first "family" wedding in Haiti

Well, it is over and done and I survived!
Today was Frantz & Badeline's wedding.
Frantz is Ronel's cousin on his dad's side (the son of his dad's sister - I know, but I am just clarifying so you'll all understand)
Badeline is Ronel's cousin on his mom's side (I don't think that she is Ronel's first cousin but somewhere in there - she is related to him!)

So - there was ALOT of Ronel's family at this wedding and that meant ALOT of family that I had yet to meet! (some of them travelled a long way for this wedding)

So the wedding was supposed to start at 8am this morning (Dec 31st) Ronel was coming to pick me up and he had said he would be here like 7:30-7:45am depending on how many people were at the church and if the wedding party was there or not. I told him that I would be ready at 7:30am. So this morning I got up at 6am, showered, blowdried my hair, put on my makeup, etc. etc... and then got dressed - it was 7:35am. I then had to find my camera, make sure I had everything necessary to be gone all morning and then I started searching for my keys (not a huge deal but still wanted them just in case I came home and Karen had gone out) It was now 7:55am and still no Ronel. At 8am, devotions were finished and so I decided to walk down to the kids home with them and wait there. (with no keys - couldn't find them) As I was walking down - trying to avoid Pal (our German Shepherd who loves to jump on you when you are in nice clothes!) there was a knock on the gate and it was Ronel. It was just after 8am and he was in his dress pants but a casual shirt. So we went down to his house and NO ONE was at the church yet! So, we got to Ronel's, wrote the card for our gift (I hadn't been able to remember how to spell the bride's name so had waited for Ronel!) and as we were talking, the bell at the church rang, so Ronel changed his shirt into his dress shirt, tie and jacket and we went off to the church. When we got there it was about 8:25am and there was a handful of people outside the church gate, maybe about 15. There was the groom's mom & dad (Ronel's aunt & uncle who I know so was very happy to see them!), an uncle of the groom & Ronel along with his wife & a couple of kids, and a bunch of other people that I didn't know! Ronel & I went into the church, and cleaned up a couple of things that had been left out and then we waited.
We waited for about 15 mins before anyone else started entering the church and then people started slowly coming in. At the same time, the music guys, photographer and videographer showed up and started setting up (45mins after the wedding should have already started!!)

Then, at like 9:25am, most everyone was in the church and they started.

First off there was the "announcer" - a young lady dressed like a bride who danced (oh, yes - danced - it was quite hilarious to watch!) then - she got to the front and a young man came out from the side door dressed like a groom and another young lady again dressed like a bride did their own dance down the aisle. Apparently these were the king & queen. She danced down the aisle while he danced up and then they passed each other and then they finally turned around and found each other and danced down the aisle together to the front.
Then came the men & ladies of honor (that is how it translates) There were 7 of them and as couples they did a choreographed dance down the aisle all together - each couple doing the same thing. It was like sychronized dancing! Then when they got down to the end of the aisle - the flower girl (she was a teen and also dressed in white, with a veil) started down the aisle. At this point in time, the groom and his paren (best man) came into the church from the side door and started up the aisle, while the bride and her maren (maid of honor) started down with two children in front of her (dressed like a little bride & groom) The men & ladies of honor had all stood in line men on one side and ladies on the other down the aisle and held flowers up in their hands making an archway for the bride & groom to walk under. The groom went halfway up the aisle and the bride came down to meet him. They then walked down to the front of the church together. At the front of the church was 4 chairs set up - 2 on one side facing 2 on the other. On one side, the bride & maren sat and the other side sat the groom & his paren.

They sat for the entire ceremony other than standing to say their vows and kneeling down for the consecration prayer. After they had said their vows, they changed seats and sat with the bride & groom beside each other.
There were 3 groups that sang, a choir from their church, a trio (the bride's sister and friends) and another smaller choral group. The groups were actually quite good.

When they signed their marriage papers, they then have any number of people from the wedding come up and sign as well (not on the actually marriage certificate but some other legal paper) giving testimony that they witnessed the wedding as well.

There was a TON of people taking photos and video and for the vows and presentation of the couple they were all standing right in front and no one could see (people behind us started telling them that they weren't standing in a bad spot - we were in the front row and we couldn't see anything either!)

Then there was the reception - we got down to the house where the reception was (at the sister of the bride) There was a bunch of chairs set up outside of the house under a tarp but not enough for everyone that was there - Ronel found one for me and he sat beside me on his moto.
The wedding party entered the house where there were photos taken with the food (a big thing in Haiti)
After a little while some people came around with drinks and some food - but they didn't get to everyone. Some people went in, got food in take-out containers and left.
For the entire reception, we never saw the bride & groom again, there was no program or anything - just handing out of drinks & food and mingling in and amongst ourselves.

Ronel took my camera and went in and got some photos of the couple with the cake
















This is Frantz & Badeline cutting their wedding cake.
I think that this is more elaborate than any wedding cake I have ever seen in Canada!

I also love how Badeline isn't smiling - it looks like she is at a funeral, not her own wedding but most Haitians don't smile when they get photos taken.

So, that was my morning & afternoon and tonight I am going down to Ronel's church in Borel for a New Year's Eve service which will be from 8pm till midnight. Apparently it is a huge celebration - so I will see what happens tonight and I will write about that tomorrow!

Happy New Year's to you all!!