Escape from ONU!

Last weekend I left ONU for the first time since the start of the semester. My cousin was getting married and my family and I were all invited. The bride and groom have been together for five years and are very happy together. The bride has even been attending our family ski trips for the past three years. She is a great addition to our family and a good friend. Her family is Serbian so this wedding was an interesting mix of two cultures. 


I was unable to attend the ceremony because I was live-tweeting the homecoming parade but I heard about it from my mom. The day started at 10 a.m. at the bride's house where the entire wedding party participated in traditional Serbian rituals. Then the group made the long commute to the Serbian church. My mom says the ceremony was beautiful. The bride wore a lovely dress and all of the bridesmaids were in emerald green. There were quite a few different traditions that took place in the Serbian wedding ceremony so it was fun to hear all about them.


I was fortunately able to attend the reception. It was held in a beautiful venue decorated with thousands of flowers. We joke that the bride's family is part of the mafia because they paid for the entire wedding with cash. Dinner was enjoyable because I was at a table with the rest of my cousins and their parents. The food was delicious and it was nice catching up with them because I hadn’t seen them since Christmas. 


My favorite part was the dancing. It started at 8:30 p.m. and the bride’s family taught us Serbian dancing. Serbian wedding dancing is fairly easy and consists mostly of basic while holding hands in a circle with the other guests. They repeat the same dance set to different songs with a new person leading the spiral each time. At 10 p.m my cousins and I got a chance to shine. The American music started to play and we danced all night long to songs we know and love. Our moms joined in too and it felt like one big party. Eventually the older guests left and we had the dance floor to ourselves. It was such a different experience than the Ada parties I am used to. I stayed the night with my mom in a hotel and left the next morning bright and early. It was a quick escape from this small town but overall an amazing trip. I can't wait to see them all again over winter break.

Comments

  1. Matthew CookOctober 3, 2024 at 12:56 PM

    That wedding looked like a blast! We missed you back in Ada, and I am so happy you are back! Although I know being here for so long in a confined space can cause a sort of cabin fever, so I know it was good to get out! I am definitely interested in learning some of the traditional Serbian wedding dances if you would teach me!

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