First celebratory shot at 11am. Reception starting at 4pm. Fourth course at 12am. Dancing. Eating. Dancing. Eating. On repeat for hours til breakfast time. This is a Romanian wedding. A full day of celebrations, laughter, good times with no set time limit. Just keep it going. And then sleep and do it again for day two.
Quite the grand day for me. Attending a Romanian wedding is an event that brings in lots of people with music, food, dancing and drink from the morning until the morning. This was a traditional wedding up in the mountains, in a small village. I was lucky to be there, way up a dirt road, in the village of the grandparents, far removed from the city and modern fare. Most of the locals were in traditional clothing, drinking homemade cheeses, meats and drinks. A festive time was had before the ceremony even began. Over an hour of dancing took place outside in the sunshine beside the house and barn, with 3 locals working the musical instruments. Awesome, authentic music and gets your feet a'moving!
The main thing people remember from the church service was that it was extremely hot inside and the priest spoke very fast Romanian. Lots of talking and ceremony and blessing of rings and also crowns. Nothing like getting a gold crown on your head like at Burger King. And then taking 3 bites of a biscuit soaked in wine, and then 3 sips of wine. Tradition! For the bride and groom. And the godparents (friends of similar age). But not the other wedding party members who had sweated through everything with them. After around an hour of standing, we were set to exit and cheer on the newly wed couple and dance a bit with kids throwing candy around.
The village wedding was a more intimate gathering from the reception to come ahead. Being Cristina's date got me there for a truly amazing experience. We had spent the night before near the grandparents house in a pension and loved the peace and quiet up there. Finding rides with a couple from Miami we made it down to the reception venue, a place we would spend 12+ hours at over the next two evenings. The feasting commenced with a platter containing every Romanian food out there. Packed with meats, veg and cheese it got the body energized for the dancing to come.
The hora, the traditional Romanian dance, is amazing. Circling up, everyone holds hand, you move in a circle, working those feet and not having to worry about stepping on each others toes. A great communal dance with fast beats and perfect for all ages. It's also a dance that never ends. It's gets faster and faster and the band will tease you with a finish and then just keep on going til everyone is about to drop. The relief when it is over is apparent, and yet they'll often just start a new one. Let it roll!
Numerous courses of food and alcohol come your way throughout the evening. It's a nonstop run of energy pumping in to the body to get you dancing. Or taking a break outside away from the loud band. It turned into too much polka and energy at a high decibel level for a lot of us. Couldn't really talk, which I learned is that Romanians have really loud music during wedding eating time. Just shut up and eat. No small talk. I still tried though...
The band finished by 1am and then Michael started up a dj set that went until around 6 from what I heard. We made it til 2am. A solid run on a great day. The younger generations were still there with the older generations having left around 1am, getting some sleep for the next day. And the party doesn't stop!
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