A wedding dress for an intimate wedding

by Carmina Pairet
L'Arca brides
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“Let the bride wake up,

the morning of the wedding,

Wake up!

Wake up,

with long hair,

snow shirt,

patent leather and silver boots,

and jasmine blossoms on the forehead.

Wake up,

with the green branch

of blossoming love.”

Federico García Lorca

Esperanza’s intimate wedding in her lace wedding dress is pure poetry. Silvia Sánchez ‘s images flow as naturally and beautifully as good poetry.

This wedding in Huelva has it all: ritual, passion, love, family, land, all strung together like a jewel with astonishing delicacy.

bridal bouquet for intimate wedding — The bouquet was made of rosemary and lavender, cut in the garden in the morning.

Esperanza and Antonio wanted an atypical, small wedding from the start. They both got ready at their home in Huelva, La Lusitana, which they finished in the middle of the pandemic, a small house in the countryside in La Redondela, where they also held their dinner.

Antique Brussels mantilla and preserved flower crown

“It was a dream of mine to wear a dress made of antique lace , and when I saw L’Arca’s collection, I knew that’s where it would be.”

“From the first visit I felt fantastic. I arrived in Barcelona with my mother one day and once I stepped into the store it seemed unbelievable that I was there to choose my dress. I’ve always known what I wanted and I went for it. I remember going in and telling my mother: I’m nervous, and she replied: of course, you’re going to choose your wedding dress.”

They are a team of incredibly kind people and they do their sewing work with such care. I’m so grateful for how accommodating they were, as I had to travel from Madrid to Barcelona for each fitting.

The ceremony was held at the Hermitage of Our Lady of Hope on June 11, 2022, on La Redondela beach in Huelva. It is located in the middle of a pine forest with the sea as a backdrop.

“I entered the church to the music of ‘A tu vera ‘ by Lola Flores. Entering the chapel, hearing the song with which I had so often imagined myself walking down the aisle, looking up and seeing my mother so emotional, made me incredibly emotional.”

“As I always said, it was more of a family meal than a wedding, a tribute to our loved ones, celebrating love with them in the most intimate way. There were 17 of us. We decided to only bring our parents, siblings and their respective partners, and our compadres, who are lifelong friends and we are godparents to their son (for us they are part of our family).”

We decided to stop there, because both families are large with many uncles, cousins, and friends. We knew what we wanted, and we wanted to enjoy it to the fullest, and we certainly did.

“The decoration for the celebration was all our own work. We had the garden of the house, we put up some garlands of lights and a table in the center and… Magic!”

“The table was dressed with white tablecloths and embroidered runners (I bought some fabric and made them myself, as I sometimes sew), three earthenware vases with rosemary and lavender picked from the garden, a bowl with lemons in the center, white tableware, natural linen napkins, a sprig of rosemary and lavender, a card with the wedding motto ’20 years is nothing’ and the name of the house , La Lusitana, and candles of various sizes. Wooden chairs and that was it, nothing more was needed.”

Antonio and I met in the town square of my village, very young, almost 20 years ago. We’re both from Huelva, me from La Redondela and him from Pozo del Camino, Isla Cristina. We’ve been together all our lives; in fact, in 2022—get this!—we’ll celebrate 20 YEARS TOGETHER. That’s why one day I called him and said, “I think we should get married in 2022,” hahaha. This is even mentioned in the wedding stationery and the songs.

“20 years is nothing” on each linen napkin

“Everyone was telling me, the day will go by super fast, you won’t even realize it, but the truth is that it wasn’t like that, I lived and enjoyed every moment , I savored every last detail, and I think we achieved that thanks to having such a small wedding.

“I think it was the best thing we could have done: a ceremony in a small chapel and a celebration at our house. Even so, we all enjoyed ourselves, singing and dancing as if it were the biggest party. We were happy to see each and every one of our guests enjoying themselves.”

“I’m thinking of doing it on a Saturday afternoon, almost summertime. After lunch I’d like to light a candle, and we can gather around with a guitar and sing and dance, and little else.” Esperanza told us before the wedding.

That’s it, and little else; nothing more is needed.