In the weekend of 27/28th of May 2023, a big wedding was organised at Casa Junius. Over 50 friends and family were flown in from Holland.
It was not a usual Spanish event. Danielle, the oldest daughter of the Dutch owner of Casa Junius Ellen, got married with her long term partner Luuk before they will fly off to Australia for a year. This wedding party was the first big party we organised at Casa Junius. And a party it was! Read on ......
It all started over one year ago, when Luuk got the opportunity to get a job to gain practical medical specialist experience in trauma emergencies as a surgeon in a hospital in Adelaide, South Australia. Many papers needed to be filled in before their trip to Australia and preparations were made as well as the planning for their wedding . At Casa Junius we were happy to offer them our Spanish location. The month of May usually is nice weather in Andalusia and not too hot. Well, this year, everything was different.
A few months before May, the planning started at Casa Junius. In the Netherlands, a script was made by both sisters of the bridal couple. Actions followed in Spain on the spot: looking for a catering company, drinks for the party, such as tasting wine and beer, select the music, arranging taxis to pick up and bring the guests to our location from their sleeping place and countless other small things, such as electricity capacity planning, party lighting, good drains, toilets, the bar, waiters, etc.
The weather
The planning went smooth, with some changes and cancellations of suppliers. Though we had enough time to adjust. On a regular base we checked all participants/suppliers. At the end there were no surprises.
But one surprise remained: the weather ....... Usually the month of March and April, there are some rain showers. This
is important for the olive and almond trees, but no water fell at all. A procession was even held through the streets of Sedella with the statue of Mary begging for rain.
Last year (2022) had been a disaster year for the harvest due to too little rain. But this May, the weather changed and in some parts of Spain it was raining cats and dogs. Not in the Axarquia and imagine, the wedding party was coming up. The closer we got to the date, more and more our nerves were tested.
Saturday, the 27th of May, Arrival day
On Saturday late afternoon all guest and family arrived and gathered at a beautiful viewpoint at Marie's bar in Sedella. Temperature over 20 grade Celsius, sunny and some clouds. Perfect weather, but forcast said: rain. Every participant dripped in and the mood was good. It was nice to meet again and drinks were free. As a surprise Ellen had organised a professional flamingo gitarist, who played very nice Spanish flamenco in the background.
When all guests had arrived, we moved on to another restaurant in the village. On the way, the group stopped at the little square in front of our townhouse Maria to enjoy a small concert from our flamenco gitarist.
At the restaurant the chef had prepared several small tapas, which were served throughout the rest of the evening. Of course drinks were free and everybody enjoyed. Our gitarist played another few songs and the mood was excellent. Someone suggested that this could have been the wedding, but the best was yet to come.
Sunday, the day of the wedding
During the night it had rained a bit, but the morning was beautiful. Temperature over 20 degrees Celsius. This was a good start! All the ladies were busy getting nice and around 14:00 hours taxi's were sent out to pick up the guests from about 10 different locations. The catering had arrived as well as the DJ and a Spanish lady singer with gitarist. The marriage official was present and all guests were sitting around the stage. The weather was still perfect.
The bride came in a beautiful white dress. She looked gorgeous. Their little boy Arthur sprinkled rose petals in front of her together with their daughter Nina. Of course Luuk had a nice suite on, the guests were very nice dressed, but not too formal. The atmosphere was elated. Several speeches followed as well as the wedding ceremony. On our location the weather was still nice, but some thunderstorm clouds were gathering over the nearby Maroma mountain. You could see flashes of light and hear the thunder.
The official procedures were followed by a drink at the other side of the house in the pool area. There the bar was located with a beer tap with St. Michel Special, a specially brewed beer. The beer tasted excellent as well as the wine did. The Cava was a biological cava without preservatives. So no headaches afterwards. In the meantime, the lady singer sang several Spanish songs. It was a great pleasure to see everybody enjoying again and the newlyweds were congratulated. The catering changed the setting in the front garden to two long dining tables. Instead of rain on our location, we enjoyed lovely warm weather and the clouds moved the other way.
The dinner was served. It started with an very nice salade. In between a Gazpacho amuse was served. The wedding couple had ordered a well known Spanish dish: Paella. In between several wines were served. The Spanish white and red wines were biological as the Cava was. So no headaches afterwards. All of these wines were specially selected by Luuk. Many funny and some serious speeches were given during the dinner to the delight of the bridal couple and the other guests. The dessert finished the dinner. And then ....... when everybody had finished their meal ....... a few drops of rain came. Of course the table was abandoned in a second, though before everybody fled, it stopped raining again. The Maroma was still pitch dark, but that was our rain for the rest of the wedding. The party could begin!
The party
And a party it was! The lady singer had left and the DJ was installed and took over. The beer was cold, some bottles of Cava not finished, the white and red wine still available and yes ....... we also had some soft drinks, which were hardly touched. The Spanish bartender was quite busy the first hour. The beer tap worked perfectly the rest of the evening. There was dancing and singing on contemporary Dutch and Spanish music, drinking and talking. 100 liters of beer would go through that night. It was a feast such as I have rarely experienced.
Surprise
Shortly after midnight, the newlyweds said goodbye to family and friends. Everyone was still standing, though not quite upright, I think. Ellen & Cees then, also as a surprise, brought them to a beautiful hotel, where they spent the night in the bridal suite.
In the meantime the party was not over yet. Later we heard that a few friends had jumped into the swimming pool to the great hilarity of the rest of the party. The taxis returned everyone safely to their rented homes in the valley. In retrospect I have not heard that many people had a big hangover, although the amount of alcohol consumed would certainly suggest otherwise. At 01:30 we turned off the lights.