Our First Wedding

As I mentioned on my P365 blog, we attended two weddings on Saturday: a church service in the morning and a civil ceremony in the evening. I wanted to share more photos, so decided to do a more comprehensive post on this blog.

Ivan attended weddings when he lived here as a kid, but we hadn't been to any since moving here four years ago. I was really looking forward to seeing how they might be the same or different.

Not surprisingly, the church wedding was very similar to what I was used to in the U.S. The groom arrived in an antique truck:

Isn't that a beauty?!

One of the differences is that they don't have groomsmen or bridesmaids. The groom's mother stands up with him at the very beginning, and the bride's father walks her down the aisle, but then they both sit down during the service. Here's Cristian and his mom waiting at the front:

I loved the bride's ride:

Totally my color! And how fun is the fact that it's all wrapped up like a gift?

Although there were no attendants, there was an adorable ring bearer:

And then finally Melissa, the bride!

 

At the end of the ceremony, the happy couple turned to be introduced to the congregation:

Then we were off to the Salón de Usos Múltiples (multipurpose building) just outside Sta. Rosa:

[I mainly included this photo for family, who I thought would be interested in seeing the new facility.]

Inside it was decorated in white and pink, with enough seating for the 200+ guests:

And here's a picture of the cake:

The catering staff served small glasses of Coke, Sprite or water, along with miniature empanadas as we waited for the bridal party, who arrived a short time later:

At many weddings here, the guests are asked to pay for their own dinner. It really wasn't that much; about what you'd pay for a meal at a restaurant like Olive Garden. I'd say we got our money's worth! The meal was an asado that included a whole beef!

There was also several salads, chorizo and morzilla (sausages), bread and a variety of beverages. The meat just kept coming until we were all stuffed. It was so good! Very tender, very flavorful. One of the best asados I've ever been to in Argentina.

Sad to say, we could not stick around for the cake. We had to hightail it back to Carlos Paz for the second wedding of the day. But we did take time to have a photo taken with Cris and Meli:

They are such a sweet couple! We are so happy for them, and grateful for the invitation to be a part of their special day.

In case you're wondering what our connection is: Cris is our auto mechanic. He's so dependable and trustworthy that, whenever possible, we wait and take the car to him for repairs. We feel it's worth the two hour drive to go to someone we know we can trust. And Meli was quite helpful when the group from Spring Arbor University was here in May and visited La Cumbrecita, where she works for the tourism board.