I think this is a GQ but I’m not sure.
Anyroads, I’m going to a wedding in Mexico in a couple of weeks. As I understand it’ll be a traditional religious service followed by a reception.
So my question is, what do I expect ?
I know that there’s probably hundreds of different variations of this or that but if people could throw out any thoughts about stuff it might be good to know in advance that’d be great.
A Piñata?
Mariachi. (At least at the reception)
I’m guessing it will be a Catholic wedding. When I’ve taped Catholic weddings, I was concerned about running out of tape. Pretty long. But they weren’t Mexican. I expect there will be lots of food and alcohol and music at the reception. But then, that seems to be common in most weddings.
Based on the wedding in Babel, I’d say you should expect some gunfire, little kids chasing poultry, and at least one guy who really can’t hold his liquor.
Are you expecting some kind of big surprise? I don’t know what weddings are like in Scotland, but in Mexico probably nothing unusual is going to happen. No one is going to ask you to sing a song in Spanish or anything like that (though you might want to brush up on your cumbia dancing). Probably what you should expect is a big emphasis on the food and a lot of kids running around.
Of course, it can vary a lot, by social class, region and religion. (No pinata, though; that’s for kids’ birthdays.)
A friend’s brother married a Mexican girl from a smallish village, I don’t recall exactly where. They said that they had a blast and were treated as visting royalty (her and her family). The only downside she mentioned: the whole village came to the wedding, and a pig was slaughtered for the occasion. The fat from the pig was deepfried in largish cubes. These were considered the best part, and were given to the guests of honor. Since everyone was watching they pretty much had to eat them.
Not my cup of tea, but hopefully I could pull it off, should the occasion present itself. There are, IMO, worse parts of the pig they could have been offered.
Not that I’m suggesting you should go out and practice eating deepfried pig fat cubes, I’m just sayin’ is all.
Thanks everyone.
No, not at all. I guess I was more wanting to be aware of any traditions or customs that I should know about.
Deep fried pig fat cubes sounds kinda good to me, but then I’m Scottish and we’ll deep fry anything.
Also, these might help:
Mexican Wedding Traditions.
more
more
If you google this you’ll get literally over a million hits. I’d suggest that afterwards you share your personal experience in MPSIMS. I know I’d be interested to read about it and see some pics.
Ok, if you’re not going to link to it I will
I don’t think cumbia is that popular in Mexico.
Still, it would depend a lot on whether this is an urban or a rural event (and how affluent they are in either case). Do you have a good idea of their background?
You’re kidding, right? Or maybe you’ve never gone dancing with Mexicans. Think Sonora Dinamita. Granted, it’s not traditional cumbia like you’d hear in northern Colombia, but they call it cumbia and it’s the same rhythm.
Ignorance fought. I didn’t know that. I had cumbia (I love old cumbia) linked to Colombia and that was that.
Definitely based on class. When my parents-in-law renewed their vows, it was just like a normal, Catholic-in-the-USA wedding and reception. No Mariachis in the reception, but there was live music with lots of classic Mexican songs. Tequila flowed pretty well, and the beer (Modelo) was better than we’d get in the 'States (Bud). Dinner was brought to the table, and it was good. The event center was excellent overall for this.
My wife and her family have this common complaint, though: catered events always omit the salsas (honestly, they bring Tabasco!), and they get croissants instead of bolillos. I’m sure that lesser classes of entertainment, though, would be acceptable. Hell, no one says you can’t have a taquiza as a reception, but it’s not done at all levels of society.
Just to secon guizot…Man!..Cumbia is very, very popular in Mexico. As a matter of fact, there are a variety of styles of cumbias in Mexico. Norteño cumbia, “andian” cumbia, colombian cumbia, etc. If you watch comedy programs from Mexico, a way to make fun of the “nacos” or the urban working class is to show scenes of them dancing to cumbias. At least for the working class, Columbia is known for their cumbias and we love 'em for it. 
Try this link on Mexican Cumbia: Wiki is your friend.
To quote guizot
It really depends. But, religious wise, expect a regular Catholic wedding. A custom that you may see is “La Vibora de la Mar” at the reception. Here are two youtube videos to give you an idea:
Video1
Video2
If the wedding takes places in a rural, rural area, you may get a tornaboda. Usually you will have the wedding ceremony, then the reception, and then the party that may continue for up one to two days.
I would complain too. I paid for my electric guitar by working in a Mexican bakery, selling bolillos among other things. Fresh, fresh bolillos. Still warm. Man, they’re good.
And why would any Mexicans bring Tabasco?
Well, the way Colombians dance folkloric cumbia is completely different from the way Mexicans dance pop cumbia, so your instincts were right. And you’ll rarely hear Sonora Dinamita in Colombia. They’ve gone through various splits and variations, including members from El Salvador, but mostly they cater to Mexico, Central America, and Mexicans and Central Americans in the U.S. Central American cumbia groups seem to tend toward low tech productions and minor-key songs. I don’t know why.
I love the old stuff too. You might include the old porros in the big band era, like Lucho Bermudez.
I wish I could find a Mexican bakery that has bakery bolillos here – all they have are supermarket bolillos, if you know what I mean.
It’s not the participants that bring the Tabasco, it’s what provided by the caterers! So now we agree on the question: why the hell for? 
There ar two reasons:
It’s cheaper & faster for the caterers to just buy in bulk than prepare from scratch.
The reason they serve bolillos and tabasco is the belief that these are the type of ingredients that Anglo and Europeans will have at their boogie receptions.