Turin: Italian wedding

Dancing, eating, laughing, drinking and having a great time. A true Italian wedding, from start to finish. 

Last Saturday was one of G’s best friend/colleague’s wedding. I adore the couple and was thrilled to go all the way to Turin, Italy, to celebrate with them. It’s tradition to get married where the bride is from, so we, including G and I, couple of other Italian and German friends and colleagues, all hurried over to Cuneo, a lovely village that’s an hour drive from Turin, Italy.

지난주 토요일, G의 친한 친구이자 동료인 P의 결혼식이 있었다. 결혼식은 신부의 고향에서 하는 이탈리아의 전통을 따라 우리 모두 금요일날 토리노로 향했다. 결혼식 자체는 토리노에서 한시간정도 떨어진 Cuneo에서 이루어졌는데 꼭, 꼭 늦지 않게 와달라는 신랑 P의 부탁대로 우리는 새벽부터 분주하게 준비해 출발, 무려 30분이나 일찍 도착하는 기염을 토해냈다. P의 말대로, “이런 독일인같은 이탈리아인들 같으니.”

Getting married in a church makes the marriage official, and it’s the first place where you get to see all friends and family. There’s a lot of happy “Ciao!”s and introductions, and basically everyone gets to meet everyone else. It was scorching hot, even at 10 a.m., which is why most of my photos have a slight orangy tint to them, but then it poured rain the following day, so no complaints. Our German friend T was on my side, saying “Heiss, heiss, heiss, heiss!” which means “Hot, hot, hot, hot.” But G, who’s from southern Italy, was very chilled and didn’t flinch a bit to the heat. “It’s not hot for me at all. It’s warm. I like it.” He’s like a lion.

국교가 카톨릭인만큼, 성당에서 결혼하면 바로 공식적으로 부부가 되는 이탈리아. 그래서 대부분 성당에서 결혼식을 한다. 성당 앞에서 모두들 모이면 자연스럽게 모두와 인사를 나누고 자기 소개를 하고 신랑과 신부를 어떻게 아는지 이야기를 나눈다. 한국처럼 2-3시간, 혹은 1시간으로도 충분한 결혼식이 아니고 거의 하루를 함께 보내게 되는 대대적인 행사라 결혼식이 끝날때가 되면 가족들과 친구들의 이름 정도는 자연스럽게 알게 되는 시스템. 너무 더워서 나와 독일인 친구 T는 옆에서 “더워더워더워더워”를 외치고 있을때 남부 이탈리아 출신 G는 표정 하나 바뀌지 않고 뭐가 덥냐며, 이 정도면 따뜻하고 좋다고 날씨를 극찬했다. 대부분의 사진들이 오렌지빛을 띠고 있는 이유도 햇빛이 너무 쨍해서였다고 믿고 싶다.

Flower girls! The beautiful daughter of D and S, M was one of the little ones who led the way for the bride and her father. I was impressed how well she took her flowery crown and walked through the isle like a champ. One thing I appreciate when it comes to weddings here is that everyone looks their best. I hate when people attend weddings in jeans and just too casual clothes, which happens a lot in Korea. Dressing a bit more than less is better for weddings, I think.

플라워걸, M. 지금은 어떤지 모르겠지만 한국 결혼식에 청바지를 입고 오는 사람들이 너무나도 보기 싫었었는데 적어도 독일이나 이탈리아 결혼식에서는 최고로 화려하게 혹은 신경써서 나타나주는게 관례이자 예의. 좀 과하게 온 분도 있었지만 (“엘리자베스 여왕 만나러 가는건가?”) 결혼식에서는 과한게 덜한것 보다는 나은것 같은 느낌.

The father and the bride. And everyone else pulling out their smart phones and cameras.

One tricky little detail of having more than two beautiful children participating in the ceremony: they all want to go to different directions. So there was a lot of guiding, pointing, whistling, calling out names and picking up and bringing backs.

플라워걸들, 보이들이 많으면 많을수록 생기는 애로사항: 모두들 다른 방행을 향해 걷거나 뛰거나 중간이 앉아서 울거나 한다는 것.

This scared me a bit: two big baskets of rice. Throwing rice comes from the tradition and symbolism which means a healthy and prosperous relationship and family.

쌀 뿌리기 대작전. 어른 아이 할것 없이 두손에 묵직하게 쌀을 쥐어들고 기다렸다.

One of my favorite shots of the day. Tears of happiness! Weddings are special moments for anyone. I remember when I was giving a short speech on my wedding day, and I saw S, the bride, who was sitting right in the front, crying and laughing along with me. Such a special moment and I was glad I was there for her special day.

After the ceremony, everyone moves to a different location, usually a hotel or a banquet location. These places normally have nice gardens where you can walk around, dance, have a drink and also a ballroom or big dining room. We went to an estate that was surrounded by fields and fields of corn. It was just the corn fields and the estate.

결혼식이 끝난 후에는 제대로 된 파티를 하기 위해 이동하게 되는데 일반적으로 빌라나 호텔 등에서 이루어진다. 우리가 갔던 곳은 옥수수밭으로 둘러싸인 곳이었는데 주변에 정말 아무것도 없고 옥수수밭만 있었다.

The seating chart was a map of the world, each indicating the countries the couple went traveling in the past. There was one that caught my eye, Corea, or Korea. I knew they hadn’t been to Korea yet and they later told me it just made sense to have a Korea table. (And yes, Mom, I was the only Korean.)

자리 찾기. 신랑과 신부가 그동안 함께 다녀왔던 곳들을 중심으로 차트를 만들었는데 유독 눈에 띠는 곳이 있었으니 바로 코리아. 아시아인은 나뿐이라 아직 다녀오진 않았지만 고맙게도 코리아 테이블을 따로 만들어줬다.

Starting with simple appetizers.

주변에 펼쳐져있었던 에피타이저들. 구석에는 이탈리아 샴페인인 프로세코와 쥬스 등의 음료가 제공. 모두들 배고파서 허겁지겁 애피타이저 먹느라 정신이 없었다. 배고파서 이렇게 많이 먹고 나면 후회가 밀려오는데 그 이유는 아직 제대로된 식사가 시작되지도 않았는데 벌써 배부르기 때문. 이탈리아의 결혼식은 음식으로 시작해 음식으로 끝난다고 해도 과언이 아닐 정도.

Family photos! I realized German weddings don’t do a lot of these stand-in-a-line family photos, but Italian weddings do. These photos are huge in Korea, if you don’t have these photos with everyone, it’s like you didn’t have a wedding in the first place. Usually they are categorized “family,” friends,” “cousins,” and “colleagues.” For my own, we had family, friends, colleagues, G had one with all the girls, I had one with all the guys.

독일에서 결혼식을 할때는 가족들이나 친구들과 다함께 서서 사진 찍는 시간이 따로 없어서 사진작가한테 따로 얘기해서 찍어야했었는데 이탈리아는 이런 전통이 있는 모양. 남는 것은 역시 사진 뿐.

After a delightful course of appetizers and a little too much prosecco, we all walked into the dining room, which means: some more serious eating. This was my second Italian wedding, and I knew that from this hour, I needed to look after how much I eat. I have to remind myself continuously that enough is enough, because the food just comes and comes and never leaves. And the wine. Turin is the region of Piedmont, which is the region of Barolo and Barbaresco, some of the finest wines in Italy. And they just came and came. And we all drank and drank.

제대로된 식사를 하기 위해 들어선 다이닝룸. 음식이 계속 들어와서 처음부터 신경써서 먹어줘야하는 정도. 바롤로 와인으로 유명한 토리노인만큼 와인도 무한제공. 맛있어서 혹은 건배를 하기 위해 계속 마시다가는 큰일난다.

C, P, J, and A. Everyone looking well-fed and fresh. For now.

After a four course dinner, everyone just casually started to walk out to get some air, mostly because they were so full and needed some other type of movement other than reaching out and pouring the wine. This was also the subtle signal of yet another delightful course: wedding cake. The rest of the celebration was carried out in this part of the area; including the dancing, eating cake, eating a three course dinner and snacks, the guys smoking cigars, drinking more wine, mojito, and hundred cups of espressos.

식사가 끝나고 배부른 사람들이 슬슬 밖으로 나가자 바로 시작되는 케익 컷팅 행사. 여기서부터 케익, 에스프레소, 칵테일, 과일, 간단한 스낵, 시가, 와인등으로 이어진다.

I’m not sure if anyone can tell, but L is not C’s baby. He (and he) lasted ten whole minutes.

어색한 폼을 보면 알겠지만 L은 C의 아기가 아님. 내가 봐도 어색했다. 부모가 케익을 먹는 동안 봐주겠다고 안았는데 10분도 안되서 보채는 L은 결국 엄마에게로.

These were consumed by only about five Italians. There are two stacks of cups in the middle and the corner. I had one. Espressos are critical in any Italian event, let alone meal. The average Italian drinks more than two or three per day, while G drank four the next morning just for breakfast. Which is why all Italian weddings have a separate bar or table exclusively for espressos until the very end of the celebration.

열명은 마신 에스프레소잔들 같지만 사실 한 5명정도가 마신 모습. 이탈리아인에게 에스프레소는 독일인들에게 맥주와도 같은 것. G는 다음날 아침으로 에스프레소 4잔을 마셨는데도 멀쩡. 그래서 어느 이탈리아 결혼식에 가도 꼭 찾을 수 있는 것이 바로 한쪽에 에스프레소를 무한 제공해주는 바나 테이블.

So after the wedding cake, the waiters brought out boxes of flip flops. This indicated that the dancing section of the party was to begin. All the men seemed to be a bit hesitant to wear flip flops with their nice suits, while the women, including myself, did not look back and dove right into them. P and his brother changed to the flip flops soon after and while they were taking photos, they decided to do their father a favor and help him change into them as well. He protested a bit at first, but he gave in. How can parents ever resist their children. Especially on their wedding day.

웨딩케익을 먹고 나서 웨이터들이 쪼리들이 잔뜩 들어있는 박스들을 들고 나왔다. 본격적인 댄스 타임이 시작되었다는 것. 정장을 입고 있는 남자들은 처음에는 약간 멈칫하는 분위기였는데 여자들은 너도나도 갈아신었다. 사진을 찍던 중: 신랑 P와 형은 벌써 쪼리로 갈아신었는데 아버지는 그대로 구두를 신고 있는 상황. 바로 쪼리를 가져와 아버지를 신겨드리는 모습. 처음엔 약간 불편해하시다가 결국 받아들이고 셋이 정장에 쪼리를 신고 사진을 찍었다.

Even the photographer flip flopped.

Nobody seemed hungry at all, but we all took plates anyway. There always tend to be a snack or, in this case, a small dinner, after the final wedding cake section. Just in case all the dancing wear people out. After this, we also had fondue, fruit and ice cream. Again, food is an essential part of Italian weddings.

The final photo was taken around 1 a.m. The couple is the bride’s parents, dancing away. A happy, happy day. Congrats to the lovely couple, S and P.

마지막 사진을 찍었을때가 새벽 1시정도였는데 아직도 춤을 추고 계시던 신부의 부모님. 두분 다 신나셔서 계속 춤을 추고 계셨다. 우리가 호텔로 가기 위해 길을 나서는 그 순간까지도.

All photos by rachelsanghee