Saturday evening meant a long drive for me from Front royal to Maryland where one of the women at work was getting married. most of us employees were attending and I, for sure, wasn't going to miss out. I was a little late at arriving as I'd been driving nearly two hours, but was relieved to see quite a few other guests pulling up in their cars at the same time as me.
The building was rather disappointing from the outside but as I pushed through the doors I stopped, thousands of crystal beads were suspended from the ceiling, twinkling and sparkling as they swayed, while a Mariachi band were in full swing by a table. The tables were covered with gold and white tablecloths, golden napkins and crystal column centerpieces hung over the center of each table from the ceiling, colored lights illuminating from below. I looked around and saw some hands waving. My work mates were all around a large table and had saved me a seat. As soon as I had settled a plate of food appeared in front of me and Celso brought me a drink. I was starving so the chicken and BBQ pork went down well, although I was informed that the banana leaf under my food was for decoration only and not to be eaten. I was glad of the warning as I'd been about to fold that up and demolish it also. The band came over to our table, serenading us with a Spanish song. They were fabulous.
Olga and Eric were married quite a few years ago but not in a church, so today they were reaffirming their vows along with a full traditional wedding and reception. Olga was beautiful in her glittering dress and Eric certainly scrubbed up well too. Olga is Mexican while Eric is from Salvador. I had never been to a Latino wedding, or any other event before, so was looking forward to experiencing their traditions. Everybody was so friendly, I felt like I fit right in, apart from the fact that I couldn't speak any Spanish and so had no idea of what the compere was yelling into his microphone, a feat I admired tremendously, since he kept it up all evening without any signs of waning.
Olga hit the dance floor and soon all the guys from work had spun around the floor with her, and then us girls had a go too. It felt strange to be able to suffer the worry and anguish of a groom dancing with his bride and trying at every step to avoid putting a foot down on her glorious dress. I had every sympathy with the groom afterwards, those few minutes of hopping back and forth had worn me out.
A few more work colleagues posing at their table, and looking very dashing, dressed in their finery instead of the usual ink stained t-shirts and jeans worn on the production floor.
After the Mariachi band had finished playing to each and every table and folks had had a few dances it was time for the games.
I watched with great interest as this 'dance' unfolded. The women circled the bride, who stood on a chair, in a protective manner, while the men did likewise with the groom. Olga and Eric held a long twisted wedding veil between them which seemed to serve as an arch. The music began and the 'protectors' proceeded to dance in a figure of eight around them. When the music stopped the men circled around Eric while the women then knocked against them, seeming to try and jostle Eric from his chair. When the music began again they continued their snaking dance and this time when the music stopped, the men pushed against the circle of women protecting Olga. This went on a couple of times until poor Olga was toppled from her chair. I found out later that this was 'La Vobora de la Mar', or the Snake Song. While the dancing matched the descriptions I found online, I didn't see anything about the 'knocking off' the chairs of the bride and groom. Maybe that was a family tradition added in, but it was fun to watch.
Then followed the traditions you'd see at a westernized wedding. Olga stood on a chair to throw the wedding bouquet over her shoulder, and then Eric was blindfolded as Olga sat on a chair. But once his eyes were covered she switched out with one of their men friends who proudly presented a bony knee, his trouser leg rolled up so Eric could feel it. Poor Eric then stumbled from man to man, the whole audience laughing uproariously, until he found his bride. From beneath her froth of petticoats he managed to snaffle her garter which he then held high. Then he climbed on a chair to throw the prize to the bustling boys behind him, shoving each other aside with their shoulders to claim the best position for catching.
The atmosphere that evening was amazing, so lively and raucous,and friendly and fun. There were few Caucasians, but to be honest by the end of the evening I felt like a Latino, and wanted to be one. They know how to party. Our work crowd was fading fast, poor Heron with his chin resting on his chest, struggling to keep his eyes open. I desperately wanted to wait for the cake to be cut but this energetic crowd showed no signs of slowing down, and my longing stares at the pretty white icing with golden bows brought no one bearing a knife and plate...
Our motley work crew with the beautiful bride. Very few of us drank any alcohol since we'd all got long journeys, but I barely noticed its absence, we'd had such fun. Alas, soon after 10pm I decided to leave with a couple of others. We'd toasted the bride and groom, yet there had been no indication of the cake being cut. We found out that this would be done about midnight and the party wouldn't end until about 4am. All through the evening guests had been showing up later and later, but none had seemed uncomfortable about it, and the caterers had simply walked out and put plates in front of them, so we assumed these late night affairs were a traditional occurrence and people would show up later so they could last until the end. Not this lightweight, I needed my bed, and I later found out that the last standing in our crew had only made it to midnight.
I was up early on Sunday so I could finish decorating. Last weekend I'd started painting my kitchen, simply because a couple of the women at spin class had been talking about painting their homes, which started me thinking. I was reasonably content with most of the colors in my house, but hated the acidic sherbet lemon in the kitchen and the drab mushroom beige in the dining room. I love color! And so I had got on the bandwagon with my cycling buddies, trotting off to Lowes to select my paint colors, my brushes and roller.
I wanted tranquil natural colors so went with a Meadowgrass green for the kitchen. It didn't take me long to paint that room and I was eager to start the dining room. But doing an hour each evening after work didn't get the task done so I completed the job on Sunday, which worked out much better as I was painting in natural light.
I loved the look of the kitchen, it had an old farmhouse feel, the dark wood of the doorways and cabinets looking warm and natural, the room reminding me now of fields and trees. Since I had a big arch leading into the dining room I decided to carry the green through, but in this room, I broke it up by painting the fireplace wall a Teal Lake blue which really popped with the white brick surround.
I painted the inside of the arch the teal blue and soon had the room completed. I couldn't believe that I'd found the energy to decorate these rooms simply because my spin class pals were doing theirs, but I was so glad I did. The rooms feel so tranquil and serene now, it's like walking through a woodland. I was going to originally select an apple green but that would have classed with my curtains. Yet standing and admiring my handiwork I love how these colors work with each other and compliment everything else in the room. As I visit antique stores and flea markets in the future, I'll be hunting for a large painting to hang on my last bare wall, along with tall red, blue and orange vases to stand by the fireplace, plus some brightly colored cushions for the chairs. I expect later down the road I'll paint the rest of the rooms in the house in other greens and blues, but for now, I'm content to come home to my country kitchen and cozy dining room. I just need my wood stove in the fireplace now!
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