Today is Dia de Los Muertos or "Day of the Dead", for those of you who are not familiar with this Mexican holiday, and it is celebrated November 1st and 2nd every year. I spent a semester in Mexico (in the fantastic city of Puebla, which is about 2.5 hours southeast of Mexico City) while in college and I was fascinated by the elaborate details of this holiday which celebrates those who have passed on. Families and friends create altars/displays for the deceased person with gifts or objects dedicated to that person's memory. These gifts can be anything from favorite food & drink to photographs to actual gifts (shirts, soccer balls, etc). It actually has very little to do with the commercial Halloween that we celebrate the day before (
Source). Here is a typical offering table or 'ofrenda':
I was lucky enough to be in Mexico for this holiday and I went with my roommate to visit a museum in downtown Puebla which had a Dia de Los Muertos exhibit. There must have been 70 ofrenda tables and all of them were as unique as they were elaborate. Knowing that these ofrendas were for real people made the exhibit that much more interesting. It was pretty awesome to see such a personal celebration in public.
This fascination with Dia de Los Muertos is not only in Mexico. Many couples are using this theme for their weddings that fall around November 1st. Here are a few photos of the theme tied into weddings from real couples. Enjoy!
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