Congratulations Leonarda and Crisobal

Sometimes couples get married in Bolivia. Most of the people we know are not officially married although they have been living together and have established homes and families. There is difficulty obtaining the proper documentation for marriages so the ‘official’ status is not something that is easily obtained. There is no stigma if a couple is not officially married.

But one of our part time employees, Cristobal, and his wife, Leonarda, decided to get married. This was going to happen in September but the papers were not in order until a week before the wedding in December.

If you get married in La Pista, the church puts on the wedding and covers the expenses, I think. But then the minister and his wife were the padrina and madrina so maybe they covered those expenses. All we know is that the couple did not pay for the wedding. Each person in the church and a number of people of the community were asked to bring something. We were asked to pay for the wedding cake along with two other people. Others were asked to bring pop and others prepared the meal. Two days before the wedding Leonarda came with us to Yapacani to buy a dress. Now who in Canada would wait that long!

The wedding was to start at 2 so we came around one. The noon meal still had not started. I was to take pictures and was surprised that both the bride and the groom were wearing the clothes they wore every other day. It was about 3 o’clock when Jake was asked to come into a room and I went in with him. Things had changed. They wanted Jake to tie the groom’s tie. Now, Jake will have to learn this – it is the second time that he has had to do this. The bride was now dressed up and things were starting to look more like a wedding. A minister came from Cochabamba for the wedding and his wife took along all the finery that went along with a wedding – the bouquet, rose petals, veil. We decorated the church with flowers that we picked from the garden at the hospital.

Finally things were ready and the service started. First came three little girls spreading rose petals, then the groom and his madrina, and the bride and her padrina. The service was much the same as in Canada except that there was a part where they placed a gold chain around the couple signifying that they were tied together for life. They wore it until they got out of church and then the woman wore it.

After the service there was the gift line and each person received a bottle of pop and a bag of tostatos (puffed corn) when they presented their gift. The gifts were not opened but put away to be opened later. Following this, everyone enjoyed a dinner of chicken, rice, and yuca. It was nice to be just a member of the congregation with no extra privileges.

After dinner there was a bit of a program with some music and activities and then the night was over. It was only 10 o’clock so it seemed very early for a Bolivian celebration. Everyone went home and the bride and groom and their children went to their house – and life goes on.