Mexican weddings

Jim and I are going to be "padrinos" this weekend.  I guess it sounds like godparents or something like that, but actually it's more like being a sponsor for a certain part of the wedding ceremony.  In this case, we are the padrinos for the rings.  Basically it means that we are in charge of paying for the wedding rings for the bride and groom.


This is an interesting Mexican tradition that I wish we could enforce  adopt when our own daughters get married.  The parents of the bride and groom assign different friends the financial responsibility for different things like the flowers, the rings, the cake, the party favors, the lasso (that symbolically goes around the bride and groom to show that they are united), and the Bible. Another couple will be the main padrinos, who sit in the place of honor at the wedding, much like the maid of honor and the best man.  I'm not sure what cost that entails.

Jim is still in Ohio after attending the MV conference in Orlando last week, so he will miss the wedding.  I guess we are even now, since he had to attend the wedding of one of our neighbors/former coworkers while I was in Dallas with my mom.  Back then some mutual friends got the honor of being the padrinos of the rings, and we sighed a breath of relief that we did not have that added expense.  Serves us right that we were honored this time around.


In past weddings here, all I have done is help buy the plates and forks for the reception, or help decorate the auditorium for the ceremony.  This being a "ring bearer" is new to me.  I never noticed what was required beyond actually buying the rings.  I wish Jim were here to share the honor.


The bride is the daughter of a Chinantec pastor named Juan, whom we have worked with for many years.  We've had several teams go to their village to help build the church, and to distribute audio scriptures and do ministry in the surrounding villages.  They are precious people, and we are very glad to be in a position to help them out in this way.

For related stories, hop over to my ministry blog and read Little Wedding Livers and Tejate - a typical Oaxacan drink about what was served the day of the wedding. ( I'm having trouble figuring out which blog to use for posting different stories, in case you can't tell.)


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