Laura + Jose – Off to Barcelona
Posted on December 21, 2008
We are so happy to have attended and photographed Laura and Jose Menendez’s wedding this weekend! Jose is from Barcelona, Spain; he’s been been flying to El Paso as often as possible to see his beloved Laura. They’re planning to move to in Barcelona in a few weeks; what a move! All of the traditional Spanish details of this wedding just blew us away. The day started when we met Laura at Salone Trevizzo on the east side of El Paso; the small salon turned out to be a really hip place! They had orange juice, cheese, and all kinds of snacks waiting for the bridal party. The team got right to work on everyone’s hair; before we knew it, everyone was looking even better than they did when they walked in! Araceli Garcia from Trevizzo did Laura’s hair; she did a beautiful and unique up-do with a pretty comb that Laura had found.
I went with Laura and her sisters to their parents’ house, where Laura did her make-up and put on her dress. Laura’s mom actually made her wedding dress by hand. It was hands down the most gorgeous dress I have ever seen, made of champagne-colored silk with simple and elegant details (especially the beaded waistband, which Laura and Jose brought back from Barcelona). I was floored by the beauty of this garment. Her mom joked that she wasn’t ever going to make any more wedding dresses, but we’ll see – Laura has two younger sisters, and I know they’ll want equally beautiful dresses for their weddings!
Jason went with Jose and his family at the Marriott, where he was getting ready. Jose’s family had flown in from Spain for the ceremony, and Jason got a lot of great shots of the family helping Jose dress, and just chatting and enjoying the day. Jose’s father is a connoisseur of fine suits; he helped Jose get the details just so. I have to admit a failure here – Jason and I know absolutely no Spanish! Even though Jose knows English fairly well, his family knew as much English as we do Spanish. The majority of the day (and the entire ceremony and reception) was entirely in Spanish. Thanks to Laura and Jose’s occasional translations, the language barrier didn’t slow us down at all, but it did give us a good New Years Resolution: Learn Spanish NOW.
The ceremony took place at St. Marks, which is a fairly new (and very, very pretty) catholic church on the east side of El Paso. Many of Jose and Laura’s family and friends are musical; the ceremony was accented by a largish band which played in the front pews. Many of the musicians wrangled instruments through the intricacies of international air travel to play at the wedding! All of the musical parts of the ceremony were accompanied by these wonderful musicians, with mandolins, guitars, congas, castanets and more. I have never been so moved by a ceremony. Even though we didn’t understand most of what was said, the emotion came through loud and clear. It was truly stunning. One of my favorite parts of the ceremony was when the bride and groom did a ceremony with Spanish coins, symbolizing the sharing of their assets. It was so pretty, and so moving.
After the ceremony, we headed out to take a few photos, and then off to the reception! The Marriott Airport staff was so attentive, and the ballroom looked GREAT! Dinner was served in 5 courses, and was absolutely delicious. Our gracious bride and groom had even set a place for us – with place cards! I was so excited about that that I took a picture of mine. I’ll spare you that photo. I did take some photos of the really tasty biscochos though. They came directly from Mexico, and were some of the best I’ve ever had. The DJ, who was with Jukebox Entertainment was very professional, and really kept the party rolling. He did a great job of rolling with the changing schedule, something we wish more DJ’s in this area were capable of. After the cake cutting and toast, the wonderful mariachi from Mariachi Allegre came in and entertained with some wonderful music. They were so talented!
Here are a few more images from the day!
Come and join our fan page on Facebook, there’s even more to be seen there! It was a long and beautiful day, and we wish both of you the best in your life together in Spain. Congratulations Laura and Jose!
Roz
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