A Spanish Wedding

This weekend I had the amazing opportunity to attend a wedding in Spain! I guess you could technically call the bride my host sister although she doesn't live in the piso with her parents and younger brother (and now me). Whatever you want to call her, this situation meant that I got to witness the preparation and events preceding the wedding as well as the ceremony and reception.

Friday afternoon we left for the family's summer house in the pueblo Campotejar. Everyone in the family, including Leti (the bride), Veronica (oldest daughter in my host family), Tony (Veronica's husband), Aaron (their one-year-old), and I stayed in the house, with various relatives and friends coming and going at all hours the whole weekend. I know it's pretty cliché to compare the experience to My Big Fat Greek Wedding, but sometimes it really was amusing to watch how many people were involved in some of the smallest details or present for professional photos of the bride, and Spaniards do speak loudly and gesture a lot while talking! ;) It's important to say, though, that Leti and Manolo (the groom, if you didn't figure that out) are very close to their families, and intentionally included them because they wanted to as much as out of respect for tradition.

Amidst all of the pre-wedding day errands and preparations, one event stuck out to me the most. The music rehearsal on Friday night was one of my favorite experiences with my host family so far. Veronica would be the lead singer and guitarist at the wedding, with a slew of others playing piano and singing. As I sat with my host mom in the church singing along (with the aid of the printed lyrics in the wedding program) and watching musicians as they checked acoustics, altered harmonies, etc., I realized how many of these rehearsals I have participated in. JAM Band at church, talent shows, choir concerts, musicals, and more- practicing, having fun, enjoying the experience of making music with other people. Of course I knew before that my host family and the other people I've met here are living their life just like I am, but we all have our own centers of the universe. Where we come from, not just geographically, but our backgrounds and families and our interests and really everything in our daily lives. During this rehearsal, all the foreign-ness of the language and customs and and everything else melted away a bit, and I was able to glimpse what it is to feel that this place, these people, this music, etc. are the familiar basis for other experiences instead of vice versa. The power of music, huh?

The weekend really flew by and before we knew it, it was Sunday morning! The women in the family went to get their hair and makeup done at the peluqueria at 6 am- eesh. Spaniards really dress up for weddings, at the least for all the ones in this specific pueblo. I was super excited because the women wear those fancy little hats you see in pictures from weddings and garden parties in Europe, but unfortunately they couldn't find the one that went with the dress I was wearing, which was actually the bride's old dress from another wedding. I brought a nice dress and heels and jewelry to Spain with me that would have been perfect for a wedding in the US, but it was not fancy enough for this one! My host family very generously provided everything I needed though...

Good replacement for a hat

   crazy face, but best view
of the dress!

 the clutch was the only thing
of mine worthy enough to use

Showtime!

Is this not precious? Baby Aaron getting professional pictures with Grandpa presiding.

Waiting to throw rose petals at the family as they exit the house

My host mom and brother- look at that awesome hat!

Throwing rose petals at the lovely bride and father

Trying to capture the amount of people in the church- I couldn't. Too many to believe. People were literally standing in the doorway during the entire (long, traditional, Catholic) ceremony.

Beautiful sister and brother of the bride!

Beautiful bride!!

Mothers of the groom wear awesome big head pieces with a veil.

I know theres's a weird shadow because of another camera's flash, but this is my host family. Aren't the attractive? Guapisimo, as the Spaniards say!

I helped put the rice in these!

Beautiful day for a wedding in Campotejar

This was one of two large rooms at this venue. The other looked similar, but had lots of tables without chairs for everyone to eat tapas and drink at. Really similar to cocktail hour at American weddings, but more food. 

First course of the formal meal. Keep in mind that we have already eaten quite a few tapas, and then remember that this is a formal wedding (pretty obvious) with a 5-course meal. I kid you not, we ate for 5 hours straight. Continuously. When I told one of my professors about it today, she said she's been to some where they ate for 7 hours. 

Sorbet-something. I believe it was a palate cleanser. Whatever it was, it was delicious.
Probably the best thing I consumed all night, which is saying something.

Several things to note here. One is that there aren't wedding parties of groomsmen and bridesmaids in Spanish weddings. Just like the rest of the time, everything is very family-oriented. At the head table are the bride and groom along with their parents. Once the bride and groom get to the head table after they've entered the reception for the first time, the parents are waiting in front of it for them. They all toast each other and the crowd, and then the real reception commences. In this case, the woman you see on the far left is the groom's sister. Their father died when Manolo was young, and his sister gave a really beautiful speech during the reception about Manolo being there for her and their mom. It was moments like that and when my host brother was reading his speech to Leti that I wish I really had a grasp on the language. Understanding the nuances of a language is such a huge part of understanding a culture and I really regret that I  had to miss this opportunity to experience the best of family relations, but the intent and emotion were obvious- it is a wedding, after all!

Another tradition- the bride and groom give flowers and/or small gifts (picture in a frame) to their parents and siblings.

After the meal has finally ended and the visiting and speeches and everything like that have finished, the lights go up and it seems like everyone is leaving. However, this is just because the majority of the crowd (excluding the very elderly) have moved downstairs in the banquet hall to the discoteca. Thus begins the most fun part of the entire day- dancing! I love to dance, and...

1. Spaniards are fantastic dancers. Yes, I'm sure there are some awkward ones among them, but as a general rule, I'm going to believe until proven otherwise that they are superior. Rhythmic, suave, and every age from child to grandparent.

2. They have great dance music. There are some fun little songs I would equate to the Macarena, Electric Slide, etc., except they're... well, Spanish. I don't think I sat down for at least two hours, just because you would wander from group to group dancing with different people, and every song was catchy. My host brother and one of the innumerable cousins broke out a cajon (this drum that looks like a box that you sit on to play, if you don't know) and played with the music while women took turns dancing little solos. 

In reality, this wedding was really similar to one in the US, but something about the Spanish people made it different. There are certainly some characteristics I can pinpoint so far, like being more relaxed in general than Americans (but not lethargic/lazy) and having the "it takes a village to raise a child" mentality, but I think those are just some of the first things I'm able to notice. I'll definitely be trying to think more about it as I continue this semester.