Intermediate Reading Exercise

Everybody loves a good wedding and I'm no exception. I've been to a load of them in my native Britain and I must say that I usually have a great time. I've also been to a few abroad, including the Caribbean and Spain, and most recently (last week in fact) to one in the mountains of Sardinia. No two weddings are ever the same and I really enjoyed this one for one or two of the differences from those in the UK.

First, the two families spent at least three weeks before the big day preparing all the food, from wonderful home-made delicacies to simple traditional breads and pastas. In my experience, in the UK that onerous task is left to the caterers! In the week leading up to the wedding there is a dinner or some form of celebration every day - training for the stomach I guess. I know that we have the traditional Bachelor party and Bachelorette party, but this is more family orientated and certainly a little less rowdy. This particular ceremony was in a beautiful country church and afterwards the couple was driven to the reception in a wonderfully decorated classic Fiat 500, which was really similar to what happens in the UK, even down to the string of tin cans trailing behind the car!

The reception itself was also very similar until I realized that the seven tables in the hall each sat sixty guests (that's four hundred and twenty, for those of you who didn't study Math), an average number for Sardinia but would be considered a very large wedding where I'm from.

The wine flowed, as did the chatter - the famous Italian exuberance showing itself to the full. There were the five or six courses of wonderful food, screaming kids running wild, the ceremonial cutting of the cake by the bride and groom - but no speeches! Not one. In the UK it's traditional for the father of the bride to propose a toast, followed by the groom and finishing up with that of the best man. His is meant to be he highlight of the lunch / dinner, generally having a good laugh at the groom's expense, but here the groom was spared that particular discomfort.

Instead there was a delightful custom which I'd never seen before, in which six or seven of the male guests pass round the hall banging trays, drums, pots, pans or basically anything that makes a horrendous noise, selling pieces of the groom's tie which has been cut into tiny bits. The money raised is then given to the happy(!) couple to help them set up their new life together. Really nice. Finally the evening saw a lot of traditional dancing, a little disco dancing and some karaoke. Pretty much the part I like best, and again I wasn't disappointed. Can't wait for the next one.