The road to Se' Tul
K'ekchi' weddings take place during the Sunday morning services. They march in at the beginning of the service and sit at the front until time to do the wedding. There is always the normal service except with a time in the middle to do the wedding. They are usually long services.The chairs decorated for the bride and groom to sit in. 
We liked how the families did this wedding. They had this arch built in the aisle. It had rope across it. The bride and her family marched in from the back and the groom and his family marched in from the front. They met in the middle, broke the chain, and all marched back together. It was very sweet and symbolized the two families coming together.
The groom's family coming in. 
The two families joining
Bro. Samuel was there to do the ceremony
After the service the families march out first and stop for a receiving line
We liked how the families did this wedding. They had this arch built in the aisle. It had rope across it. The bride and her family marched in from the back and the groom and his family marched in from the front. They met in the middle, broke the chain, and all marched back together. It was very sweet and symbolized the two families coming together.The groom's family coming in. The two families joiningBro. Samuel was there to do the ceremonyAfter the service the families march out first and stop for a receiving line The bride and groom with his parents- Bro. Miguel & Virginia
The bride and groom with her parents
The bride and groom with her parents
Afterwards we all went to Bro. Miguel's house for a meal together. We ALL went! It was quite crowded but a lot of fun.
WOW. I need this post. Sign up to be a tour guide for ttb... please :)
ReplyDeleteOK they look a little somber to be newly married...is this the custom?
ReplyDeleteBeautiful wedding! I love the ladies' blouses. Are those traditional, or something unique to this wedding?
ReplyDeleteOk, here's a question for you: what is it about youth ministry in the States which causes its leaders to become missionaries in other countries, hmm? ;^)
My honey and I were youth leaders for about 5 years in Oregon before God moved us to Mexico almost 4 years ago. The couple who took over after us, moved to Hawaii a year later. The youth leaders before us are now missionaries in Paupau New Guinea. The ones before them moved to Illinois to plant a church. Maybe youth ministry is kind of like missionary training?
You have a beautiful blog and I'm looking forward to reading everything on it in the near future!!! Que pasa buenos dias!!!
Beautiful wedding! I love the ladies' blouses. Are those traditional, or something unique to this wedding?
ReplyDeleteOk, here's a question for you: what is it about youth ministry in the States which causes its leaders to become missionaries in other countries, hmm? ;^)
My honey and I were youth leaders for about 5 years in Oregon before God moved us to Mexico almost 4 years ago. The couple who took over after us, moved to Hawaii a year later. The youth leaders before us are now missionaries in Paupau New Guinea. The ones before them moved to Illinois to plant a church. Maybe youth ministry is kind of like missionary training?
You have a beautiful blog and I'm looking forward to reading everything on it in the near future!!! Que pasa buenos dias!!!
Hi there! Thanks for visiting my blog :). What an interesting blog you have!! I'll be following.
ReplyDeleteI noticed the sombre looks on their faces, like the commenter above. I also noticed that they look VERY young, like teens. Is this the age when they tend to marry there?
Again, SUPER interesting!!!!
To answer many of your questions- yes, many of them do marry very young. And, no, their marriages are not arranged.
ReplyDeleteRarely do they smile for a photo. The women do not generally like having their photo taken and will not smile and often will not look at the camera. Photos are not a big part of their culture. I was the only one taking pictures and that made everyone nervous, including me, ha. They are a very happy people but it just doesn't always show in pictures.
Why aren't they happy? Tell them if they're happy they should show it!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the love on my SITS day! Hope you come back to the Pond!
All looks so familiar. . . a joyful time of celebration. . . We celebrate our anniversary August 10th. Our son Tim and his wife will be here with our three small grandchildren. . . Galen leaves on Saturday for a three week trip to Paraguay and Peru with some Kekchi leaders. We'll have three days to reunite before the family comes.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful occasion! It reminds me of the traditional weddings I had seen while living in the Philippines. The bride and groom seem to very blessed with such wonderful friends and families. Thanks so much for visiting my blog today! It was lovely to meet you via SITS!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for stopping by my blog today! I love yours, and will be back often! I have so many friends who are serving the Lord in Guatemala, and also other mission fields! So great to "meet" you!
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Sasha
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ReplyDeleteHi there, just stopping by from SITS. It's so interesting to see how other cultures celebrate marriage. It struck me too that they look very young and very serious.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog. I became a follower of your blog so I can continue to get updates on you and pray for you. What a blessing to be out in the mission field. If you get a chance, bop over to my other blog. girlfriendsgetreal.blogspot.com I like to think of it as my own little mission work without leaving home.
ReplyDeleteI love this! It's so beautiful. The bride looks very young. I know you commented on it above, but I just thought I'd say it again ;)
ReplyDeleteHi there, I'm dropping in from Sits and reading through your blog. Very interesting and I love the photos. The bride above doesn't look too glowing on her wedding day. We used to have a Russian foreign exchange student and she also was very somber. It was a cultural thing - could this also be the case here? Maybe a followup post, since I see so many are concerned about it. My prayers are with you for your work and for your baby!
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Tia
Dear visitor,
ReplyDeleteToday there is a place where you can start learning the grammar basics of the K'ekchi language. If you are working with our K'ekchi communities in the Alta Verapaz area, this information and resources will interest you. Best of all, the material is totally free and supported by the author/editor of the website.
Please visit us as http://www.kekchi.co.nr/ or http://kekchi.awardspace.info/
Enjoy your staying and weather in the Coban region,
George Max
Translator and Linguist
http://www.geodirect.co.nr/