Posted in Ecuador

Last Saturday afternoon I went to a wedding shower for the daughter of a good friend. I thought I would share my experience there. It's been a really long time since I have been to any kind of shower in the States. I can hardly remember what they are like. The only showers I've been to here have been within the evangelical Christian community. They are a bit different from what I remember.

First of all, I thought the shower was at 4:00. Most afternoon events start at 4:00.  I left at about 4:10 so that I wouldn't be the first one there. Ha! I took my daughter to her friend's house where she was going to stay while I was at the shower. As I got into the car and got out the invitation to look at the map I had been given to help me find the home where the shower was being held, I noticed, to my dismay, that the time for the shower was 5:00. It was only 4:35. So I drove slowly, took my time and arrived at 5:00. I knew I would be the first and sure enough, I was. The maid that let me in was still cleaning the living room! The shower, however, was to be held out back in a covered terrace made for hosting parties.

As I walked in I saw a few people, including the mother of the bride who is a good friend. The others there were those who were not  just guests, but also those who were helping to put on this show...uh, shower.  I sat down with one of the ladies and we chose a seat close to the pool at the edge of where the roof ended, hoping we would get a breeze there. Knowing I was on time I knew I would be there for a while before things actually started. Slowly people began to arrive. After a while they put out some fun activities for people to do while guests were arriving. By 6:30 most of the 50+ people had arrived and things were ready to get started. All the guests were given a balloon and a straight pin. As the bride-to-be "arrived" (she was in the house waiting for her entrance) we all popped our balloons. I thought that was a fun thing to do!

The program started off with a power point program done by the bride's best friend about their friendship.  The computer that they were using was hooked up to the amplifiers and was used for the power point presentation as well as the music that was played throughout the shower. That was followed by one of the ladies who went up and gave the bride godly advice. Not having a microphone, and speaking directly to the bride in her normal soft voice, we couldn't hear a thing she said, but I'm sure it was good advice that was given!  When she finished a group of the bride's friends came running in dancing around her with masks. No one at our table really knew what that was so we just waited for the next thing, the next thing being another discourse by another lady dispensing more godly advice.  She didn't need a microphone so we could enjoy what she had to say. During all of this we were served sandwiches and colas.

After this we played games. They had made up a nice bingo-type game handing out cards with big purple hearts and wedding related words. We were told that we were going for 5 words. However, that happened quite quickly and there were quite a few who had "bingoed." There weren't enough gifts so they decided to make it ten words. Same thing happened. It was a bit chaotic as all the ladies were giving their advice on how to play the game. There not being a microphone made it hard to hear which meant that someone was always repeating for their area the word, usually at the same time a new word was called out.   I never really knew how many I needed, but it really didn't matter as I wasn't getting very many words covered. The ladies at our table were having a good time regardless. Another "game" type activity was done where the bride was given a household item (like a broom) and someone shared about that item making it analagous to being a good housewife (like, you sweep out your house to keep it clean, so sweep out the sin in your life to make your relationship clean, etc.). We couldn't hear that either so we watched and visited with each other at our table. During this time we were served a plate with an humita, an ayaca, and a piece of spinach torte with the usual cola.

By this time it was past 9:00pm. I was way past the time I had planned to pick up dd. Many people were starting to leave so I didn't feel too bad doing the same. However, the next activity (which I believe to have been the last) looked like a fun one so I waited a bit  to leave. Loaded with a package of paper napkins and straight pins, the bride's friends proceeded to "dress" her, making a wedding dress, veil, and bouquet of flowers out of the napkins. It was really cute.  I forgot to take my camera but remembered that my cell phone takes pictures. So on the way out I got a few shots. However, the pictures are not too good.

PS- I'm editing this to include the information that I had to pay $10 to go to this shower!