Like all weddings, this one involved meticulous planning. Unlike similar celebrations across Latin America, it also reflected the unique realities of Cuba’s Special Period. When the Soviet Union vanished several years earlier, all commercial products disappeared from government rations. Once barely stocked with basic household goods such as towels and pots, the shelves of state stores—especially in rural areas like this town in Pinar del Río—were entirely empty. Against this backdrop, however, the bride and groom’s families did not despair: friends and relatives in the United States, Canada and Havana coordinated responses, sending essentials like the bride’s shoes, dress, cosmetics and headdress as well as offering crucial support for the purchase of beer and other snacks to serve the many neighbors who gathered after the wedding to celebrate. Not realizing how rare it was for couples to have more than a few photographs taken (usually in black and white), I offered to serve as wedding photographer. Unable to jeopardize my Cuban research visa, I then sent the rolls of film home with near-strangers. For months, I waited with as much excitement—if not more—the delivery of a wedding album to the couple: they, by the way, are still happily married! PUERTA DE GOLPE, PINAR DEL RIO, MARCH 1997.
