Taken from a Bride
The "bride's send-off" or bachelorette party is what they call it in San Antonino Castillo Velasco, the day before the religious wedding.
The customs and traditions of San Antonino Castillo Velasco are still preserved from generation to generation and have been passed down to new generations.
This grand bachelorette party celebration begins very early with the guests helping with household chores, thus giving their "Guelaguetza," which is a form of mutual aid.
It also serves to welcome the groom's parents and relatives, who will arrive very early to offer a gift of bread, chocolate, and cigarettes, as well as a mat of poleo (a type of mat) that the local people (known as "lads") went to fetch from the hill, since this offering will be shared with the bride's guests.
This offering is a symbol of the union of the new families that come together through the young couple who are about to embark on their married life.
The incense burner or copal smoke is essential, as it is believed that the smoke represents the... Prayers rise to heaven, asking for blessings upon this new couple.
All these offerings are placed before the altar of the Holy Family. People greet one another while the priests distribute the fragrant herb, pennyroyal. First, a sprig of pennyroyal is offered to the altar to begin the ritual of the bread offering.
After presenting this bread offering to the bride's family, the parents and relatives leave, as they will return in the afternoon with the wedding sponsors for the blessing of the couple and to take the bride home for the day, since the religious wedding will take place tomorrow.
It is time for the godparents to begin arriving, as the bride's parents have sent a delegation to bring them. These include the godparents of baptism, first communion, confirmation, rosary, and any other godparents the bride may have.
The godparents are pleased to give them gifts, such as these. Lovely gifts: the confirmation godfather gives the stove, the communion godmother the refrigerator, and the baptism godparents a wardrobe. These gifts are a token of affection for the goddaughter and a small contribution to help her in her new married life.
These are the customs and traditions of a bride's bachelorette party in San Antonino Castillo Velasco.
Oaxaca is the state with the greatest ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and natural diversity in Mexico, which is reflected in the presence of its indigenous peoples.