You Might Be At A Peruvian Wedding If...

Congratulations to our friends Ceci and Ben on their marriage and their fun, beautiful wedding! Thanks for including us in your special day. It was an amazing opportunity to share with friends – both old and new – and to experience another wonderful part of Peruvian culture (with some French culture mixed in, as Ben is from France). We will be talking about it forever; honestly, it`s one of my top five memories of all my time in Peru!

Disclaimer: This list is meant to share a little about their wedding (especially as it compares to the few weddings I have attended in the United States) and I absolutely don´t mean to offend anyone or make small-minded generalizations.

• The priest´s homily urges the new couple to start their “big, Christian family” right away, recommending (through anecdotes) that they have 12 children. 
• The bride is the only one who knows what´s going on and is commandingly directing traffic from the back of the church. 
• Half the guests show up 20 minutes into the ceremony.
• The wedding singer is hidden in a back hallway and only his powerful, disembodied voice proves his existence.
• The civil ceremony involves a governmental official reading all the legal rights of married couples in Peru.
•  Multiple cocktails were consumed before any food was served. 
•  Entire plates of desserts were also consumed before any real food was served. 
• The food served was incredibly, delectably, mouth-wateringly, stomach ache-inducingly amazing.
• However, there were not enough plates to for all the guests to eat aforementioned amazing food. 
• EVERYONE danced; I cannot emphasize this heavily enough. 
• The dancing was spectacular; the room was filled with talented, hip-shaking people of all ages. 
• The toast-giving was mandatory, randomly-assigned, unavoidable, and a surprise. (Allie, you did an awesome job. Thanks for speaking on behalf of us!) 
• The music was an great blend of cumbia, merengue, salsa, and pop. 
• There was an Hora Loca (complete with foam hats, cartoon-like ties, sunglasses, blinking lights, balloons, the limbo, and dancing contests). 
• There was a man dressed in a cuy (guinea pig) costume that included a chullo (Peruvian hat with ear flaps). He was hit with balloons and danced upon suggestively.  
• Dancing during the Hora Loca moved seamlessly from appropriate to inappropriate to appropriate once more (multiple times, too)
• Everyone was too busy dancing to notice that we never ate the cake. 
• Though the formal reception ended at 8 PM, there was a second round of partying (in a friend´s house) that began immediately.  
• The second round of partying gave way to a third round (at a Discoteca) that was to begin at midnight (I didn´t make it to the third round – my feet were in too much pain and I was exhausted). 
• It´s a wedding that will be talked about and remembered forever!