Karina met Jone ( pronounced Honey) and Ben at the spring 2022 Broome Park wedding fair and one of the questions the bride asked, was could whether we could do a wedding ceremony with some Spanish phrases in it. No problem, Karina said before reserving the booking date and promptly asked Yvonne, our English celebrant associate in Spain, if she was flying back to the UK anytime close to the wedding date! Yvonne had recently moved to Spain, although she commutes back to the UK to visit family on a regular basis. She was quickly learning Spanish so, she accepted the challenge and the wedding ceremony booking was confirmed.
Our beautiful bride, Jone is originally from the Basque area of Spain and our Bridegroom, Ben is from Kent although they now live in Gran Canarias. This meant most meetings were via Zoom.
This naturally isn’t our preferred way of meeting our couples, and whilst Yvonne was very willing to travel to Gran Canarias, she settled for an online meeting instead. We often do this with our Australian and American couples, but this time, there was no issue with different time zones.
Zoom it was and they hit it off straight away across the virtual room. It’s very different online, but it was, and can be, equally as personal, a lesson for all of us! Their first online meeting was a little more complicated; the bridegroom’s help was needed with the techie bits, as Jone was in Gran Canarias, Ben was in Kent and Yvonne was in Spain!
After their first meeting armed with where, the bride was from, Yvonne was under the impression she would be speaking in Basque (Euskara) which in her mind, was just a variation of Spanish, like Valenciano or Catalan…so hey, no problem! OMG! She downloaded some Basque conversations and it was like listening to a totally different language! It was nothing like her conversations in her Spanish classes. Did she panic? Of course, yes! Spanish she was comfortable with, but this was like starting all over again. But Yvonne’s a pro and thankfully, Jone confirmed the ceremony would be best in standard Spanish and English……. phew, and breathe! Yvonne’s Spanish translation still leaves something to be desired but, she had a fantastic Spanish teacher who would ensure, she was saying the right thing. I mean pronouncing ‘años without the ‘s’, could leave the Spanish contingency with either shock or a smile on their face! Not a good mistake to make at a wedding, more for an evening out with friends! Jone translated the elements she wanted in Spanish and Yvonne sat with her ‘teacher’ and practised and practised.
The day came, and the nerves kicked in, as we always want our ceremonies to be perfect for our couples. On this occasion there were added pressures of language barriers and Yvonne didn’t want to let anyone down, especially the bride.
150 guests, half Spanish and half English, so Yvonne pulled her big girl pants up and stood there confident and sure, she was going to do it….
The day was wonderful. The hard work paid off. The couple loved every minute of the ceremony and Yvonne pulled it off! Everyone seemed to understand what she said, or at least, they laughed in the right places. It was a great day with a mix of cultures and traditions and so much laughter, and we believe Yvonne got her pronunciations pretty perfect. Together, with the couple, Yvonne created a fusion wedding ceremony that satisfied everyone. She chatted endlessly with the couple before the day ensuring every word was the right words for them and included everything they wanted to share with their family and friends and we think, she did it brilliantly.
Would she do it again? Absolutely. But she would most definitely restrict it to Spanish, we are not sure her nerves would cope with anything else……. well okay, there is always her French…. but it would need a lot of work to bring that up to scratch!
Gracias por leer esto!
