American Wedding Magic

I had the time of my life last weekend. My friend asked me to join his cousin's wedding on Saturday in the small western Kansas town Hays. I thought this would be one of those things I shouldn´t miss out on because you never know when you´re going to have the chance to experience something similar. It was a fascinating event which I waited for with a lot of curiosity. Would it be like in all the movies I had seen? A big wedding with all treats and no expenses spared?

First of all this was my first Catholic wedding so it added to the interest a lot. The ceremony in the church differed a lot from our Lutheran ceremony and I felt a bit out of place at some times but I was observing all with great interest. How the couple sat on the right side of the altar while something else was going on and how they took a rose and went to stand in front of a statue depicting Virgin Mary and how they took two candles and lit a candle together making one flame two. This all was very beautiful and I think I liked the Catholic ceremony even better than that of ours. The reception after that was great also; we ate good food, drank a good deal of free drinks and enjoyed dancing and the traditional throwing of the and throwing of the bouquet. I tried my luck with the bouquet but eager American ladies snatched it almost straight from my hands. I guess it just isn´t my time yet.

People had a lot of interest towards me and Finland and it was nice to chat and share experiences and ask about the wedding program to know what we have in common and what differs. One of the differences was that there was no official cutting of the cake ceremony, where the couple competes over who kicks the floor first and thus shows “who wears the pants of the family”, so to speak. At least they didn´t make a big deal about it if it happened, because I missed that part entirely. There was no stealing of the bride, where the best mans steal the bride and the groom has to redeem her back but there surely was the Grand march where we formed a long line and danced around the venue and even outside! I also got to try out my skills in dancing a different kind of waltz and one thing that especially separates Finnish weddings from American ones is the music. We have a lot of waltzes, Finnish classic golden oldies, and a lot of the music in this wedding compiled from country and American hit songs. One of the biggest treats for me was trying out line dancing for the first time in my life. I had always thought that nothing could be more ridiculous than line dancing but I surely enjoyed practicing it on the dance floor! Wouldn´t mind trying it for a second time…

All in all the wedding was a success. The bride was beautiful, the wedding set was nice and guests were well taken care of. Even though there are some differences in the way people celebrate here and in Finland, I felt that this Finnish girl blended in pretty well.

One quiz question before I quit for tonight: how do you know that a person you see in Emporia is an exchange student? -Because he or she is walking and not driving a car.

Figure it out!

a.