Albanian Wedding

You see, I am Albanian, with some VERY ODD traditions.

Typical Albanian wedding tradition-

The bride in Albanian tradition has a morning ceremony attended by her family and friends (Usually attended by 300 or so) where she is picked up by the grooms’ family (Usually around 15 men). Mind you the groom is not one of the attendees.

They then drive her to the grooms’ home where certain Albanian traditions are performed; pictures are taken and so on between the bride and groom.  

Several hours later they (bride and groom) then head to the “night” ceremony which is the grooms’ ceremony, attended by the grooms family and friends. The brides’ closest family members (around 20 or so) usually attend only a few hours of the “night” ceremony.

So now that I gave you a brief description I can explain my dilemma which started several months ago while preparing for my nieces wedding.

Since I am the Aunt (My sisters’ daughter is getting married) I am considered a “close” relative. So I will be attending both the morning and evening party. This means I will need the following;

Morning Ensemble- Dress # 1, shoes # 1, hand bag # 1, and hair accessory # 1.

Night Ensemble- Dress # 2, shoes # 2, hand bag # 2, and hair accessory # 2.

Dress # 01- Last year I went dress shopping with a friend (She needed a dress) and while at this boutique a dress caught my eye so I bought it knowing I would wear it somewhere. IM NOT JOKING I would say I attend typically 10 Albanian weddings a year, never mind the wedding showers, baby showers, Zeppolle parties, (YES We have Zeppolle parties).

Weddings came and went; I did not wear the dress anywhere because it just didn’t “fit”. What I mean by “fit” is it was to fancy to wear to a distant relatives party. (Sorry but we Albanians are difficult to understand, I hope your understanding all of this) So that’s how I ended up with dress # 01. Shoes and handbag # 01 also were items I had. Hair accessory is going to be from one of my hair creations.  

Morning Ensemble- CHECK!!!!

Dress # 02 and pictures ………………to be continued.