According to a weird tradition in the Demirci region of the western province of Manisa, you either attend your relative's wedding or you become the entertainment. The tradition, which is followed in almost all of the villages in the region, sees the bride's family and friends visiting the relatives of the groom.
The group, singing, dancing and waving Turkish flags, visits the homes of the groom's relatives, inviting them outside. The groom's relatives need to be ready to display their gifts on a steel plate. If there is no gift or no thought was put into it, the person is punished.
Missing the wedding, or even not dancing during the event, is also penalized.
The penalty includes being thrown into water, usually the trough in the center of the village. The impolite relative is then made to dance.
Sevinçler neighborhood's muhtar, or village elder, Erdal Çalı said the tradition was centuries old.
"If the groom's relatives and friends ignore the wedding, they need to be penalized. Among the punishments are being thrown into water, being forced to ride a donkey back to front or being made to run barefoot in the village square. But usually it is the water."
Demirci Mayor Selami Selçuk said the region was quite far from large urban centers, allowing the people to protect their heritage. "Each and every tradition dates back hundreds of years. Relatives who fail to prepare gifts are punished this way. No one gets angry and the rest have a good time."
