Emily's Wedding Planning Begins

I wanted to share the ongoing story of my friend Emily, who babysits my kids. Here is a copy of the letter I sent to a seemingly random ecuadorian woman who married a US citizen in Ecuador. We found Wendy by Googling "Ecuador Wedding", or something like that. I sent out an initial, "here's what we're looking for" note, she wrote back asking for details. I add my next letter in its entirety ( slightly edited to fit the format of your attention span), mostly to document yet another chapter of my life:

OK, here is the story of my good friend, Emily and her Ecuadorian wedding....

Emily was born and raised in the small, rural town of Mechanic Falls, Maine (US). I met her when she was 2 years old... her mother was/is good friends with Scott's mother. I was nearly in college at the time, and I only saw her when Scott and I would visit his mother's church. After graduation, I married Scott, and we moved out of state for several years... nine moves in six years of marriage, and we moved back home. By now, Emily was in college herself, but stayed at home during the summer months. We hired her as a babysitter for our children.

Meanwhile, Emily had been taking extensive Spanish classes, and was studying to work with underprivileged children, both locally as well as on missions trips to Ecuador. I know she has travelled to Quito with our church, but most recently she is helping start a foundation for orphans in Guayaquil (sp?). She has graduated college and is in the midst of forming a non-profit group which will provide financial aid for food, clothing and most important, education for these kids. She has fallen in love with the kids, with her mission, with Ecuador... and now, with Alex!

As I understand, Alex is a singer/worship leader in Guayaquil. When Emily is home in Maine, they keep in touch via the internet, and have spent over a year getting to know each other. On her most recent 6-week visit to Ecuador, they became engaged, and want the wedding to be in Ecuador... the ultimate plan finds them living in Guayaquil, assisting with running the foundation.

The other day, Emily and I spent hours on the internet, trying to find out about local Ecuadorian wedding customs or traditions... any hints on getting married in Ecuador (with the added complication of the gringa planning from so far away!).

The only tradition Emily thinks she knows involves the maid of honor wearing red. She wants the wedding to be fun (though there will most likely be no alcohol, and perhaps little dancing, as it is an evangelical Christian event), he wants it to be romantic. There will be both locals and non-spanish speaking US citizens attending. The couple has little money (which I understand is a relative term, considering the difference between here and there) to spend on the wedding itself. Emily says flowers are very easy to get, as well as very cheap to buy... she wants lots of flowers. She wants photos done at the park of Malecon, though the church she works with is in a "bad" section of Guayaquil, about half an hour away... she is flexible on where the ceremony will take place, she doesn't know where else to look right now.

Really, she's been engaged for less than a month, and is so overwhelmed with the idea itself... now she's trying to plan for a wedding in October, in another country. We have searched for photos, suggestions, customs, ideas online, but nothing very helpful comes up (she doesn't want to hire someone in the "destination wedding" business). I am so excited by your prompt reply and willingness to assist... if, in my excitement I get too annoying to you, please let me know. =} She's like a little sister to me, and I just want to help her make her wedding dreams a memorable experience for her.

As you can imagine, Emily is taller than Alex... I think she's about 5'7", and he may be 5'2". I add that fact, just because it's one detail I know. Otherwise, I really don't know much about much. Please let me know what else I can provide that would help you to help us.

Wendy's next response was amazing. She was married in the same city where Emily plans to marry. She has contact names, numbers and emails for people and places all over Guayaquil that will prove extremely helpful for Emily. She sent back a few initial ideas and suggestions, and encouraged us to send questions as they arise. She also was very encouraging to Emily in her mission with the street kids. It's very cool how this is all working out.