Amish 'I do's'

Saturday morning was a treat -- we were guests at an Amish wedding! Well, half-Amish, really. The guy used to be Amish and was marrying a non-Amish...but the Amish were in full attendance! My favourite moment was when we were just pulling up to the church (again, all decked out and cruising in the beat up '87 Ford Ranger...) when Kendra says, "I wonder how many horse buggies will be there...I bet 20!" I just about fell out of the truck! That is definitely one sentence I never ever thought I'd ever imagine hearing, let alone believing...and then SEEING! It BLEW my mind!

We entered the church and there they all were...it was so cool! I wish I took a picture inside but they said no flash photography and I was sitting there stunned anyways! The wedding was so simple -- nothing to it. And the colour was purple so just imagine tulle EVERYWHERE both purple and white. If you are picturing a wedding from 1994, you've got it. After the wedding, we were ushered out to the fellowship hall where there was a buffet with baked ham and beans and potato salad -- dessert was in one corner and the wedding cake in the middle. The crazy thing about weddings here is that there is no program at receptions! Everyone just sits wherever and eats whatever and whenever they want and then just leave. No speeches, no toasts, no cutting the cake...nothing!

One of the cool things however was how every Amish person was involved. Because the wedding colour was purple, all the women wore a different shade of purple dress and the shade depended on what service you offered during the reception. For instance, all the servers of the food had a certain shade, all the ladies cleaning up had a different shade and so on. So simple and so gracious. It was all really quite something and I was glad I could experience it!