Sunday, May 10, 2009

Our First Coptic Wedding....We Partied ALL Night!

Last night we attended our first Coptic wedding. Our pediatrician and his dear wife invited us to their daughter's wedding. It was an amazing evening. Stacey, Meredith and Madison spent a few hours at the Coiffure getting pedicures, manicures and their hair done. (totaling $30!) The wedding started at 8 pm at the Coptic church on our street. We arrived at 8 and the bride arrived around 8:20 which is very common here. While we waited we took these pics:




This is Meredith with Mirna. Mirna is in our Bible study.
The bride arrived in a beautiful limo with her mother. Her mother exited the car and then there were many pictures taken of the bride sitting in the car. Here are her parents waiting in anticipation for her to get out of the limo:
We then followed the bride into the church. The bride and groom stand to the side of the platform. There are chairs for them there because there is a lot of standing and sitting during the ceremony. No vows are given. There is much "chanting" by the priests and some things read to the couple.


Madison loved being there:




Here is a video of part of the ceremony. The priest covers the bride and groom with capes (I forgot to ask why).



Side note: On the way home from the wedding Matthew Ray said, "They didn't even say,
You may kiss the bride or nothin! They didn't say you may do anything! That was boring!" We had a good laugh! But that was just the beginning of our evening. We got the kids to a friend's house to spend the night and then Matt and I headed to the reception at a popular hotel.

We were awe-stuck by the reception....it was incredible!! Matt and I arrived at around 11 pm and the party was just getting started. We ate appetizers while we waited for the bride and groom to enter. They danced the first dance and then the festivities really began. The buffet opened with ROOMS of food...it was just amazing! The bride and groom sat on a couch as they watched the show begin...here's just a clip of it:



All in all it was an amazing evening...we have never seen anything like it! Here we are at 2 am...a little frazzled looking but having a good time! :)