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At the end of last year I got the bombshell: my two best friends decided to marry their respective partners. Wow, what joy, you will think. But what a priori should be news that filled the whole environment with emotion, soon became a stress typical of the organization of a festival. Well, two. And it is that my surprise was increasing from the beginning of the preparations; Absolutely everything that happens from the choice of dress until they let you drink the last drink at the open bar, is accompanied by fireworks that not even in the best village festivals. Weddings are the social event of the year, and I promise there's no exaggeration in that phrase.

Nor is there in this other: we live a boom of nuptialal lavishness in our country. The INE data support this. After the cancellations due to the pandemic, in 2021 there was an increase in weddings of 63%, which translates into almost 150,000 marriages. And it is expected that in 2023 there will be a growth of 5% compared to 2019. We are also one of the most expensive countries to hold an event of this type: our average is € 20,500, above France, England or Italy. Eva Iglesias has been working as a wedding planner for more than 14 years and is clear that the real figures are much higher: "For less than € 40,000 or € 50,000 a wedding is not celebrated in Spain". Moreover, the figure invested by the bride and groom who come to it, is two or three times higher, even reaching € 200,000. Of these, the largest departure goes to the banquet, where the average is 130 guests. Like me.

The arrival

Once overcome the exhaustion after the search and capture of dress, accessories, hairdressing and makeup for what was going to be, it seemed, one of the most important days in the lives of my two best friends, I just had to let myself go. Meeting friends I hadn't seen for a while, meeting new people, eating delicious, not skimping on glasses of wine and getting to the open bar as best as possible. But no. Because all that sounds so good you have to earn it. The moment you step on a wedding, a show begins that, like it or not, you are part of. And if not, you have to look carefully and smile or applaud if the peak moment catches you with the sirloin in your mouth.

The ceremony, which in both cases was not religious, was a rollercoaster of emotions. It is the moment when the relatives of the bride and groom declare their love – apparently, always hidden to date – and close friends uncover dirty laundry from a thousand years ago in a comical tone. You cry and laugh, you even take the opportunity to see in more detail some outfit. That seasonal bougainvillea color worn by three people, that dress with which two relatives have coincided ... The bride and groom say emotional things to each other and I spend as I can this first act of two hours in the sun after which they have promised me a first wine. I applaud the bride and groom with strength and emotion, let's not fool ourselves, they are people I love, but I begin to suspect when an employee stops my progress and informs me of the following: "You can choose what you want to throw at the bride and groom".

From rice to soap bubbles

Tradition dictates rice, which seems to me a task for the bride and groom, but my amazement comes when I discover three tables filled not only with this cereal, but with soap bubble machines, confetti guns, bags of rose petals, balloons, origami figurines and even flares. What stress. My mind goes to a thousand while I try to put on my bag to be able to take as many toys as possible, while I think about how to capture with the mobile what, a priori, seems to be a photon. I have a thousand doubts: who has had the patience to make the origami figures if they are going to end up in the trash? How to make soap bubbles while operating the confetti gun? And my wine? Eva Iglesias, with years of experience in the sector, admits that as time goes by, wedding planners offer more and more things to the bride and groom: "We offer the poor 3,000 and they have no choice but to choose a thousand."

SEAN MACKAOUI

Once the expected cocktail has arrived, I confirm Eva's argument and the stimuli multiply again. In an outdoor garden I am offered a bar with a ham cutter, a cocktail bar and natural juices made to order, a wine and beer bar and 20 waiters dancing among the people with canapés of all kinds. While I wait to order at the drink bar, a music group begins to play that I am not sure if I should go and pay attention.

From aperitif to food

Friends begin to greet each other without leaving aside the ham cutter bar (ham is super important). Soon the bride and groom arrive, who are greeted with cheers and applause. Little by little people are approaching the musical group. With a full belly and liver, we ended up dancing to all the songs. For me everything is done, I can follow the rest of the event with that level of intensity and then go home. But no: "Go to the other room to eat." How?!

There are three dishes and a dessert left -"let's finish as soon as possible to be able to continue dancing", I think and comment out loud-; But with the starter on the table, the bride and groom make their entrance into the dining room to the rhythm of their favorite song. We must stand up and, indeed, applaud. They toast, greet and cross the room jumping, involving the rest of the guests, to whom the plate is cooled. Sitting again, the parents of the bride and groom say a few words. Another squat, at this rate I have the cardio of the week done. Far from the rest of the meal being the quiet moment of the event, gifts are given to guests and family. Also the star dish: the surprise of the bride to the groom.

The special number

Eight hours of emotions later and about to start the open bar, it becomes dark in the living room. The bride, cheerleader in her youth, appears, along with six friends, dressed in the corresponding outfit, to the rhythm of 'Crazy in Love'. They have rehearsed by video call from the Philippines to impress the groom, who joins the party. And we with the cheesecake in the throat too, what a remedy. My legs are shaking and I'm up to the bun of my heels. I escape to the bathroom and when I return, the bride and groom do their dance, a waltz that soon becomes a global party with confetti, led light bars, crowns, glitter, colored headbands, fans and costumes. Everything indicates that we can lose control without worrying about new turns of script, but I am again ojiplática when a group of traditional Ecuadorian music begins to give a concert. With them, many guests intervene with masks and typical clothes of the groom's country of origin, so there is no choice but to join them.

After more than 10 hours I wonder: how many concerts do we have? At what point has the wedding become a festival? Eva Iglesias tells me that this concept has a name, wedding fest. According to her, networks like Pinterest have had a lot to do with it: "When they come to talk to me, they tell me that they have seen an incredible wedding there in Australia and they want the same thing. It's the madness of more and more."

More and more

Lorena Oliver, from The Wedding of Araventum, believes that this explosion comes from after the pandemic, because "we want to celebrate in a big way", although Eva is clear that the wedding of Chiara Ferragni and Fedez in 2018 marked a before and after. It lasted three days and was inspired by the Coachella music festival: Ferris wheel, fireworks and a merry-go-round were available to guests in Ibiza. "It was also influenced by the blogger phenomenon of five years ago, girls came to you with photos of what they were seeing," she tells me. Because it is not only what the organizers offer, but what the bride and groom dream of, of course. "Before more importance was given to decoration, but now they ask you for crazier things, animation, mosquitoes, or that the dj is recognized. There's a lot of things people want to happen at dance," Oliver says. And it is that music, experts agree, is one of the things that have gained more prominence: "Now you have rock groups, pop ... The plan is to dance from the beginning of the wedding," concludes Iglesias.

Among the strangest things they have asked of both is a zucchini cutter instead of ham at a vegan wedding, a foot massager for each guest, a wedding inspired by Super Mario Bros and the most eccentric, which Lorena tells me: "They asked me for a heart rate monitor to measure the emotion of the guests." Mine, of course, would have reached record numbers with so much encouragement. In addition to the open bar, there was photocall, candy table, dinner and dj until dawn. In total, more than 15 hours of wedding that brought with it a week of physical and emotional hangover, I do not want to imagine the bride and groom. So future guests of the world, get ready.

The figures of a very greedy business

€ 20,500 is what it costs to celebrate a wedding, on average, in Spain, above France, England or Italy.

It is expected that in 2023 the links will grow by 5% compared to 2019.

In 2021 there was an increase in weddings of 63%, which translated into almost 150,000 marriages.

130 guests is the average number of wedding banquet attendees.

229,10 € is the average expenditure per guest in Navarra, the highest in Spain. The youngest, the Andalusian, 108,10 €.

Number 1 in alcohol consumption. According to The Knot Worldwide's Global Wedding Report, Spain is the country with the longest tradition (97%) of serving alcohol at weddings.

15% of brides wear more than one dress. And, surprisingly, 22% would get a haircut during the party, according to Bodas.net

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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