Turkish Wedding

The Kina Gecesi was held in a tearoom with tables pushed to the side and an open space for dancing. All sorts of women were there, young to old, modern to conservative. The music was Turkish, the only drawback being that often songs would be stopped after 20 seconds, very annoying. My friend the Bride was in the semi-professional folk dance troupe at the university, so she and all her friends are good dancers. They danced in partners and also started line dances. They liked it that I was game to try the steps, which are different from how we dance in SoCal (with butt out, Latin style; Turks throw pelvis forward and tend to be more subtle with the hip movements).
The new mother- and sister-in-law are quite conservative and were dressed in dark costumes and scarves, with gauze overlay. Although it looked exotic, it was hot for them and they were uncomfortable dancing.
After a couple of hours the Bride changed into a traditional costume and we surrounded her with candles and threw evil eyes. Traditionally everyone cries to sad music as henna is applied to the bride’s hands and a red veil covers her face. The groom came in for henna also, and then they danced together. I’m so glad I got to experience this ceremony!
The wedding today was underwhelming. The bride and groom, in Western bridal wear, march into the salon together to applause. No music. They sit at a table, an official reads a few lines, they say evet/yes to more applause, and it’s over in five minutes. I actually missed it because I was 10 minutes late, so stayed for the next wedding, which was an hour later. No reception. So I walked through the main shopping street very overdressed in my high heels, wearing my strongest “don’t mess with me” face to meet a friend for coffee.
Tomorrow I have yet another ceremony to attend, a sunnet/circumcision. As I write this I can hear celebration music blaring from the neighborhood. Apparently June is the season for this stuff.