I have been invited to a Spanish aquaintances wedding.  I do not know them that well….
so I have just accepted to go to the church service and forgo the sit down dinner (partly as I know they are paying!)...
What should I expect at the church?
The invitation says the church part is 2hours long. Is it really going to fill all of that time?
Is it the norm to wear a flower in button hole?

(I have prehandled the gift bit by buying a gift voucher for El Corte Inglese.  I am sure they will not object 😉

Any tips?!

no suggestions?
Said wedding is in 24hrs .!Help!

Mabe too late, but church will last that long, although some people do come and go.

No need for button hole, spaniards don`t use them.

At the meal people do not give gifts, you hand the couple an envelope of cash, enough to pay fot the meal plus extra.

It can be expensive, my sister in law gave us 800.00 Euros, we gave 900 some years later, my uncle gave us 1,000 Euros, much to the annoyance of my mother in law when my cousins got married.

But if your not going to the meal a gift would be normal, similar to the UK way of gifts.

Thanks Santi.  I ‘winged it’ after all - and learnt a few new things along the way!

As you say -
They don’t go in for button holes (altho a few ladies had fancy feather things!)
I had already given a sealed envelope with a small sum in gift voucher for El Corte Inglese to the mother of the bride to pass on.
Don’t laugh…
I misread the invite - and turned up at the church an hour late - and it was all over!!!! But I did get to say my hello’s to everyone as they were having a copa or two at the nearby cafe.
What an idiot! (I am normally so good with timings.. But on this occasion it seems I was ‘Spanish for a moment!’ lol! )

Thanks for tip re paying for my place at the dinner - should I ever be invited again!

😊

800 euros?! I can’t imagine that would be expected from a casual acqaintence! If it is, I’m definitely going to turn down any Spanish wedding invitations I might get…

Yeah, 800 sounds a bit excessive unless they are a close friend or family. Is cavier a popular dish served at Italian weddings, the three I was at all had them on the table. Seemed odd.

The Prices I quoted are for close family.

A friend would give there cost of the meal/s plus extra, around 40 euros extra.

Similar to UK custom, just in cash.

Although Spanish are generous, in so much as its a competition to be the top dog.

think about 100 euros per head . would sound right

I`ve known family members to give less for the meal due to poor food, service and drinks !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When we got married we had around 4,000 Euros left after all the bills where paid, for us it was much more useful, as we bought furniture for the house.

I`ve not come accross gift vouchers, but I haven`t been to any weddings in the last few years.

Orange blossoms have long been the flower of choice for a girl getting married in Spain. Since the orange tree bears fruit and blossoms at the same time it’s flowers represent happiness and fulfillment.

Before a couple getting married in Spain exchange their vows in church, the groom gives his bride a wedding present of thirteen coins. This gift is a symbol of his commitment to support her. The bride-to-be then carries these coins, in a little bag, to her wedding ceremony.

The coins” Arras” are presented during the service and not before and are blessed by the priest, there shared between the couple as a sign of sharing wealth together.

Ours where given as a present by close family friends, are made of pure silver and have images of saints.

They came with a silver tray, which was deemed too small by my mother in law, so they bought a larger one which was then engraved with the wedding date and our names.

Its also custom to give cigars out by the father of the bride, which contain the date of the wedding, the mother of the groom also gives out small presents during the meal, we had small diaries with a silver plague on the front with the wedding date and names.

The above is general to Spanish weddings, there are then local customs, ours was a typical Basque dancer dresses in white and red and the musician playing a whistle and drum called “Arresku”.

jhon.beval@gmail.com - 16 March 2010 09:48 AM

Orange blossoms have long been the flower of choice for a girl getting married in Spain. Since the orange tree bears fruit and blossoms at the same time it’s flowers represent happiness and fulfillment.

Before a couple getting married in Spain exchange their vows in church, the groom gives his bride a wedding present of thirteen coins. This gift is a symbol of his commitment to support her. The bride-to-be then carries these coins, in a little bag, to her wedding ceremony.

“Jhon” - I strongly suggest you change your alias name; You will most certainly invite spamming emails..
DSB.