It doesn’t take long on a sunny afternoon day to realize
that it is wedding season. Sitting in my
flat with my balcony open, or walking down the streets of Prilep on the
weekend, the day seems to be interrupted frequently by the honking of horns
along the road. Non-stop wailing of
those car horns. They notify the rest of
the town, “this girl’s taken.”
Weddings are rare in Macedonia most other times of the year,
but after Easter, they seem to happen every hour. Bows tied along fences and doors of houses
are further reminders that love has been officiated. And they seem to remain there forever- my
neighbors still haven't taken the bows down from their fence. This year, I not only attended my first
Macedonian wedding, but I attended two in one week. Although the weddings share similar elements
to that of Western (American) weddings, they also had their own unique
traditions that reflect Macedonia’s unique history.
The first wedding that I attended took place in a swanky
hotel in Veles. My host brother from
PST, Aleksandar, was to be wed with his high school girlfriend, Kate. As I mentioned in a previous post, they had
lived together in an apartment in Skopje since November 2013, so it was only a
matter of time before they tied the knot. I rented a room of the hotel with Allison,
another PCV who also had the Zarkovs as a host family. The hotel, Gardenia Hotel and Spa, was
absolutely beautiful, even though it was still being constructed. I was completely surprised that there was a
hotel like this in such a small town as Veles.
Although there were not many rooms, it seemed that the place generated
most of its revenue from hosting events (weddings) and by drawing in crowds
from Veles at night (the alcohol was cheap, while the food was a bit pricey).
Unfortunately, Allison and I did not participate in any of
the cultural parts of the wedding. But
once she had finished getting ready (which for a girl, can take a couple of
hours), we finally entered the ballroom.
It was amazing to see so many people from Lozovo all dressed up. It seemed that half of the town was there,
and we quickly greeted and hugged all of the folks that we had not seen since
March. Luckily we were placed with some
of Jagoda’s family at a table near the dance floor, and we enjoyed the typical
wedding fare, which included salad, cold cuts and cheese, a baked potato, and
the dinner. There was also an endless
flow of alcohol, as half-liter bottles of beer were continuously brought to our
table. Allison, half of Lozovo, and I
danced the oro through the rest of the night and shared conversations with our
PST family and friends.
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| The couple cutting the cake |
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| With the host family from Lozovo |
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| Oro at a wedding |
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| Photo Cred to Allison |
The second wedding I attended occurred within a week of the
first, and this one was closer to home.
My host cousin, Dijana, was to be wed to her long-time boyfriend. My whole host family looked forward to this
event, and my host brother even flew in from Poland in order to attend the
wedding. This time, I took part in all
of the cultural activities of the wedding, as my host family included me as a
part of their own through all of the stages.
First, we waited next door at Dijana’s place for Sasho (the
groom) and his party to arrive. And boy
did they arrive in style. The cars
pulled up honking, as a line of people oro’d to the front door, accompanied by
a trio playing traditional music on their accordion, saxophone, and drum. All of Sasho’s family sat down in the other
room, eating snacks and drinking alcohol, as Sasho attempted to enter Dijana’s
room to take her as his bride. Her
friends prevented him from entering until he could give them enough money to
gain permission. Once he gained
permission to enter, he was then tasked to put shoes on her feet, which of
course were too big and needed to be stuffed with even more money until she
could wear them “comfortably”. From
there, we oro’d in what seemed a 9m2 room, and from there we made
our way to the local church.
At the church, men were told to stand on one side, while the
women were positioned on the other. A
few priests said a lot of words really fast, spitting the Word of God at the
speed of Twista, and a few people lit candles and put ropes on the bride and
groom. Honestly, the ceremony looked
like a conjugal baptism. The only
tradition I recognized was that pertaining to the crowns. Eventually, Sasho and Dijana were donned
crowns, and it was the best man’s job to switch their crowns three times
without making the crowns collide.
Supposedly if the crowns touched each other at all during the process,
fate would frown upon that marriage.
This tradition seemed like an unnecessary risk to take during a wedding
ceremony.
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