Wedding Block Party

After our recent travels, we attended the wedding of our base directors' daughter, Hazel.

The wedding was a blend of current and traditional practices. As you can see in the picture below, while most of the dress was of modern styles, the usherettes wore traditional, woven tapis.

The marriage of two young people whose families have spent a long time in Bontoc made the reception at the home of the groom's family a block party. It was difficult to walk from one end of the street to another - no vehicles would be passing through until the party was over.

As people finished eating lunch, the gongs were pulled out and the dancing started. One by one, groups from different villages took turns playing rhythms according to their custom. As they played, people joined in the dancing. The bride and groom even joined in with a man following the bride carrying the train of her dress so it did not drag on the ground.
The wedding started at 9 am (okay, scheduled to start at 9, but much closer to 10). We left the reception around 5:30 pm and it was still going strong.

Congratulations Hazel and Zarjan!
May God bless your new life together!