Another Wedding

 070208 – Another Wedding

Well, it's the morning after the night before. Last night we attended the wedding of one of Albert’s colleagues - he was there both as a friend & also as the Groom's personal photographer. The wedding went off without a hitch, well almost. The personal photographer knocked one of the glass bowls off its stand, which was part of a set of 10 decorating the aisle & which had water & a candle floating in it - of course as we all know “a little liquid goes a long way” - & especially when you have guests all dressed up to the 9's. However, the personal photographer did good & just got on with taking photos of the couple walking down the aisle towards getting married. Other people willingly picked up the pieces of glass & dried off the guests! It was funny, because at the other end of the service, when the couple were, again, walking UP the aisle, [this time as husband & wife] someone went ahead of the personal photographer, standing guard at each of the pedestals! To give him his dues, the personal photographer just acknowledged this piece of help & laughed along with the helper. As with most Egyptian weddings, confusion reigned supreme. 

I don't think I could even start to describe what goes on, other than there are several "events" going on at the same time; the wedding itself is merely providing the stage for the other events & almost has a minor part in the whole play: for example - a church is a wonderful place for the kids to play - after all, they can run up & down the stairs & across the internal balconies [in this Church at least] & can play hide-and-seek amongst the guests [all of whom actively participate in the game by hiding favoured kids]; with this Church there are the equivalent of 7 aisles - wow! what a storehouse of fun they provide; the kids can also run under or jump over the netting that is strung along both sides of the centre aisle & is hitched at each pew [this was a definite favourite for some of the kids, last night]; as well, they can buy ice-creams & coke from the tuck-shop downstairs & bring it back into the Church to enjoy [& get everything over everyone else in the process]; oh! and don't forget that kids don't do anything quietly & so all the while, there's this commotion going on which in other cultures would be most distracting for everyone [not to mention it would be unacceptable & downright intolerable]; & the list just keeps keeping on. If I were to sit here & ponder I'd come up with a list as long as your arm. 

However, that's not everything that's going on during the wedding. Other things include: - long-lost cousins [I'm talking about 4th, 5th & 6th generation cousins - after all, they see their 1st, 2nd & 3rd cousins on a regular basis] - and of course these reunions are taking place all throughout the service AND those participating are standing up where they had been sitting or are reaching over pews & chatting to one another in a reasonable tone of voice! - you've also got a number of people chatting on their mobiles to absent friends & family, providing a commentary of the proceedings; or maybe they are planning their next social activity? None of these calls are done quietly [after all, why should they be - this is only a wedding] - then there are the myriad of people who have camera mobile phones [with video options these days] & they are up & down the stairs to the stage pushing their phones into the faces of the happy couple, not caring one iota whether others are composing that magic photo or not. Mind you, I don't blame the congregation for being side-tracked by other things because they can't see the couple [who by the way are sitting in the highly decorated Love Seat, facing the congregation all the while]. 

I think the theory is that the couple are in full view of the congregation & their role is simply to patiently sit there, smiling every time a camera lens is thrust into their faces & especially while the official video camera is pointing at them [otherwise, others will view the video later on & comment how sad the couple looked on their special day, etc., etc]. Anyway, these days, the small kids [like 8 & 9 year olds] think it's a hoot that they grab Mum or Dad's camera phone & race up the stairs to show off their newly learned skills - ooh! that didn't work, I'd better go back & re-do it - ah!!! I still didn't get it right, so I'll go back again!!! Ooh! This is fun... Last night there was one teenage girl who must have had a camera phone with a HUGE memory card because her camera-phone was continuously thrust into the couples' faces - much to the anger of the video cameraman, who eventually told her to move to one side & allow others to take their photos!!! At one stage, there were so many people up on the stage that one of the pastors asked everyone to step aside so that the congregation could get a glimpse of what was going on! I said one of the pastors because often there are quite a number - last night's wedding had 5 pastors participating in the service - that's a fairly common number! Other differences in their special day include: the groom & a batch of his friends, as well as his brothers, sisters & a few cousins, turn up at the bride's home prior to the wedding - at a pre-determined time [or thereabouts]. 

However, there is simply no opportunity to get any posed shots of the bride or the couple or with any one else because mayhem runs supreme at this time - then, the whole group leave enmasse for the studio shots, which are taken BEFORE the wedding, not afterwards. However, only the bride & groom have their photos taken, not anyone else [not even parents]. But, this "leaving the bride's home" is actually quite a performance because now all the other people who live in the building [remember, we don't live in single homes here but just about everyone lives in large apartment blocks], well - they all have a part to play in this ceremony of getting the bride from her home down to street level & it usually means via a pretty wonky & badly made staircase! This is done amidst much singing, chanting, laughing & sheer joy as befits the occasion. The car, that had been bedecked with flowers, bows & ribbons, awaits the happy couple & is ready to whisk them off to the studio for their official wedding photos. 

Anyway, once they are at the photographer's studio, the entourage wait outside on the narrow pavement, often spilling on to the road & are all in good spirits after all, why wouldn't they be? This is a wedding! After the photos, the friends of the groom will usually take him to the Church in one of their beaten up & well used cars [the question is asked at this point - will he make it?], while the bride goes in the "wedding car" with her father. They're not into "wedding cars" as such here, but rather drive their family car around to the local florist shop where it is decorated with flowers, ribbons & bows! Of course, the better off the family; the better the bride’s car! - and so now we have the groom at the Church & he patiently awaits his bride [here, we finally have something in common with "our" weddings] - when the bride arrives, she is escorted to the door of the Church by her father [or male representative, if there is no father] where he hands her to the groom - the bride does NOT wear a veil over her face & she does NOT have any attendants & nor does the groom have a best man or other "helpers" - there are no superstitions here about it being bad luck for the groom to see the bride or her face [the reason our brides wear a veil] before the pastor announces them as husband & wife - actually, there is no announcement of husband and wife, at the end of the service they simply are husband and wife - the couple walk down the aisle together -  they sit on the Love Seat & face the congregation afterwards, when they walk down the aisle as a married couple there is almost no-one to see them because everyone has already scampered to the "congratulations line", which has been set up outside the Church, so they don't have to wait for ever to shake the couples' hands & extend their congratulations - it's so bizarre to see the couple walking down the aisle to an almost empty Church - the couple stand in a pre-prepared spot outside the Church [usually under an artificial arbor] to accept the congratulations of everyone who has come. 

Now, just because you're on the line, doesn't mean that you attended the wedding - many people come just to stand on the line because they're either too busy or don't want to attend the actual service. This "congratulations line" is always included on the video & as long as you're face appears on the video then all is well! You have done your duty. Of course, once you've shaken hands with the couple, you are free to go. Which means now, that when the couple leave the Church compound, there is almost no-one there to see them into the wedding car & wave them good-bye! Those who have been invited to the reception [& it's only a small handful of very close friends & family - and even then, not all the family, not even parentsmor siblings sometimes], leave to get to the reception, so that they are there to greet the newly-weds; & others go to wherever they go [be it home or another engagement???]. 

Last night's wedding started at 9.30pm & by the time we left the Church compound it was 12.30am!!!!! Thank goodness we weren't invited to the reception, or we might still be there! When we arrived at the Church, another wedding was going through the "congratulations line" stage & we were really hoping that this wasn't "our" wedding but the tail-end of the one before! That awful feeling that we all experience from time to time that we got the start-time wrong! We were much relieved when we didn't recognise the bride & groom! When we went inside the Church, the workers were busy dismantling the decorations of the previous wedding & right on their heels were other workers putting in the new colour scheme, etc... It's very, very interesting! I'm sure there are a lot of similarities here to most of the weddings you’ve attended lately????? Ho! Ho! Ho! Well, if you've gotten to this point, I must congratulate you - I rambled on a bit here; sorry about that.

We were invited to another wedding dinner on one occasion only to find that we made Guests 10 and 11. His sister was there but only because they were best buddies and she was the only member of either family there - all the rest were friends.

Originally, Albert was asked if he would photograph the Wedding...