Comments on: How Do Spanish Weddings Work?

By: Andy

Andy — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:58:41 +0000

I’ve only been to one Spanish wedding so far but it certainly fits the description above. As the only Guiri there, I came away with a smug satisfaction that my limited Spanish was now up to talking to slightly tipsy wedding guests. Imagine, my delight, that feeling hard done by because I was missing one of the biggest footy matches of the year back in England, Man U vs Liverpool, it turned out that the DJ was:
a) a big Liverpool fan (I’m a United fan)
b) watching a dodgy stream of the match on his laptop during the wedding
Finally succumbing to the encouragement I was getting from the groom to get up and watch the match, actually between courses, and feeling predictably self-conscious as I crossed the empty dance floor I then had to explain in my very poor Spanish that he had actually been watching the game from 3 years ago.

He had the last laugh though as Liverpool won resoundingly, much to the delight of the Spanish guests who nowadays all seem to support Liverpool.

By: denise guest

denise guest — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:25:19 +0000

I went to the wedding of some English friends at a beautiful old “palacio” near Granada last year. It was second time around for them – so they made their own arrangements. The chapel in the palacio was tiny so it was standing room only and people were spilling out – but I don’t think this is uncommon in Spain anyway. I gave 350 euros but I also bought the bridesmaid’s dresses (since my children were wearing them). The setting, food and entertainment were fabulous with a complete mixture of guiri and Spanish friends attempting to flamenco. Certainly in this case money seemed a far more sensible option than yet another toaster.

By: Donna

Donna — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:31:23 +0000

My nephew is marying a Spainish girl in Spain next year. Who is expected to make the arrangments and who pays for the wedding

By: RayTibbitts

RayTibbitts — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 21:03:04 +0000

Now that I’ve had a chance to see a few Spanish weddings for myself, I was somewhat surprised just how consistently accurate this description was. Some stereotypes exist for a reason, I guess.

Although I do like the snarkiness of these types of posts, I like even more the dedication to the positive-attitude in all your newer posts.

By: DoubleDecker

DoubleDecker — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 12:16:33 +0000

I strongly agree with Mimi’s comments. Your observations are really patronising and not especially accurate. ‘Xenophobic’ and ‘dismissive’ are words that can describe your entry. You are not giving a good example to people trying to have an understanding of the Spanish culture; other guiris (what you wrongly spelled as GUIRRIS) are definitely getting a wrong impression of these events from your words.

By: bill (Legazpi)

bill (Legazpi) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:02:29 +0000

@angelina

Who pays what:

You both work out how much the wedding will cost in advance, you then work out how much it costs for each person attending the wedding, and then you tell them so they can pay you at (or soon after) the wedding. The wedding should cost you nothing and you usually make a profit because close friends and family give you extra (but don’t expect any presents).

Cultural points:

1. Spanish men do buy diamond engagement rings. You can pick them up for less than €1000 and if that costs 1.5 x his monthly salary then you’re marrying the wrong man

2. Spanish couples usually have joint bank accounts and share incomes and expenses, like in the UK. So inevitably the person with the higher salary ends up contributing more.

By: angelina

angelina — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:29:53 +0000

hi all,
i am going to marry a spanish guy in spain, i am kind of scared since we have very different culture and he seems to be very ignorant to what we shall do for the wedding either, so i would like to know who pays what and what is the tradition? and i would like to prove several points he told me from his ”culture”
1. spanish men never buys big diamond rings for engagement (cost 1.5 month salary of his)
2. if the woman’s salary is higher, woman should pay for more living expenses or at least half half???

By: Madrileño

Madrileño — Thu, 28 May 2009 22:09:16 +0000

@ Glenn
Being asked as the Best Man, is a really big honour as this is use to be reserved for he closest family, by asking you to be the Best Man they are almost saying to you that they now consider you part of their closest family. I think it is a little bit different form the anglosajon world where it is quite normal to ask a friend to that honour. At least that is the way I have always saw it in my family or friends´s families.

By: London Wedding Photographer

London Wedding Photographer — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 21:29:32 +0000

I think it’s actually far easier to give money saves all the extra work with wedding lists – be good if we could adopt the tradition here in the uk too.

By: Holly

Holly — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 21:52:36 +0000

This page is hilarious! I am British and getting married to a Spanish guy in Sevilla in March, so a lot of the stuff here I’ve already been told about, but I’m enjoying learning some new things as well. I’m waiting to see how and hoping that the British and Spanish hit it off! Regarding money gifts, I’ve been told that at some weddings the bride and groom walk around the tables during the dinner with a basket collecting the envelopes of money, we’re not going to do that, as we’re making a guest list (in the Cortes Ingles!) for the British and putting a bank account no on the Spanish invitations for the Spanish! But I am also making clear to the guests who don’t have much money that we just really want them to be there and that if they don’t have money to give then that’s fine. There’s the danger that money can become the focus when it really shouldn’t. Also in the Cortes Ingles we chose to go painstakingly round the whole store choosing exactly what we wanted, although we were told most people don’t do that.