving the party with a vase ~~ this is done and expected! Anything on the table is expected to be taken away. However, I've never been able to casually scoop up a table decoration and leave with it. I only get stuff that is put into my hands. That was my first time to see the greenware ornamented with the tin, and I just loved it. It comes from the village of Atzompa, just west of Oaxaca. The green pottery can be very elaborate. It chips very easily, though. Here's a pot I have: I don't know if money-pinning is done here. It's done in SW Louisiana, and a Canadian friend told me it was a tradition with some people of German descent as well. One thing they did not do, but which is frequently part of weddings around here, is the tossing of the groom. This usually takes place far enough long into the party that the grooms friends are well oiled. Maybe Delmar is just a bit too solid for his friends to relish the idea of repeatedly tossing him into the air then catching him.
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Post by traveler63 on Jul 28, 2009 21:24:29 GMT
Oh Bixa!!!!! You did a wonderful job with this piece, the phots and the dialogue was wonderful. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this. Thank you!!!!!!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2009 4:37:40 GMT
Assuming that is a real "cake tree" in the photos, how do they get at the ones on top?
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 29, 2009 4:49:56 GMT
Thank you so much, Traveler! That is heartening. I did have fun putting it together. Hmmm. I wonder how they got the top cakes down! I know the sliced the bottom one first, so maybe they slid the others off when they were ready to cut them, then lifted the whole contraption down to get at the top ones. I know they put the tree up first, then put the cakes on it once it was in place. Here are the bottom two, and a look at the whole thing, which shows how tall it is.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2009 19:48:12 GMT
When did you arrive? When did you leave?
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 29, 2009 22:22:16 GMT
Hmmm. Don't really know. The wedding Mass was at 1:30, so must have let out an hour later. Then I was at the great-aunt's house for at least an hour ......... arrived @ 4, maybe. It was starting to get dark when I left, but the dancing hadn't really started up good ( ). I guess I left somewhere between 7:30 and eight.
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Post by lola on Jul 30, 2009 1:18:10 GMT
Nuestra (then what word?) on the top cake?
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 30, 2009 2:00:29 GMT
It's "boda", Lola ~~ nuestra boda = our wedding
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Post by lola on Jul 30, 2009 2:59:15 GMT
Very sweet. Beautiful bride, too.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 30, 2009 3:06:47 GMT
Yes, I've always thought she was an extremely pretty girl. It's a good-looking bunch of women in that family. Her mother is in several pictures here, but no good ones of her. You can see her in the first turkey picture, behind her mother, and in the first cake-cutting picture (reply #5), on the extreme right.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2009 12:33:01 GMT
The bride does look very elegant,graceful and poised. I love shoulderless gowns if you can pull them off and she does.
What do you suppose a wedding of that size and style( I guess is the word),costs? Seeing as it is such a family and community event I imagine it's not nearly as obscene an amount of money as so many U.S. weddings. Does the bride's family take care of it as most families traditionally do here?
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Post by cigalechanta on Jul 30, 2009 18:44:17 GMT
That was fun . almost like being there. My only concern is were the turkeys hurt? My parents were born in italy and at weddings it is common for two women to dance together. I've been invited to an anniversary in Provence. friends have rented a goat farm for that day. Alas it is financially out of the question for me
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2009 19:24:54 GMT
In all of Europe, it is common for women to dance together. That's because men like me refuse to dance.
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