wedding!!!

so, last night i went to the third wedding i've ever been to. since the first wedding happened before i was old enough for school, all i remember of it is a conversation with my mom in the bathroom. the second happened in high school and was my youth minister's wedding. and then this one. so, i'm not sure exactly how normal weddings in the us go, nor how normal this wedding was by slovak standards, but i'm going to attempt a comparison anyway.

overall, i think the ceremony is about as similar to us ceremonies as the church service is to us lutheran church services. that is to say, the differences are: 1-the language, 2-the way the pastor dresses, and 3-the liturgy is basically all sung here, while that is not necessarily the case in the us. the service was small, had a sermon, communion for the bride and groom, and exchanging of the traditional wedding vows. then, the bride and groom went out and were congratulated by everyone as they left and given a TON of flowers.

the wedding reception, however, was (i think) a bit different in a couple of ways. the first thing that i noticed was that when people tapped silverware against plates, glasses, etc., it did not (as is custom in the us) mean that it was time for a toast. instead, it was an indication that the bride and groom had to kiss, and if people weren't satisfied with the first one, then they kept tapping until they were satisfied.

as far as beverages go, i was quite surprised to find three different glasses at my place setting. i had one for soda/water (the bubbly kind, of course), one already filled with a slice of lemon and some sweet wine, and a shot glass. maybe it's just me, but i didn't realize there were so many times and ways to toast at a wedding.

finally, there is some of the wedding (such as cutting the cake) about which i can't report because the wedding ceremony started at 4:30 and we left the reception at 9. usually the celebrations last all night (it turns out this one ended at 7am!) and the cutting of the cake wasn't planned until midnight!! well, with two pastors preaching in the morning, we definitely weren't staying up all night (for which i am grateful), so we left early and i was very much content with the time i spent at the wedding and ready for bed when we arrived back home. the dancing was definitely fun and i learned new dances, listened to people speak slovak, tried to speak slovak myself, and even understood some of other people's conversations. what a fun time it was celebrating love:)