Mayor Weds Alligator Wearing White Wedding Dress, Sealed It With A Kiss

What seems like a strange act to many is what is being adored in one of the cities in Mexico. The mayor of a small Mexican town married an alligator in an unusual ritual that is believed to bring good luck and prosperity to local fishermen.

The symbolic ceremony took place in San Pedro Huamelula, a town located in the southwestern state of Oaxaca on Mexico’s Pacific Coast.

No matter how bizarre it sounds, there was a big formal wedding at the Town Hall and the entire town was invited. The ceremony was presided over by a priest and the man even kissed his bride at the end of the ceremony! The bride, whom the local community called “the Princess” was all dressed up for her wedding and even wore a custom-made white wedding gown, a veil, and a floral crown on her head.

Victor Hugo Sosa, who is of indigenous descent, wedded the seven-year-old alligator in a colorful ceremony. Sosa and other attendees paraded through town with full fanfare, with people singing and dancing and playing traditional music as the mayor held the reptile in his arms.

At points in the ceremony, the crowd urged the mayor to kiss his bride, which he did so on several occasions, planting his lips on the top of its snout. Luckily, for the mayor, the poor animal’s jaws were clamped shut on the big day.

Merrymakers also carried the alligator through the town’s streets as musicians serenaded the party.

The state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico is rich in indigenous culture and is home to more than a dozen groups who are descended from people who were living in the region before Spanish colonization. These groups have kept their own languages and traditions alive to this day.

According to the Mexican National Institute of Statistics and Geography, Oaxaca has the highest percentage of indigenous people in the county as of 2020—reaching almost 70 percent of the population.

The alligator marriage ritual, which takes place in San Pedro Huamelula every year, is thought to date back to pre-Hispanic times originating with the state’s Chontal and Huave indigenous communities.

The alligator is considered to be a deity that represents Mother Earth, while the marriage itself is believed to bring abundance to the town, which relies heavily on agriculture and fishing.

“We ask nature for enough rain, for enough food, that we have fish in the river,” Sosa said during the ceremony.

The organizer of the wedding, Elia Edith Aguilar, was entrusted with the responsibility of conducting the ceremony.

“It gives me so much happiness and makes me proud of my roots,” she told Reuters. “It’s a very beautiful tradition.”

The wedding ceremony wasn’t the only thing that happened. The female crocodile was baptized a day before the wedding as well.