Mabruuk Nadr and Georgette!

We almost blew it, but we were invited to a wedding.

One of the bartenders, Nadr, at a club (The British Community Association) we frequent spoke to me last week. He said that he was getting married this Thursday and he would like to invite us. I was very happy for him and congratulated him. He took out a piece of paper and started to give us the info. But then the club got very busy and I did not get a chance to talk to him again that evening. This was on a Thursday. I assured him that we would be back Friday and we could talk then.

Friday came and went, and we never made it back to the club that night. We were there Saturday, but Nadr was not working that night. We were next there on Monday night. Nadr seemed a little miffed. I had said I would be there Friday to get the directions to his wedding and I did not show. I don’t know if he thought I was avoiding him or what. But I made it a point to speak with him Monday night and congratulate him again on his upcoming wedding. I apologized for not being at the club Friday night.

That seemed to ease the strain and he then asked again if we could go. I said of course and directions were obtained.

The BCA is a bar, restaurant and club house kind of place. They serve alcohol and pork products. Every one of the staff, afaict, are Coptic. [Coptic’s are the Egyptian branch of Christianity. Similar to the Greek Orthodox branch. But the Egyptians, naturally, feel that the Coptic religion is the TRUE Christianity. After all, monasticism started in Egypt. And Jesus and the Holy Family hid out in Egypt for a while. And the Coptics consider themselves the guardians of Christianity from heresy. Anyway]. While some Muslims are tolerant of alcohol use, especially by non-Muslims, very few are tolerant of pork products. No “good” Muslim would work in a place like the BCA].

Now, what does one wear to a Coptic wedding? Does one bring a gift? If there a reception? How long does it take?

Well, Thursday night we found out.

The wedding was about an hour long. All in Egyptian Arabic, and some Coptic. [Parts of the liturgy are still recited in a dialect of Coptic]. It was a rare display of efficiency that is really witnessed in Egypt. The weddings were planned back-to-back-to-back.

We arrived at 7:30 and there was a wedding going on. While the wedding was proceeding in the central nave, minions were scurrying and setting up arbors and flowers etc in a side nave. When the wedding was over, the wedding party is funneled out the side door to a small area. This area is where the receiving line is staged and the photographers take photos with the bride and groom and guests.

While the wedding party is exiting, the previous arbor is removed, the new arbor is deployed, the flowers and white runners are deployed in the central aisle. The next wedding is set to go.

It literally was the single most efficient logistical deployment I have seen in my time in Egypt. If the rest of the country ran this well, it would be a site to behold.

So after that first wedding was over, I went outside to try and snap a few photos of Nadr’s bride, Georgette arriving. I ran into Nadr. He was a very nervous looking young man. :-). But we was SO HAPPY that we made it. He really was just so pleased. It is hard to explain and it makes me sound like I am bragging, but he really was surprised and pleased to see me and asked about Kaddee. I told him that she was inside and that we were very happy to be invited.

We then went inside for the wedding. It is an interesting ceremony. There is a lot of sit down, stand up, chanting, singing, ululating. Guests walk up onto the altar during the ceremony to take photos with their cameras and cell phones, children are running around.

The bride and groom get a cape and a gold crown to wear.

The couple before them looked terrified. Nadr had a smile on his face the entire time. Georgette started out looking terrified, but she relaxed and smiled as things got started.

One thing that we had been “warned” about was that as obvious foreigners, we would be featured in videos and photos.

In the previous wedding, we went inside to watch to figure the protocol. The wedding is videotaped, and the videographer walked up and down the aisle panning across the guests. He spent a LOT of time on Kaddee and I and the other foreigners. We chuckled. I do wonder, when that couple watches their video, if they say “Who are those khwagate(foreigners)?”. We could hire ourselves our as official wedding foreigners.

The same thing happened during Nadr’s wedding. We got a lot of “face time”.

After the wedding, we went outside to shake hands with the bride and groom. ALL the foreigners got their picture taken by the official photographer with the bride and groom. I have been told that it is kind of a big deal to have a foreigner at your wedding. Not sure why, but it sure seemed that way.

Anyway, there was no reception that we were aware of anyway. There were about 10 or so folks from the BCA that had gone to the wedding, so we all met back there for a few drinks.

Oh, yes I almost forgot. I was using my little point and shoot to record the sound of the ululating in the church when I caught this amusing little vignette.