ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at how marriage activates the social space inhabited by adulthood and intersects with broader social realms of kinship, the globalizing world of work, and godparenthood obligations. Preparing the initial stage of a marriage ceremony, the Buena Vista household was anxiously making preparations for the first of several bendiciones, blessings of the couple by close kin and assembled godparents in front of a household altar. Both Herardo and Rosalba met as teens while making clothes in the commercial textile town of Chiconcuac. Weddings in rural Mexican communities like Amanalco are very elaborate and costly events typically lasting three days, but for some wealthy families it could extend over five nights.
