My 1st Armenian Wedding.... Wait you Said I'm the Groom???

(me and 2 of my brother, Vahe and Smbat)


Ya, your read it right. Ok not actually, but their was an offer on the table. No mom i didnt take it. Basically my family is trying to get me to marry the bride's sister that i met at the wedding. Although she is 25 and it is Amot (shameful) if a man marries a woman older than him, that isnt stopping them though.

So the wedding was full of tradition, drinking, and lots of things i didnt understand. I had to have my tutor explain some of them to me.

Weird thing #1: First off we go to the Groom's house, shoot some homemade vodka, sing his praises, then we go outside and dance while his sisters dance with baskets over their heads, 6 in all. Each basket it to represent a fruitful life and is full of gifts... ok i understand that one.

(sisters of groom dancing with gift baskets for bride)

Weird thing #2: As we drove off to the the brides house where we present the gifts, buy off the family, and toast to her, the groom's mother threw water on the back of the car to represent good luck in buying his bride.... ya i dont have a photo of this one.

Weird thing #3: Ok so we are at the bride's house, and they give the bride gifts as she is sitting in chair and me and the groom are chillin out in the other room talking. Then, a young boy must replace her shoes with white boots and zip them up for her... this one was not explained to me, but i know it has something to do with them preparing her for her big day maybe....

(young boy putting the white boots on the bride)

Weird thing #4: This was kind of cool. After the groom comes in and gets the bride, we go into the family room and do some toasts. Then as we are leaving that some young boy has a decorated knife, and stabs the doorway. This is when the groom's best man gives him money and "buys" the right to take her to get married. And this is only supposed to happen once, but as we drove out of the village, children would hold ropes across the roadway and stop us until they threw out coins for them. This also happened at the church we went to and the apartment at the end.

(same young boy accepting money from the best man as "payment" to take the bride)

Weird thing #5: When entering the apartment after the church, they must break 2 plates on the door way. These, turns out, are them breaking any bad spirits that would start out with the marriage, ensuring a long happy couple...

Weird thing #6: Lavash, kind of like long thin pita bread, is draped across the bride and groom's shoulder as they enter the house. This is for good luck and prosperity.

Weird thing #7: There is no smiling by the bride or groom.Something about it being bad luck. So the entire day, the entire time, there is noooooo smiling. Basically it looks like neither of them wants to be there and this is an arrange marriage, which sometimes happens here as well....

And many more weird things that i still dont know what they mean. Although i didnt understand it, it was a greatttt time. Lots of dancing, announcements, toasts, singing, and god-awful homemade vodka. Which was around 70-75%, could take rust off an exhaust pipe i bet. It was a great experience to have, and i made a ton of friends. I also met the majority of my host moms side of the family and they all loved me and i loved them. So now i have people to visit when i go backdown to Goris.

Lastly, i also learned i have a food allergy. The morning after i was sitting with my host cousins daughter (who i loved and she cried when i left... she is 11), and i took a bite of a fruit i have never seen before. First bite nothing happened, but the 2nd time i got some of the outer skin with it, and BAM, it happened. My mouth went dry, my tongue started to swell, and i couldnt swallow and more-or-less chew. after about 15 sec, it went away. So i tested this theory again, about 4 sec after i took a bigger bite, this time it felt like my mouth was filled with pillows and nothing would move or moisten. I repeated this action a few times trying different parts of the fruit. All i need to do now is learn and remember the armenian word for it and to avoid it. Although my mini science project was kinda fun.

Also, here is a pic of who my family is dead set on making my future wife...