Last night we went to Bülent’s cousins wedding. It was fun, and also interesting to see how Turkish weddings differ from weddings in the US. Some of the traditions were different, but over all, it appeared very similar to a US wedding.

In Turkey, weddings are always civil ceremonies presided over by a government official. There are no lavish religious ceremonies. The wedding last night included the ceremony, and then cocktails and hor dourves followed by cake, but they can also included dinners and lunches. It is not common here for the couple to “register” for gifts as they do in the US. Instead the couple is gifted with gold. After the ceremony, the families of the bride and groom approach the bride and give her their gifts–jewelry. By the end of this the bride was draped in gold necklaces and bracelets. She also had evil eyes pinned to her dress, to protect her from bad karma.

The rest of the wedding was pretty typical wedding stuff, small talk and dancing.

One notable difference between this wedding and others I have attended, had nothing to do with the geography. The bride, and her sister, are ballerinas. As were many of their friends. This created a wedding where there were many beautiful, svelte women who danced extraordinarily well, ruining the bell curve for the rest of us.