A Traditional Wedding.

I had been saying I really wanted to see a traditional Peruvian/Bolivian wedding but thought that they would be so hard to come by and obviously private, however when we arrived on the Isla del Sol, Lake Titicaca, we came across one and were welcomed as guests. The wedding was held outside in the most beautiful surroundings set to the backdrop of the lake and a dainty beach. The whole village was in attendance and as I had suspected the men and women were separated but occasionally danced together. Everyone drank copiously and to our surprise started pinning money onto the shirt of the groom, best man and grooms brother. This seemed to be the tradition and a lovely replacement for buying an expensive wedding gift as people were then able to pin on as little or large as they could afford, no judgement made. The newly weds were both dressed quite informally so as to welcome the on coming money without worrying about ruining their clothes. The woman wore the typical multi layered skirts and fancy blouse and tassled shawl combo and a tiny tophat perched on top of her plaited head as she would normally do. Her husband had a swarve trilby on that matched every man in the villages. I learned that like in many other places in Peru/Bolivia, the men only gain  the trilby once they are married and so he would have probably adorned a woolen one beforehand.
There was entertainment provided by many drunken speeches followed by an amazing brass band and accompanied by traditional dances, allowing the women to show off their swishy skirts and carves (their way of flirting apparently).
I managed to get a few photos but didn't want to seem too intrusive as we were lucky enough to be allowed to watch it as it was.