Last Sunday, we had the privilege of being invited to a Spanish wedding. Baltasar (son of Baltasar and Amalia who run the bar/restaurant Casa Amalia in Cartajima) and Gabriella were wedded in the church of the village of Cartajima, just 20 minutes from Ronda. We were all blessed, as the torential rain stopped and the sun shone all day instead! It was terribly cold though, but what a lovely day nonetheless (and it snowed all day the following day!!).
The church ceremony was scheduled for 12 am. Church bells rang half an hour before the service was due, to let everyone know in the village about it, and rang again 15 minutes later. We then assembled with everyone else outside the church to watch first the arrival of the Groom and his mother and then of the Bride and the "Padrino de boda", Martin Berasategui. We then followed the bride and the padrino into the church and a lot of poeple stayed outside, sunning themselves in the sun. The ceremony was short and very cheerful. The young priest had a good sense of humour and made everyone laugh!
After being pronounced Husband and Wife and signing the wedding certificates, the wedded couple made a quick exit through the rice and petals, with a few brief pauses to receive congratulations and photo taking, and departed in a beautiful vintage car to go and do the wedding photos with the Groom's mother and the padrino, who followed in another vintage car both owned by Amalia's brother, Alfredo Corbacho, who collects vintage cars.
We then made our way to the Hotel Reina Victoria in Ronda where the reception took place. A lovely apperitif was served and followed by a very nice sit down meal. A plan of the table arrangement with names per table was displayed in the lobby of the hotel so you could find where you were sitting. We knew we were placed with Charo, the wife of our dearest friend Juan who passed away last September, and her family. It was only a question of finding out where the table was. Not so easy when there was at least 400 guests!
The meal was extremely good, with gambas, oysters, concha finas, jamon for starter, leg of lamb or fish or steak for the main course and a lovely desert, all copiously accompanied by champagne and wine. We were actually contacted the day before by Auxi, Baltasar's sister, to choose our main course in advance. How organised is that?!
The meal was very emotional to say the least! Juan was obviously being terribly missed by everyone who knew him and we all shed tears. Then, the padrino, Martin Berasategui, brought everyone to tears with his speach. As some of you might have wondered, Martin is indeed the famous Spanish Chef, in fact one of the best Chefs in the world (
http://www.martinberasategui.com/). Baltasar chico has been working for him for a few years now and according to Martin, Baltasar is the No 1 chef and he believes he will make his mark in the Spanish cuisine but also in the World cuisine. He also said that he considers him like his own son... Wow, what a compliment!
On a lighter note, plenty of flamenco singing was to be had and good laughs from other friend's speaches. At the end of the meal, during the dessert, coffee and liquors, the bride and Auxi came round all the tables and pined a delicate porcelaine jasmin flower to the women's top (married women with the flower stem going down and single women with the flower stem going up) and the padrino went also round the tables to give cigars to the men. This is the time when you give your envelop filled with money (the custom is to give at least the cost of the meal) to either the bride or the padrino. No wedding lists here! Most people I saw giving an envelop, gave a very small envelop with their own names written on it (so that the bride and groom know who it is from). We didn't know about the particulars of the envelop, so we gave them a card with our best wishes + dinero, of course. No wonder Auxi looked perplexed with our bigger envelopp addressed to Baltasar and Gabriella!!! Chatting to Baltasar's and Auxi's grand mother about it, she said that unfortunately there are always a few people who if they can get away from giving the envelop, they will do their best!
After the meal and exchange of envelops/brooches/cigars, we all went back to Cartajima. Baltasar and Amalia had extended the bar/restaurant to cater for the number of guests by adding a big marquee from the restaurant's door, in which a great little band was playing. More drinks and more delicious food as well as dancing all night were had by all! The night was perishing cold, but a portable gaz heater was wheeled into the marquee, which meant you had to remove some layers of clothing if you were dancing!!!
It couldn't have been a better day! We had such a fabulous time amongst great people! See next blog for a few photos of the day
Are you in need of a holiday, but not sure what to do or where to go? If you enjoy walking, why not join our small friendly singles group and enjoy a carefree walking holiday in Andalucia in April?
