The wedding of Samuel and Bulisa Coyas

It is 31st December 1950. This photo was taken immediately after our wedding at the Kuzguncuk Synagogue, at the Reks Photographer in Kadikoy. We were very crowded as you can see. The children are at the very front. From left to right are: my wife Bulisa Coyas’s sister Ester Baruh, her aunt, Mari Dinar’s son, Momo Dinar; my cousins Jak and Viktorya Deleon’s daughter Cela Deleon, my wife’s sister Mari Baruh and my wife’s cousin Suzi Dinar (her aunt’s daughter). On the second row you can see from left to right: my father-in-law, Hayim Baruh, my mother-in-law Rebeka Baruh, the bride Bulisa Baruh, me, the groom, my mother Mazalto Coyas, my uncle Jozef Deleon, my aunt Rasel Deleon’s husband. Third row from left to right: the little boy is my wife’s youngest brother, Liya Baruh, I don’t remember the name of the man who is holding Liya, then my wife’s brother Izak Baruh, my wife’s aunt (my mother-in-law’s sister) Mari Dinar, my cousin Jak Deleon’s wife Viktorya Deleon, my aunt Rasel Deleon, my wife’s sister Neli Baruh, my wife’s uncle’s wife Rasel Ojalvo, and my wife’s uncle (my mother-in-law’s brother), Aron Ojalvo. Our wedding took place, in accordance with our traditons, in the Beth Yaakov Synagogue in Kuzguncuk. We were married on the 31st of December 1950. All of our relatives and friends attended the ceremony. Cela, the daughter of my cousin Cako and Viktorya, became the little bride. They had her wear a long dress, like the wedding gown. Later on, all of us went the Reks Studio in Kadikoy, to have our photographs taken. We had borrowed Berta's wedding gown, from our Greek family dress-maker, Eventiya, who lived in Yedikule. My mother had known her for years. When my mother went to Eventiya to have a wedding gown made, she told my mother that her own, which she had sewn herself, was in quite a good condition. Upon this, my fiancee decided to try it on, and saw that the moirée gown fitted her as if it had been made for her. On the other hand, we had rented my black tuxedo from the "Horozlu" shop. The "Horozlu" shop was in Tunel, on Galip Dede Street. It was a very old company. The owners were the "Taragano" family. Especially the Jewish men would rent their needs, like black tie, hat, glove and bow ties, for their weddings from this shop. Today, the shop still serves in the same way. In the evening, we gave a dinner to all of our relatives and friends at home. But after a few hours, we left them at home and went to the Park Hotel, in Yesilkoy, for our honeymoon. We stayed there for three days. It was one of the nicest hotels of the time.