As I've mentioned somewhere or another, this is the year of the wedding. And what a way to start the year but with a mini Stonyhurst reunion, at a wedding, in the heart of the Yucatan, Mexico!!!
A friend from boarding school, Ana, was finally getting married to her long-time boyfriend, Andres, and very kindly invited a bunch of us to attend the wedding in her home town of Merida. The capital of the Yucatan, Merida is a lovely town about four hours' drive from Cancun. Never having visited, husband and I were keen to get out there and celebrate Ana's special day, and take a small vacation while we were at it!
This post is not about the holiday however, nor the joys of Merida - that's all for another day. Instead, it will focus on the wedding itself, as I found it fascinating how so many of the elements were so similar to British and Maltese weddings, whilst some elements were so different. However, an interesting back story on menswear first.....
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| Husband and I, ready for a killer night |
I had spent quite a lot of time fretting about what to wear to this wedding. What I hadn't done was spend any time concerned about what Husband would wear, because I naturally assumed he would suit up. As it turns out, this is simply not done in Mexico. A few days beforehand, I was told that men would be wearing a long-sleeved guayabera: essentially a Mexican linen shirt. Bugger....
So we spent our first day in Merida trying to source one of these bad boys. As it turns out, they're not cheap, which meant we didn't want to buy any old guayabera then chuck it, but wanted something quite nice that Husband can use time and time again (it'll go down a treat at a Maltese summer party). So we spent several hours wandering in and out of shops to find something that would suit. Husband is sooooo picky - he didn't want one that was plain white, but also wanted a certain type of design, that was actually really quite tricky to find! We got there in the end however, and managed to (non-)suit him up in the perfect guayabera and linen trousers on the side.
Back to the wedding itself....
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| Pre-wedding pose |
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| Church of San Pedro |
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| The party of our lives was just getting started! |
One thing that struck me as being quite different at this wedding was when the bridal party arrived. In Maltese and British weddings, the groom and groomsmen arrive and stand waiting nervously at the front of the church, hoping that the betrothed isn't going to pull a runner. This was quite different - the groom and his party arrived at the same time as the bridal party and they met outside the church. The groom then walked down the aisle with his mother, followed by the procession of the bride's mother and sister (Ana had chosen not to have any bridesmaids) and then finally, the bride with her father walking her down the aisle. Really quite a splendid procession but more about the marriage party as a whole, rather than just about the bride. Either way, it was certainly special, and gave us the opportunity to admire everyone's dresses, which were spectacular!!!
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| Posing against the brilliant yellow of the church |
The service itself wasn't too long. It was held in Spanish, so we couldn't really follow things, but that didn't bother us too much - it was fun just looking around. There was no singing either - for the best given Husband is tone deaf and generally makes me want to cover my ears - I would have liked to hear some Mexican church songs though and given it my best shot at turning the unfamiliar words into some sort of pronunciation. So it wasn't long before the ceremony was over, the bride and groom had happily made their way back down the aisle and we could go pose for some fun photos outside the gorgeous church.
It wasn't too far to get to the reception venue, and this is where things really started to liven up. The venue was a former hacienda, which I think means a plantation of some sort. This one was called Hacienda Chichi Suarez, and it's a 15th century estate that is mainly used for weddings and other big social events. In any case, it was huge and absolutely gorgeous. The main part of the hacienda was the neoclassic facade, with the large courtyard where the main wedding party was held. However, on the other side of the hacienda is an old set of ruins (which, extremely annoyingly, neither myself nor Husband can find a picture of, but I've put another architectural picture of the location in its place), and that's where the initial drinks reception was held. Absolutely amazing - we were treated to some pretty tasty cocktails, as well as a round of delightful canapes. And there was so much more to come.....
After a few rounds of photographs and drinks (some things are constant the world over), we were told to move towards the main reception area and find our table. All the Stonyhurst folk were seated at a single table, which was pretty well placed between the bar and the dance floor - I guess Ana knows us quite well! She had thoughtfully placed a few of her Mexican friends at the same table, most likely to instruct us in the ways of the Mexican wedding. They were actually very helpful, mainly in pointing out different ways of drinking tequila. Although I was a little bit scared that I was going to be made to down tequila all night long, they turned out to be tamer than they looked.
The tables were laid out so beautifully. One of my faves was the souvenirs that Ana had placed at the table settings - lovely wicker fans that were handy in the heat of the night, and of which one now gracefully adorns my living room wall. These tables were to host all the food in quick succession - carpaccio, followed by soup, followed by steak and then a chocolatey dessert. I found it very interesting though - each course had two options and what you got depended entirely on where you were sat. I'm sure all the food was excellent, but I was very grateful for the dishes that ended up in front of me 😏
One interesting Mexican tradition that I don't fully understand even now is that once everyone has found their seats, the bride and groom enter the area and all the guests stand up and wave their napkins around their head and cheer. I mean, I do understand it, but I wonder how that sort of thing got started, as I've never seen that happen at other weddings. I couldn't find anything online about it, so if anyone wants to fill me in, please do!
The eating part of this showdown happened extremely quickly - I think we got through all four courses in an hour. And then the party really got started. A really nice little tradition came out here: the bride and groom had their opening dance, but that was then followed by a bride and father dance, and then a groom and mother dance. I liked that a lot - it's a fantastic way to show gratitude for the whole affair. After that, we all joined in the dancing, for the next SEVEN hours. I say that - that was the point where Husband and I got so tired we returned to the hotel, but it apparently went on quite a bit longer. Impressive really! Great for the step count....and we lasted a lot longer than some other people...
I don't particularly recall there being any speeches - I may have missed them to be fair. The dancing varied across the night: music covered old school songs, current best hits and naturally a lot of Spanish (Mexican?) music that I was completely unfamiliar with. The booze was flowing heavily - I mainly stuck to tequila and coke, a new one for me, but then swiftly moved onto my new fave: a Mexican coffee cocktail, served cold, that was absolutely delicious. This is known as a carajillo, and you can find a recipe for making one here. My favourite bits of the dancing, however, were when fun and games started - there was a good half an hour spent with two blokes swinging a rope and letting everyone have a go at 'jump rope'. This was absolutely hilarious - I had a go but shamefully only made three jumps before getting tangled. Why don't we do this at Maltese weddings?
And there we have it, a concise description of a great Mexican wedding. I could probably go on for days describing it, but you all have lives to get back to, so let's call it a day.
Kisses,
Princess Malta
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| The main facade of the hacienda |
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| One of the many ruins at the hacienda |
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| The most beautiful table settings I've ever seen |
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| Absolutely amazing, everyone got this gorgeous fan as a souvenir |
One interesting Mexican tradition that I don't fully understand even now is that once everyone has found their seats, the bride and groom enter the area and all the guests stand up and wave their napkins around their head and cheer. I mean, I do understand it, but I wonder how that sort of thing got started, as I've never seen that happen at other weddings. I couldn't find anything online about it, so if anyone wants to fill me in, please do!
The eating part of this showdown happened extremely quickly - I think we got through all four courses in an hour. And then the party really got started. A really nice little tradition came out here: the bride and groom had their opening dance, but that was then followed by a bride and father dance, and then a groom and mother dance. I liked that a lot - it's a fantastic way to show gratitude for the whole affair. After that, we all joined in the dancing, for the next SEVEN hours. I say that - that was the point where Husband and I got so tired we returned to the hotel, but it apparently went on quite a bit longer. Impressive really! Great for the step count....and we lasted a lot longer than some other people...
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| This guy failed 😂 |
I don't particularly recall there being any speeches - I may have missed them to be fair. The dancing varied across the night: music covered old school songs, current best hits and naturally a lot of Spanish (Mexican?) music that I was completely unfamiliar with. The booze was flowing heavily - I mainly stuck to tequila and coke, a new one for me, but then swiftly moved onto my new fave: a Mexican coffee cocktail, served cold, that was absolutely delicious. This is known as a carajillo, and you can find a recipe for making one here. My favourite bits of the dancing, however, were when fun and games started - there was a good half an hour spent with two blokes swinging a rope and letting everyone have a go at 'jump rope'. This was absolutely hilarious - I had a go but shamefully only made three jumps before getting tangled. Why don't we do this at Maltese weddings?
And there we have it, a concise description of a great Mexican wedding. I could probably go on for days describing it, but you all have lives to get back to, so let's call it a day.
Kisses,
Princess Malta
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