Our First Belizean Wedding

We went to our first Belizean wedding yesterday.  It was such a long day for us and I have not edited all of the photos I took.  So this is just a glimpse of what we experienced!  The bride was radiant and relaxed.  The groom seemed a bit nervous.  It was a two hour ceremony which I was told was typical.  Following the wedding there was a reception and we were told after the dinner there would be a dance.  We didn't make it to the dance.  Maybe next time.  We even missed out on the cake...which I rarely let happen!

We always like to learn about wedding traditions in various countries.  We are used to seeing people in the US pin money to the bride's dress to pay for a dance with her...this was done at my cousin Joseph's wedding and people put out big bucks to dance with his bride, Michelle.  In Russia there was a tradition of auctioning off the first piece of wedding cake.  And Tom managed to be the highest bidder when our 'adopted' daughter, Olga, got married on my birthday last year.  But here we saw yet another twist.  Not only were people given the opportunity to bless the couple by pinning money to the bride's dress but there was also the option to put coins in the groom's shoe.    Not much was pinned to the dress...but his shoe filled up quickly.  What a striking difference to witness.