A Tico Style Wedding

This past Saturday night we had a wedding in the branch. This couple was supposed to be getting baptized as well right after the wedding but that got pushed back another week, so we just had the wedding. Our girls were very excited because this would be the first wedding they had ever been to!
This couple getting married comes from extremely poor circumstances as is the norm here, so a few sundays ago, we had a meeting after church and someone wrote down on the whiteboard all the ingredients that we needed to make the wedding cake and then people volunteered as to what they could bring. Someone else donated all the rice and beans for the "main course". I was very touched as I saw this take place and saw many people who have nothing, be willing to make the sacrifice to donate ingredients for a cake so that this couple could have a wedding.
It was very simple and humble but this couple had a wonderful evening and the bride's family especially was very touched that the church was so willing to help. None of them are members of the church. (yet)
Lane thought the whole "Tico Style" wedding reception was genious and thinks that our kids should follow suit. Ha ha...I don't think that will fly with them, but it was good for our three youngest to see that things can still be special when hardly any money is spent. As I was taping thin kleenex like paper over these old falling apart wooden tables for the food, and trying to keep the flowers from toppling over because they were only one or two stems stuck into a piece of foam, serving the wedding cake onto napkins because they had no more plates or forks.... I was once again humbled by all that we have and how much we take for granted. I hope that these experiences will stick with our family forever and we will learn lessons of gratitude and to be happy no matter what circumstances we may find ourselves in.