damomoo

Return of the House Party

The wedding that I did last night was fun. The couple redid the backyard and it looked amazing. I later found out that they are renting the house and they fixed the whole backyard themselves. There were so many friends and family there, although none of the celebrities that they knew did not come. No big deal though. It was basically a house party with a wedding ceremony thrown in. There was good food, plenty of alcohol, the cake tasted great and people danced. You're always scared that you don't find the right groove but when we opened the dancefloor and "Celebration" came on it was non-stop. I even threw in MC Hammer and the groom was buggin'! We did get into the Hyphy Movement for a little while since the bride had a teen daughter and her cheerleader squad friends there. One observation though, Pleasanton teens don't get as hyphy as Alameda/Vallejo teens.

Another observation, the couple did a "Bittersweet Ceremony" which was really nice. The daughter fed them four items while the best man described each one. Honey was the sweet and symbolic in that it never spoils. Betel nut was bitter and symbolic in that marriage will see some sour moments here and there. Also, pepper was symbolic in that a marriage can get hot at times and salt is symbolic in that it preserves. Lastly they had water which cleansed. First time I had seen that. What also made it cool was that the best man had a cool Jamaican accent so he sounded really smooth in describing each one.

Although I love being a part of all the Pilipino weddings since I know what to expect and they have generally been fun, it's always nice to see how other customs are played out. Next weekend is a wedding for a white couple who found us in the phonebook so there's a little pressure there since they don't really know me but something tells me it's going to make me more aware of my surroundings that evening. It'll be interesting in trying to read the crowd. I was a little nervous about last night but it ended up turning out great.

posted by DJ John @ 2:16 PM