WEDDING ROMANIAN STYLE

The day of the wedding, I felt well, no symptoms of the head and chest cold. Sooo, I had Ben pick me up. Tal was still feeling rotten. I left the apartment at 11:45 and returned at 9:00 p.m. An 8 hour celebration.

I wish now that I had taken the camera to share a picture, but I didn't want to keep up with it. For some reason I have a slight fear of cameras. Haven't given it much concern though, Tal takes care of photography.

The couple was in their early 30s and both had good jobs. The Bride, followed by two Bridemaids, entered from the back. The Bride joined her Groom and sat together on the specially decorated wedding bench. The Bridesmaids sat on the front row during a 30 minute exposition of Christain Marriage and Family from Scripture. The grooms family was not Christian, but they experienced a healthy dose of Christian values. Then Ben led them in making their vows to each other.

We drove to a restaurant at the edge of town for the celebration party. This was a meal plus all kinds of activities helping us to get to know the wedding couple and celebrate their life. Christian music was presented the entire time by recording and by a small group of young people from the church.

The food offerings were over the top. From the time we arrived at 2:00 until we left at 8:40, food was being served, one course after another. Each table had a center piece of fruit - banana, oranges, grapes, and bowls of nuts. The first course was a lovely salad plate with tomato bowl filled with eggplant spread, a fish pate, cheese cubes, rolled deli ham. That would have been enough for me, but soon the next plate arrived. It had fried potato wedges and some kind of meat. That was taken away and a bowl of soup was brought. I was looking for dessert next, but two more plates were to come yet. Next was some kind of fish steak with a sauce and vegetable, then another plate of assorted meat. Other things were served that I don't remember. Oh, the dessert finally did come and it was worth waiting on.

It was a great celebration that I enjoyed even though I did not understand much and could not communicate with anyone. They are warm and friendly and I can smile back, but wow! how important is language understood!