My Big Fat Azeri Wedding

There was the beautiful blushing bride, Yegana, a co-worker of Kyle's, and then there was me. An extremely embarrassed, red faced American, attempting to do a traditional Azeri dance right in the middle of a grand reception. All because the mother of the bride insisted that Adriana and I join the rest of the women on the dance floor. It was our first Azeri wedding and not fulling understanding the customs, I was worried that I might inadvertently insult someone with my booty shakin'. I just followed the other women and tried to make my body move like theirs. The dance resembled the hula, but with less hip movements. After two dances, I feigned exhaustion and headed to our table. Thankfully, Kyle had snapped a few photos of us dancing.

(Brooke & Adriana pre-dancing)


(Showing off our mad Azeri dancing skills)


(The mother of the bride is in aqua. She was a fabulous dancer. Seriously.)


(Brooke & Kyle attempting to dance Azeri style.)

The Azeri custom is for the bride and groom to obtain their marriage certificate in a small unceremonious business transaction. There is a not an official ritual for the guests, so the reception is the entire celebration.

I loved seeing the western-meets-eastern influences throughout the reception. The bride and groom entered the banquet hall walking down a center aisle with fireworks lighting the way (yes, we were indoors). The bride wore an elegant wedding dress, complete with a white veil. The couple sat on a raised platform at one end of the room, reigning over their guests, as it appeared to me. Kyle and I were seated with the only other American couple, Max and Adrianna, and then 3 more English-speaking guests dined with us as well. Food was served for 4 hours straight. Fish, chicken, caviar, Russian-type salads, fruits, rice. It just kept on coming.

(Yegana & Viegao walking down the aisle.)

The MC would alternate between folksy-sounding Azeri music, played by a large band, to a DJ spinning popular dance music. There was a performance by a traditional Azeri dancer and a trio of drums. By all measures, it was traditional reception, until the lights were dimmed and then the MC announced that there was a special guest from the USA. My faced turned red again. "Oh no!" I groaned. "He's going to introduce us to everyone!" But then, Michael Jackson's "Billy Jean" blasted from the speakers and out walked a MJ impersonator. It was one of the more random things I have ever seen at a reception, but he was incredibly good - moon walking and crotch grabbing - he didn't miss a beat!

(Traditional Azeri dancer)


(Traditional Azeri drummers)

At 11 p.m., we called it a night. We missed the cutting of the cake, but I heard it was delicious. Maybe next time...