An elegant wedding dress in Barcelona

by Carmina Pairet
L'Arca brides
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Balance between past and present

Gloria and Alejandro met when they were eighteen on their end-of-year trip to Ibiza. However, after that trip, life took them down different paths, but they eventually reunited.

“After 13 years, we got engaged with a bet in a game of dominoes. We decided not to tell anyone until the next day and went hand in hand to our favorite restaurant for dinner.”

“We got married on June 10, 2023, at Castell de Benviure, a Cuban colonial house with a family history that reminded me a lot of our own. A family that has spent seven years restoring the house, carefully preserving all the antique pieces and finding a magical balance between the past and the present.”

An elegant wedding dress

Gloria chose an elegant, long-sleeved wedding dress , custom-made from an antique art-deco fabric with a lot of symbolism for the family.

“I remember the first thing they asked me when I got engaged was: ‘Where are you going to get your dress made?’ I was speechless. I realized I had never even thought about it until now.”

“The spring before my wedding, my grandfather’s sisters died. Two aunts with whom we spent summers at the family home and who had always cared for us like children.”

“They were very special to me and I knew they were very excited about my wedding. While cleaning out their apartment in Barcelona, we found beautiful bedspreads and lots of antique fabrics and lace .”

“My mother insisted we visit a small, family-run atelier in the heart of the Gothic Quarter that made dresses from antique fabrics—’The last one we’ll go to,’ she promised, after visiting many ateliers. We wandered through those streets of downtown Barcelona where I had lived years before, carrying fabrics that were over a hundred years old, including curtains and bedspreads.”

We walked into L’Arca asking, like someone about to do something crazy, if they made dresses from family heirlooms. Nina’s face lit up with a smile. “Of course,” she said, “we love repurposing vintage pieces and giving them a second life.”

“Then NinaB. opened the bags and silently began to examine them, already matching the embroidery to my body and my tastes. At one point, she saw that a piece of art-deco fabric with beautiful embroidery fit perfectly at the waist.”

“Another piece for the sleeves, and so on, using every last centimeter of fabric. She worked magic. It had been a long time since I’d seen such a gift up close. From that moment on, I knew I wanted to have my wedding dress made in that little workshop.”

“Fran and Juanma from Hairtime take care of my hair and were my partners in crime from the beginning. They know my simplicity and personality better than anyone. Fran gave me a messy braid that I felt incredibly comfortable in and that made me feel very true to myself.”

An emotional outdoor ceremony

The floral decoration featured daisies and lavender as central motifs.

“The daisy is the flower that represents my family. My paternal grandmother and aunt are both named Margarita, and it’s a flower that has always been very special to me. Alejandro’s family owned a cosmetics business, and one of our earliest memories together is creating a homemade perfume with lavender during our first summer together.”

“The garden was full of newly bloomed lavender and we added large wicker baskets filled with daisies and more lavender, which together with the green of the lawn created a unique and very beautiful space.” . As a small gift for the guests, we gave away handmade candles with a lavender scent.

A sustainable “sitting plan”

“The florists at Mimah Studio knew that for us, reusing and not wasting anything was very important. Our seating plan recreated a flower stall where each guest could make their own bouquet and take home what they liked, so as not to waste any flowers. And that’s exactly what happened! It was lovely to see the guests with scissors and thread, acting as florists and creating bouquets with their favorite flowers to take home.”

“Flowers were adorning the lapels of suits and hairstyles throughout the entire celebration.”

The motorcycle we rode into the aperitif was the first motorcycle Alejandro ever restored. He took it from the tank and rebuilt it himself. Alejandro is an engineer, and motorcycles are one of his hobbies.

An aperitif with atmosphere

“During the aperitif, served by the 21 de Marzo catering, nobody stopped singing and dancing thanks to the singer Lexter, who infected all the guests with his energy and vitality, making even our grandmothers over 85 years old dance!”

“One of the most special moments was the speeches by our friends at the banquet and the song composed by several friends that all the guests sang to us, based on the melody of ‘Una noche entera’ by Vicco.”

The party look

For her second outfit, Gloria wore the family petticoat she had been wearing under her dress and a vintage top from L’Arca. She paired it with enormous coral-colored earrings from Carmina Rotger and sneakers from Saye.

“I changed for the wedding dance, which was a bachata version of the song ‘Stand By Me,’ the same song I had entered the ceremony to hours earlier.”