Barcelona Blessing!

This might not be a good time to sing the praises of Barcelona, and not all of you will feel remotely like blessing their football team... but we've just returned from a wedding in that fabulous vibrant city and I have to say that they have a superb idea of how to have a celebrity style wedding without breaking the bank! Interested?

My friend's daughter, Sarah, and her partner Chris live in Barcelona and they invited 100 guests to their wedding last weekend. I was to conduct the religious ceremony (The legal bits were duly sorted out beforehand so we had no worries). My husband was enlisted to play the guitar, so we arrived a few days early to help plan the service.

Friends and family also came out early, which enabled us all to relax together and get to know each other before the day. (AKA lots of partying beforehand). We even managed a walk-through wedding rehearsal on the beach after a volleyball match in front of bemused sunbathers!

The wedding took place in a beautiful country house in the mountains with lovely gardens and stunning sea views. A tiny ivy-clad chapel was attached to the house and we held the service in there so it was cosy and informal with much laughter. Everyone behaved impeccably. No blood (thankfully), some sweat (mainly from me in my polyester cassock) and quite a few tears of joy - reminding me yet again what an honour and a privilege it is to be a minister.

Apart from the service, the whole day was organised by the caterers and we have never before feasted so well! They suggested the location, menus and running order.

Guests were given 'Aperitivos' on arrival. After the service there were lots of outdoor tables with food cooking as we browsed - slivers of parma ham, prawns, fish, cheeses etc. And drinks on tap.

We were then ushered into a lovely circular room with a dance floor and beautifully laid tables for a delicious three course meal with wine and Cava (punctuated by brilliant speeches and lots more laughter).

The Bridegroom works for a Fair trade chocolate company called Organic Meltdown. Apart from planting trees in rain forests this ethical company also help support abandoned children (log onto their website and join their community at www.organicmeltdown.com/) so even though we were stuffed with food it was a moral obligation to try some of the chocolate thoughtfully provided as a wedding favour for every guest.

The evening flew by as we danced and then went out into the balmy evening for a dish of Paella on the terrace before the coaches carried us all back to Barcelona and those who still had the energy went to a local bar until dawn broke.

If you are still reading you'll be wondering how all this could be achieved on a budget. Well here's the key. According to the caterer, guests at Spanish weddings are not accustomed to buying gifts - so there isn't a wedding list. Instead the caterer prints on the menus the price per head of the food and drinks and the guests give that figure to the Bride and Groom as their wedding gift. How clever is that?

Unfortunately for my friends (being Bashful Brits) they couldn't bring themselves to go ahead with the price quoting. I can't imagine how much the day set them back but it would definitely have been a King's ransom.

But when you think of the people who happily pay to jet off to foreign skies simply for the hen or stag party - what better way to do it than to make the wedding weekend itself a holiday and contribute accordingly.

Sarah & Chris live in an apartment and they hold possessions lightly so they wouldn't want lots of presents. Lots of couples already have their homes together nowadays when they marry and they put off the wedding in order to save up - or are put off by the media who say it costs thousands of pounds.

Of course you can have a lovely simple wedding in any country for a fraction of the price and we didn't really need the mountains of food - or the mountains for that matter.

But for us it was a magical weekend and perfectly finished by going on to Calpe for a few days afterwards to visit recently retired friends. We must have bored them rigid when we first arrived, as we were so full of the wedding stories - but after a few days chilling by their pool and catching up on sleep we declared it the perfect end to a wonderful week.

Enough
Adios Amigos
xx