This Christian couple from Paysandu (Christian) and Las Piedras (Noelia) had their church wedding on March 28th. (They had already had their civil ceremony earlier in the week in a small town in northern Uruguay. This legally married them.) We were privileged to attend. My brother-in-law Pastor Daniel Rojas was one of the main speakers at the ceremony. This was the first church wedding that I have attended in Uruguay. It was great to see two young believers starting a new life together in a society that does not honor the family.
In many ways this wedding was the same as a church wedding in the US. The main difference was that this wedding started late. Fortunately for us Noelia was only an hour late instead of the usual 1.5 to 2 hours late. I am not sure what the reason is for this tradition, but needless to say it is a great time to get caught up with everyone that you have not seen for a while.
After the ceremony, we were invited to attend a reception at the brides house. Since the wedding finished around 10pm, the couple did not leave the reception until around 2:30 am. Our little Felicia had a blast staying up way past her bedtime, but really crashed hard on the way home.
