Elche - Day of marriage of Oscar & Sofia

January 10, 2018

Elche - Day of marriage of Oscar & Sofia

Day 3, 24 June 2017.

My husband's client's daughter was getting married and we were invited to attend the same, when the marriage was fixed in April 2016. And this marriage was one of the essential reasons for this year's trip to Europe.
Much before the trip started I was extremely worried about my attire. What to wear for a Spanish wedding? That was when I remembered my husband's aunt who had lived for 35 + years in Japan and decided to follow her route.

We had been to Alicante to attend the Festival of Moors yesterday.

Today was the day of the Marriage of Oscar and Sofia.

I wore what I would wear if I were attending a marriage in India. We, south Indians love our Kanchipurams Silk Sarrees. Nothing garish and bright. Subtle, elegant and utterly feminine.

This is not a travelogue; like the one written of the days before on Venice, Verona, Bologna, Parma or London. But a piece of beautiful memory, I wish to share with you.

Meet the bride's mother Toni, my husband Harish, Jose Martinez (bride's father and my husband's client) and I.

I was fortunate to get hold of some 'pichi poo' at our hotel. I made a string of these beautiful sweet smelling jasmines and wore it on my hair. I felt so happy showing off MY culture.

The marriage was held in a small chapel inside a huge fort in the middle of the town of Elche.

The groom - Oscar.

The groom's mother in traditional dress.

Look at her head gear. She told me she wore the same jasmine as I had worn on my hair, for her marriage years ago.

The Groom walks in with his mother.

The bride with her father...

What a lovely dress the bride is wearing! Guess who stitched it? Scroll down and you can see the tailor.

The mother of the bride with the father of the groom...

The marriage got solemnised in 30 minutes.

My groom....💓💓

And like we use Akshadai (turmeric stained rice) to bless the newly weds...Spaniards too welcome the new Man and Wife by throwing Rice on them.

The sisters of the bride - Sylvia, Sarah and I. The youngest (Sylvia) was born when the Bride was 14 and I remember seeing her mother pregnant. Time flies.

Jose Martinez and my husband.

The newly married groom and his beautiful bride.

The mother of the Bride (Toni) with her mom and Sylvia. All the clothes of the women in the family (including the bride's) has been stitched by the grandmother!! She is really talented, isn't she? Amazing.

It was so hot in Elche....

After some firework display, we went to the place where the reception would take place. It was very far from town.
And here we were greeted with some refreshing cold drinks. I finished 2 glasses...FAST. And started feeling very tipsy and later got to know it was a very Alcoholic drink!!

The cousins of the bride!! Cuties...

There were fireworks burst to welcome the bride and groom for their reception.

As it was very hot, we found a quiet spot to relax inside. That was when a woman came in with a stroller and showed some action. She wanted me to take care of the baby while she got him some food. Babies around the world are the same. I played our hide and seek with him so that his grandmother could make him eat. His grandmother was complaining that her daughter went off to party leaving him with her!! Remember, I know no Spanish and she knew no English....My husband found all this quite funny - the way we were communicating with actions and splattering of common words, while engaging the baby. Well, we women can multitask easily.

What I loved is that the grandmother started saying ...'oliche' ("I am hiding" in Tamil)...'kande ("I can see you" in Tamil) a little while later. :D

Look at that baby's smile!

The pre-lunch started as soon as we reached our destination and continued for a good 2 hours.

My Vegetarian short eats were brought forward by caring people including waiters, unknown individuals and my husband.

Vegetarian paella.....Looked like Tomato rice, tasted as though the Tomato was not sour enough.

By 4 pm, it was time for Lunch. It was a sit down meal, not a buffet. This was the seating arrangement.

The first family....

Seating for the rest of us. Look at the decor.

Our table..

The best man, Oscar's brother gave a speech....(which I did not understand).

The bride's best friend is wearing the tiara....She too made a speech as she was the bridesmaid.

Martinez's family....The man giving the "thumbs up" is his brother Juan....His sister is in the black top.

First course for me (I did not take any pictures of what the rest were eating) was cheese in tomato sauce.

Second course for me - Lasagne with spinach.

I thought this was dessert. It was so sour. I thought maybe the Spaniards love sour Dessert and finished it. I got to know it was the 'palate cleanser' only later!! :D

Bubbly!! Champagne.

Dessert. Yummy Yum...Apple pie and custard.

Time for fun. There was a band playing and the band was the groom's friend's where Oscar moonlights as a guitarist!

Prima and I. Prima is not her name. She is the Aunt of Oscar...His mom's elder sister...
Yes, I changed my clothes. And I got scolded for having removed my 'royal attire'.

Everyone danced...look at how Toni and Jose are grooving!

Oscar and his bride Sofia....

While we were seated at our tables, we were all to wear a badge....Each table, had it's own badge...This little fellow, took all the different badges and 'decorated' himself!!

This fellow's parents dance sooooo well...I have taken a video of them dancing to Despacito.

Since I dance only one type of Dance (though not in the traditional costume) I felt very bad. That was when a Spanish lady held my hand and made me dance....I danced quite well, by my standards!

There were 3 other people other than Jose who spoke English. But 2 were the official photographers.

Paco...

and his Fiance - Aga Becal.

But I could not disturb them. I have never used Google Translate as much as I did for this marriage. It is tough for an extrovert to be with just one introvert for company. By that, I mean my husband.

There was a 'photo booth' set up for people to pose. They take 4 pictures at 10 second intervals and in those 10 seconds, you can pose with any of the props provided. These 4 photos will be printed as a collage. It would produce 2 prints of this collage. One would be stuck in an album and we could leave a message for the newly-weds in it. Other would be given to us as a souvenir.