You aren't born knowing how to climb mountains, conquer cities, or survive Chilean weddings. These are things that take time, training, experience and advice.  Check out my steps below on how to survive a true Chilean wedding...

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Step 1: Get invited to a Chilean wedding.  

Trust me, without this step you will find the remaining steps hard to follow.

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Step 2: Meet your new best friend... Pisco

What I mean by this is make sure you have tried Chile’s famous drink, the Pisco Sour.  This drink is not for                     everyone, but it is what Chilean’s love!

If you’re not a fan of the sour then you can do a Piscola, Pisco with soda (usually coca cola), but you can ask for a different soda, I always drank it with ginger ale.  Now there are other options, but this is a sure drink to be found at a Chilean wedding.

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Step 3: Break in those dancing shoes!

One thing you need to be prepared to do is DANCE! Don’t wear your new      shoes that aren’t that comfy, or that you think you’ll be able to break in.  You’ll only break an ankle, or achieve all of the blisters!

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Step 4: Rest up before their big day.

Get plenty of sleep the night before, because you will be up until at least 6 am.  Chileans don’t play when it comes to partying. When they celebrate they celebrate the whole night and practically the next day.  This includes an after party we went to that started at 6 am.

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Step 5: Brush up on your Spanish

But not just your regular Spanish… your Chilean Spanish.  Chileans have their own Spanish, and it is mostly slang!  This can be confusing when you feel confident with your basic Spanish skills and then start hearing, “sipo!” or “nopo!”  They love to throw a “po” on the end of everything.  I am a novice when it comes to Spanish so half the time I just listen and try to decipher, but, as most of my Chilean friends would agree, I use my facial expressions or reactions to communicate best.

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Step 5.5: Lost in translation

As the night goes on your Spanish might get better and/or your friend’s English might excel!  Just keep in mind this could also go the other way. Both yours and their's skills could absolutely deteriorate and you’ll be completely lost in translation. Using my hands and faces almost always work.  If not Google translate is a great go to.

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Step 6: Eat!

The food was amazing and a mix of cultural and classic wedding food, including the cake.  Now not all weddings will have these, but the one I was at had an extensive desert table!  Not just cake, but sweet creams, pies, puddings, dulce tres leches.  Try everything if you can, as long as its without robbing others of treats.

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Step 7: Kiss and be kissed

Ok, this one is for pretty much every day, but when people drink and party it always happens more often.  As the night continues and everyone is happy and celebrating  your cheeks might get covered.

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Fun facts:

-There aren’t bridesmaids or groomsmen

-The only speech you'll hear is from the couple who welcome the guests and toasts to them

-Couples first dance is always a waltz that turns into a father/daughter, mother/son, father of groom/mother of bride dance

-They cut the cake but don’t feed it to each other

-There usually isn't a MC

-The groom doesn’t throw a garter, but instead an empty box of whisky

-There will usually always have party favors to wear, not just small gift, or only for a photo booth

-They usually last all night long and then followed by an after party – which we went to at 6 am, and can continue the whole next day