An A to Z of Spanish Weddings
By Theresa O’Shea
Theresa O’Shea tied the knot with her long-standing Spanish partner here on the coast in June 2007.We take a look at her linguistic and cultural survival guide to a Spanish wedding.
Alianza Wedding ring, which in Spain is worn on the ring finger of the right hand.
Arras In a tradition going back to the days of the Visigoths, the groom presents the bride with thirteen arras, or coins, made of gold, silver and metal. Originally, these sealed the deal – money in return for virginity. In today’s more enlightened times the bride normally presents her man with his own set of arras.
Arroz Rice is still the throwing-at-the-newly-weds weapon of choice. At our Anglo-Spanish bash we were pelted and peppered with an interesting mix of rice, confetti, chick peas and fideos (ultra-skinny macaroni)!
Banquete Wedding feast, ie the reception. If it’s an evening wedding, don’t expect to sit down before ten o’clock or stagger to your feet until well after midnight.
Ceremonia civil The equivalent of a registry office wedding in the UK. In 2006, almost one third of couples married por lo civil, as opposed to por la iglesia.
Convite Another word for wedding feast.
Corbata The custom of cutting the groom’s tie into pieces and then auctioning it off is considered to be in very poor taste. Doing the same thing with the bride’s liga (garter) is even worse.
Damas de honor Bridesmaids are not a traditional part of Spanish weddings, but thanks to the influence of Hollywood they are becoming so.
Despedido de soltero / soltera Hen night / stag night. Like in the UK, the simple night out / booze up with friends has been largely replaced by the pre-nuptial mini-break. Some popular options are hiring a country finca, popping over to Mallorca for the weekend or chilling out at a spa resort.
Detalle Wedding guests usually receive a small gift at the end of the meal. Typical detalles in Andalucía include dessert wine miniatures, hand-painted fans and engraved fino glasses.
Discurso Speech. The Spanish don’t go in for post-dinner speeches. However, with so many weddings on the coast where one partner is Spanish and the other British / German / Dutch etc, they are getting quite used to the practice. And they make great audiences – very participative, lots of cheers and olés and viva los novios!
Etiqueta A no-expense spared, ultra-formal wedding is referred to as una boda de etiqueta – the equivalent of top hat and tails in the UK.
Frac Tail coat.
Gastos Expenses. A church wedding with 150 guests costs an average of €28,500, according to a recent study by the Federación de Usuarios y Consumidores Independientes (FUCI).
Huevos de Santa Clara Superstitious brides-to-be take a basketful of eggs to any convent of Santa Clara in order to ensure fine weather on the Big Day. Rain is supposed to augur a tearful marriage – though according to a contradictory piece of wedding lore: “Novia mojada, novia afortunada” (A wet bride is a lucky bride).
Invitados Spanish weddings tend to be quite large, with around 150-200 guests.
Juzgado Non-religious weddings are held at a juzgado (court room), ayuntamiento (Town Hall), or anywhere else that the juez (judge), concejal (councillor), alcalde (mayor) or other floating funcionario can be persuaded to officiate.
Lista de boda Wedding gift list. El Corte Inglés is very popular for these.
Madrina The bridegroom’s mother (See Padrino).
Niños de arras / Niños de anillos Page boys and page girls at posh weddings who are – amazingly - entrusted with conveying the arras and rings on velvety cushions.
Novios So much shorter than saying ‘bride and groom’.
Orquesta Not the symphonic kind, but the dance band that strikes up after the wedding feast.
Padrino Best man, sort of. From the verb apadrinar, meaning ‘to sponsor’. The padrino is usually the bride’s father and the madrina, the bridegroom’s mother. The groom and the madrina are always the first to arrive at the church. It is the padrino who ‘gives away’ the bride.
Puros It’s always been the thing to dish out cigars to the male guests after dinner. With fewer and fewer people smoking these days, however, this custom is on the wane. We went for chocolate puros instead.
Quiero (sí) I do. I was so looking forward to my “Si quiero” moment, but the wording of the civil ceremony means you actually say “Sí consiento” (I give my consent).
Ramo de flores Spanish brides who have grown up on Hollywood movies also throw their bouquets over their shoulder for their unmarried girl friends to fight over.
Sevillanas You’ll have much more fun if you can twirl and strut and stomp along with the locals when the Sevillanas start up. And start up they will.
Sobres In Andalucía, money is often the preferred gift. After the meal, the bride and groom circulate from table to table and collect their sobres, or envelopes. Things are changing, though, and you may well receive the number of a bank account along with your invitation. The amount you give should at least cover the cost of your cubierto, or place setting.
Tarta nupical Wedding cake: typically a sponge cake, smothered and filled with serious amounts of creamy gunk.
Testigos Two witnesses are required to sign either the ‘Acta’ (marriage certificate) at a civil wedding or the Libro de matrimonios (marriage book) at a church wedding.
Traje de novia Wedding dress. As elsewhere in the West, white and off-white (blanco rota) are the most traditional colours. (I wore deep red at mine; but then my very untraditional Spanish novio sported a burgundy Punjabi wedding suit!)
Un movimiento sexy Be prepared to do lots of sexy – and other choreographed – movements once the band / DJ starts playing unavoidable wedding classics, such as Bomba, Aserejé, Macarena, and my personal un-favourite, Paco el Chocolatero.
Velo nupcial Wedding veil. Not to be confused with vello, meaning, er, body hair.
Votos Nothing to do with votes, these are the wedding vows.
Whisky No Spanish wedding (or any other kind of party / celebration) would be complete without plenty of whisky – or güisqui, as the Real Academia would have it.
Ximénez Dark sticky sweet Pedro Ximénez sherry is a popular dessert wine at weddings
Y comieron perdices What eating partridges has to do with living happily after is anybody’s guess, but that’s how all love stories end in Spanish: Vivieron felices y comieron perdices.
Zara Think twice before picking up your won’t-break-the-bank-account wedding outfit at Spain’s favourite fashion chain. You may find yourself going horribly “snap.”
©Theresa O’Shea
This article first appeared in the May 2008 edition of Hi Society! 2009 edition of H&E Naturist
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