Getting Married in Peru: The Wedding!

What a week! I am now a married woman, since Jorge and I tied the knot last Thursday. It was a wonderful week, if a bit stressful, and some part of me still can't believe that I'm married.

We had a civil ceremony, which is the Peruvian equivalent of getting married at City Hall. The difference is that here, everyone is required by law to get married at the City Hall, and then you can have a religious ceremony if you want. Most Peruvians have a simple civil ceremony, and then have the big religious wedding at a later time when they can afford to throw the kind of party they want. Some couples put this off so long that to me it really seems like more of a renewal of vows (after 5 years you can hardly call it a wedding surely), but to each his own I guess. Jorge and I aren't planning to wait that long!

It was great to have my mom, my sister and my brother in town for the wedding . Even though it was a busy few days, we managed to get some tourism in and eat at some great restaurants. The night before the ceremony, all the friends and family went out for drinks so everybody could meet each other before the actual wedding. Unbeknownst to us, the next day was Pisco Sour day, so there was a film crew at the bar and they interviewed me. So, in addition to getting married, that weekend was my Peruvian TV debut. (Please don't look it up.)

The morning of the wedding, the ladies had our hair and makeup done in the hotel and then it was off to get married! Our wedding was at 2 in the afternoon so it was peak sun time. The poor men, including my dear husband, were suffering in their suits, and I wasn't faring much better even in my knee-length dress. We had the photo shoot before the wedding, so Jorge and I went off to have pictures taken while our guests chatted.

Finally, we all went into the 'marriage hall' where there was a desk and four chairs at the front of the room for the bride and groom and their witnesses. The chairs had their back facing the guests which I found kind of strange. The ceremony itself was short and sweet, and consisted of the officiant reading the articles of Peru's constitution pertaining to the rights and responsibilities that go along with marriage. It's some pretty romantic stuff. Then we all had to sign the marriage documents and we were married! We decided to exchange rings and read our own vows in order to make the ceremony more personal - definitely my favorite part. The whole thing lasted between five and ten minutes, and then it was time for the toast!

After about a million more pictures and some champagne, we all went to a restaurant to eat. At this point, due to the heat, the anticipation and excitement of the day, and the fact that I hadn't eaten since breakfast, I was about ready to keel over from hunger and exhaustion. After we had a delicious meal and a cold beer, it was time to say goodbye to the guests and go back to the hotel. I shared a cab with my family to their hotel while Jorge followed in a separate taxi - only four people can fit in one cab, at least for long rides. We hung out a bit there and looked at pictures, and then Jorge and I made our way to the hotel we had reserved for that night to take a catnap before dinner. The hotel was really fancy - thanks Groupon for making that happen.

All in all, a successful wedding! It was great to finally meet Jorge's family and to be able to show my family around a little bit. It would have been nice to have my father and my brother Tom in town, but that's the rub when you get married so far away from home.

I couldn't be more excited to start my life together with the amazing man I married. In fact, I'm so excited that I'm going to stop writing this and go and tell him again how happy I am with him.