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8/10/2012

Amish Wedding


Yesterday, we were invited to an Amish wedding. The bride was my husband's cousin, Marietta, and the groom was David. They invited 700 people to celebrate their beautiful day with them, but I'm not sure how many actually attended. I'll just bet you're wondering, "Lena, how did you get pictures at an Amish wedding?" Well, I just gave my daughter the phone! And she said others were taking pictures also.

First, we went to the ceremony and sat on these hard benches. It was very similar to a church service, and about three hours long. We arrived late ,just in time to see the couple get married. I'm sure most of you know that the songs they sing in these services sound like a chant. It's a beautiful, slow melody sung in harmony with slow humming. Very relaxing.

Here, the groom and bride were getting into an old golf cart to transfer them to the reception. This is a tradition, that the family usually gets some form of transportation all set up and waiting for them, but they don't know what it will be. Sometimes it's bikes, and sometimes it's pony carts. They have become very creative since I was a little Amish girl!
And off they go, balloons, bonnet, hat and all.
Then we all walked up the road a couple hundred feet to the bride's home in great anticipation of the amazing home-cooked food.
This was one the most beautiful Amish weddings I've ever attended. I'd like to believe it was because I showed the bride some pictures on Pinterest last winter when her family invited us over for fresh strawberry pie in Florida.
There were about10 long tables like these in the big new shop where the reception was hosted.
On the menu:
Taco Salad
Dinner Roll w/ Cinnamon Butter
Chicken
Mashed Potatoes w/ Melted Brown Butter
Dressing(stuffing)
Gravy
Steamed Veggies w/ Cheese Sauce
Ho-Ho Cake
White Cake Filled with Strawberry Filling
Homemade Ice Cream
Fresh Peaches
Coffee
Yummy!
This was definitely worth sitting on those hard benches for three hours!
Before we started eating, and after prayer, we all sang, "There's a Light in the Valley Waiting for Me." The song was sung half in Dutch and half in English. I was proud that I could still remember the Dutch version.
The bridal party has a witness, either a sibling or best friend, on each side of them all day. 
Here they are eating at the bridal party table, being served their favorite food (not always the same as the wedding food). They are also served wine.
Loved her cake.
This is called a wedding trailer. It's a rented portable kitchen with all of the necessities included to create a large meal.
There were so many beautiful children I would have loved to have photographed!
And I met another new friend. She was the mother of one of my husband's co-workers.
This blog is for all of you friends who have been wishing to someday be invited to an Amish wedding.
I hope you enjoyed the experience as much as we did!

2 comments:

Verna said...

Lena, I am really glad I met you at the cooking show at Walnut Creek. Thanks so much for sharing the pictures.

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