Catrina and Frankie: Las Cruces Wedding
Posted on January 3, 2010
Catrina and Francisco were married yesterday in the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in Tortugas – right next door to Frankie’s parents’ house, where the whole wedding party got dressed. During the preparations, I explored the huge, rambling house; it seemed that every door led to another, and there were people getting ready (or hanging out watching TV, or chatting, or eating, or endless other activities) in most of the rooms. Roz and the girls got ready in the attached mother-in-law apartment.
Everyone walked over to the church – and it was a good thing they did, as there wasn’t any parking left! The church was filled beyond capacity with friends and family; it was so full that the Father even mentioned it in his sermon. Our Lady of Guadalupe is a light and airy church, and always looks good in ceremony photos. While the Father was initially concerned that having two of us there would make our presence more noticeable, he seemed to forget us shortly after the start of the ceremony – and told us afterward that he’d barely noticed us at all. Score one for the photo ninjas!
After family formals at the church, and a few bridals outside while we waited for the limos, we took the bridal party to one of our favorite spots for some photos with the mountains in the background. Then, it was on to the reception, and something new for us – this was our first wedding with a photobooth, which Catrina’s mother told us was on her list of wedding must-haves, and which she asked us about after booking us.
Roz and I had gone over to the Knights of Columbus Hall the day before the wedding to set up the photobooth, and we’d seen some of the preparations while we were there, so we weren’t completely blown away by the decorations – but it was a near thing! The hall was unrecognizable. Catrina’s uncle masterminded the decorations, and he did an amazing job with the space. Lots of friends and family helped out with the wedding: Catrina’s mom made the miniature fudge wedding cakes which each guest received; Frankie’s uncle was the bass player in the band that rocked the reception. Everyone in both families spent 6 months making flowers from crépe paper for the decorations, bouquets, corsages, and boutineers. The love that went into every part of the wedding was evident. Catrina changed out of her heels at the start of the reception; her preferred dancing shoes were glittery red Converse. I kept waiting for her to click her heels together and transport me back to Las Cruces!
After dinner, the bridal party was announced, and lined up on the dance floor for La Marcha. They were joined by a good portion of the guests; I’ve never seen such a crowded floor. At one point, Roz and I were both afraid the cake would go flying, but the line of dancers turned at the last possible instant and made the arch of hands into a horseshoe. Catrina’s mom estimated that 500 people were at the reception; there wasn’t a lot of extra room in the hall! Catrina and Frankie’s first dance was next, and then Catrina danced with her father.
While all of this was happening, Marie was taking pictures of the guests at the photobooth. Catrina and Frankie elected to skip the traditional guest book, and to ask every one to have their photo taken instead. Some of the guests got dressed up, some wrote the couple messages on a white board, and everyone had a great time with the photobooth. It’s sure to make an appearance at future weddings; it was a ton of fun!
Later in the evening, Catrina and Frankie cut the wedding cake, and were (mostly) nice about feeding it to each other – they were both laughing too hard to be very accurate with it by the end! Garter and bouquet tosses were next, and the evening ended with menudo, cooked by another family member and served hot.
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WOW, I don’t know which I enjoyed more the photos or the text. As always you guys took amazing shots and the description really makes me wish I knew this incredible family…sounds like quite the party! Now that is the way to start off a life together, surrounded by beauty, joy, family, friends, and in the sight of God! Congratulations! The idea of the photobooth is terrific, I’ll have to remember it for when my kids get married (in about 5 – 30 years)!