At Ambassador Park we presented our pink slips to the person at the gate and went to an area of the park where there was a small round building. All around the park there are little places one can sit and little huts. I’m sure it looks really nice when it’s dry but it was raining. So it was a little hard to maneuver around. (I have a lovely brown spatter pattern all over my shoes and the bottom of my clothes as evidence of the muddy conditions). All of the ppl gathered under a tree not far from the small round building, trying to stay dry, still clapping and singing and lo-lo-lo-ing (we’re troopers). There was another wedding to our right. This was an orthodox wedding I was told, you can tell by all of the dancing and use of traditional instruments. There weren’t very many ppl in this party however. The bride of that wedding was very a very young beautiful Ethiopian woman in traditional dress. As I followed her arm to her hand to see who the lucky groom was I was horrified to see it attached to an OLD crusty newly dyed hair Caucasian man. Surely this is not the groom? ‘yes she is marrying farengi’ this will be the segue to a forthcoming thread entitled “Love is Love or How to Get Out of Ethiopia.’ Anyway, back to MY wedding.

After some time our couple proceeded into the small round building. Some ppl came out to make space b/c some ppl were already in there. Many of us stayed outside in the rain under the tree waiting for our couple to come back out. Meanwhile another wedding group came. I learned later that the actual wedding happened in the small building. There was a couple getting married in there that was protestant also, so they congratulated each other, grooms and brides kissed each other and they took pictures. Couple 1 and friends then left the building. Our couple exchanged rings, took pictures then sat down at a table groom’s witnesses beside him and bride’s witnesses beside her. They each signed a huge book and got a license from an official who was in there. They took more pictures (this might not be the actual order as I was not in there, I saw this later on a videotape). That was it – they were hitched. They came outside and we were singing and clapping again and made our way to another section of the park that was decorated. There was a place that was covered over that had balloons and streamers and congratulatory flyers. The newlyweds sat on a bench underneath the covering with the bridesmaids and groomsmen (?) and the best man. The rain had let up by now. A preacher came out in front and said a prayer and a short sermon. It was in Amharic so I’m afraid I can’t give the details but I picked up Xavier (trinity) and Yesus Kristos (Jesus Christ) several times. Then tarp and plastic came off a long line of tables full of food and drinks. The newlyweds ate first and a very long line was made ppl helped themselves to injerra, (meat) wat, and what looked like injerra mixed with meat and potatoes. Some were in a goatskin container. Men went first and some brought back food for their female companions. Everyone was fed (it was amazing, b/c for a ‘small’ ceremony there were ALOT of ppl). We sat beside the bride and groom as ppl came up and congratulated them. They looked very happy, but seemed calm. They look very compatible, I had met the groom earlier and he is very mild-mannered and quiet. His bride, who looked gorgeous (she wore a European wedding gown, complete with tiara and veil and he wore a navy suit with light blue bow tie that had an additional small white bow in front of it) seemed the same way.
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Their dress was in contrast to the orthodox wedding party I saw where the groom wore a long white shirt with matching pant and white sandals. He had a white gauzy wrap draped over both shoulders so that the ends were hanging in the back and the front made a vee effectively covering the white shirt. The ends of the wrap had a really beautiful design on it. He held in his hand a stick that had white animal hair (I think) hanging at one end. The rest of it was wrapped in ribbons the colors of Ethiopia (red green and gold). The woman wore a traditional Ethiopian dress.
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After ppl gave their congratulations that was pretty much it. All in all it was a great experience. It was a lot of fun, all of that singing and the procession. It felt very communal.