Yes, I can say with certainty that organizing a wedding in another country is quite a challenge. Especially if, as in my case, you decide to take charge of the situation and manage everything on your own. The good news? You put your heart into the event and you think about every little detail and execute it with your partner. The evil ones? Sometimes it can be very stressful. I am from Seville and I got married just a few weeks ago in France, the country of my partner, specifically in Aix en Provence. An event that we had been organizing (from Madrid) for the last two years. And as I have been talking with my family and friends, I have detected some details in all the conversations that, according to the guests, were great successes and made life (much) easier for them. I share them below.
#1. Send the invitations soon and in both languages
As I said, organizing an event abroad is not an easy task, but neither is attending a wedding in another country. Therefore, taking into account the complicated agendas of our guests and that the vast majority of them had to fly from different cities, we sent a save the date message almost a year before so that they could mark the date on their calendars and start planning the trip. sooner. Another highly applauded detail? To make things easier, the text of the invitations (created in Seville by Tira de Papel ) is written in both French and Spanish.
#two. Information and recommendations of the city
The vast majority of our Spanish guests did not know Aix en Provence or the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur region. So, we shared with them a document that collected information about the city and in which we proposed recommendations for plans, restaurants, hotels, shopping areas, monuments…
#3. Maintain communication with guests
From updates on the pandemic and restrictions to any questions, you may have about the trip, the wedding, and the city in general. Maintaining communication with guests is of utmost importance.
#4. Pre-wedding (and other plans)
The guests spent several days in France, so we tried to organize different plans for them to meet each other before the wedding. From an informal pre-wedding (standing and in an open space) to aperitifs and dinners all together.
#5. Winks to both countries
Another detail that the guests commented on non-stop was the constant nods to both countries and cultures. For example, we take the typical lavender of French Provence and the typical olive tree of Andalusia as the common thread of the entire decoration (from the invitations to the seating plan through my bridal bouquet). In addition, the pages wore hats with gingham bows, a nod to the pattern so popular in France.
#6. Mass in two languages
Taking into account that attending a mass without understanding anything can be complicated, we decided that some of the readings could be done in Spanish to make it more enjoyable for the guests. In addition, we distributed missals that collected the readings in both languages so that they could follow the mass easily.
