A unique Tradition of a local Wedding in south western of Anatolia
(Bodrumda bir dugun gelenegi)
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Part 1
We are one of the many summer residents in Bodrum/Turkiye for almost 38 years. Our small flat is in the western region of Turkey, a small beach town called Karaincir/ Akyarlar. Karaincir cove is a soul refreshing heaven for me. Yet, because of our working schedule, we never stayed more than 2-3 weeks at a time at this natural beauty for years, until our retirement arrived. Staying longer than few weeks gives us an opportunity to involve with locals more, and get to know the people, their daily life and their traditions. This year one of our neighbor’s son was getting married. When they start putting tents on the alley, I was interested what was going on. Soon enough we received an invitation for this young couple’s wedding. The mother-in-law to be also invited me to the dowry camel ceremony. Dowry Camel is one of the traditional wedding images around the region. Although it is not too common nowadays, still some locals maintain the tradition in the region, before the wedding for the presentation of gift sent from groom’s house to the bride’s house. Ceremony took place a week before the wedding, Groom’s home displayed the dowry in the veranda in bundles wrapped in tulle. While the neighboring guests were gathering, a locally ornamented camel swayed in accompanied of drums and clarion (a type of trumpet). Grooms’ friends greeted the camel with a traditional zeybek dance in circle. Then, the men loaded a chest that contains bride’s wedding dress, shoes, grooms’ outfit etc. on one side of the camel and loads such as halva, coffee, nuts etc. on the other side. They placed a handmade carpet on top and groom’s shirt on the front. This camel called now “weight camel or dowry camel” and set out with groom’s family to the bride’s house, accompanied by drums and clarion. At the same time, both groom’s and bride’s house served traditional Turkish meals to the guest. All took place in the mood of a wedding with traditional music and dance. |
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Fried potato and pepper
Our Proud Chef and his assistants. They worked hard in a warm day of Bodrum,
Many thanks to all of them. |
Part 2
I woke up with a strong smell of wood fire early in the morning on the next day, naturally when I checked out of the balcony, I saw that groom’s house was in a hectic preparation and huge copper cauldrons were already starting to boil over the wood fire. The wedding feast: I ran to the alley to record this unique menu of wedding meal. Conversations between me and the chef was rather entertaining. It was a great pleasure to hear, the chef describes this huge meal routine with a great pride and his regional dialect. Here are some examples of the feast that we enjoyed tasting. Summer 2021 
Chickpea with beef ( recipe is coming soon)
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