Fish out of water

I attended my friend's wedding whose family is from Guatemala and his wife's family is from Mexico. This social event has definitely made me feel like a fish out of water because their culture background and religion are a lot different from mine. As a Filipina-Japanese Asian American, I come from a Catholic family while their religion is Iglesias.

The wedding was colorful, beautiful and very traditional. The reception was held at the Iglesias church's hall. They had long tables were families and friends from their church sat together for this special occasion. The tables were decorated with lots of red and white balloons, and as center pieces there were white baskets filled with red roses to set the romantic mood. There was music playing softly in the background so that guests can bond together and socialize with one another. Old fashion fans decorated with white and red laced ribbons were passed around as wedding favors.

During the wedding I noticed that most of the guests were from the bride’s and groom’s church who all seem very close with each other. There were a lot of children running around and cheering for the bride and groom. While the bride and groom walked down the rows of tables to greet their guests, little girls were blowing bubbles in their direction and about twenty guests would get up to take tons of pictures as if they were the paparazzi.

For dinner there was a delicious feast which was set as a buffet. They had salad, Spanish red rice, grilled steak fajitas, baked potatoes covered with cheese, and chicken in a mushroom sauce. On another table were buckets of different punch drinks called, horchata. And for an appetizer there were two types of salsa and chips served on every table.

A lot of things were done differently in this wedding than weddings that I have been to. Since Inglesians don’t drink alcohol they had bottles of apple cider placed on each table. Instead of sounds of silverware clicking on glasses there were loud noises of cheering and clapping going on to get the bride and groom to kiss.

Although I didn’t understand Spanish, I felt touched by the expressions of joy and laughter from their guests and the couple’s mothers’ heart warming speech that seem to have taken a great impact on everyone.

The guests were very friendly and hospitable towards my friends and me. They made us felt welcomed, asking us if we needed anything as they brought cups and cake to our table. It was more of a family party rather than a wedding which was quite comforting. There were no rules or judgment on wedding behavior, just warm and loving average people having a great time.