First of all I have to admit I feel very fortunate to (1) be in a circle of friends from all over the world (who hopefully will all get married in their respected countries in a few years to come) and (2) have been to beautiful weddings of different traditions including Romanian Orthodox Church, Jewish, Protestant, and Catholic (not counting my own). Of course, to be in/ at a wedding is a totally different experience than to be planning one, each has its own excitements.
Early in March I got to attend a wedding in Guatemala of a friend in school. You can tell from the pictures I borrowed from the photographer: it was a gorgeous wedding in a beautiful setting: the ceremony was held at a former convent, and the reception was set up in a courtyard that is part of a ruins. There were about twenty of us- the couple's friends, and that many from their families flying from out the the country to Guatemala for a week. That means crazy planning on the bride's part, but she did hire local wedding coordinators-- what can I say- that was smart of her :) It was the first time I've experienced being a guest at a destination wedding. Now I got to check off my list: being a bride, a guest, and a planner of destination weddings!
One week in Guatemala was exhilarating!!! I loved every minute of the trip (except for when I realized our camera was lost): the feeling of being in a new-yet somehow familiar- environment (I had lived in Central America briefly before), getting to speak Spanish again after 8 years of forgetting it, going on fun trips in different parts of the country, food tasting, salsa dancing (i.e. re-learning), seeing amazing original wooden doors and colorful Mayan handicrafts, walking miles of cobble-stone streets of Antigua in incredibly fresh air, an awesome private concert, 180-degree-view of Lake Atilan from our hotel room and kayaking in the lake seeing its full 360-degree live version....
The list can go on and on. Yet, the best thing about the trip was to have some time to really see how lucky I am to have the opportunity to do what I love and why I love it: I love weddings not because of the beautiful floral arrangements or lavish decorations or fun exotic trips although they all contribute to the experience and unforgettable memories of the occasions. Weddings are beautiful in their very definition: the celebration of love. Witnessing a couple exchanging vows while looking at each other makes my heart beat fast every single time, no matter who the bride and groom are or how well I know them. And every single time, my eyes get teary--after that many times I have been at weddings!
Photo courtesy of Francisco Sandoval
(I lost my camera after the wedding, after having taken tons of pictures of my favorite parts of the trip!)
