James & Ivan trusted us to plan and organize their most amazing wedding and we hope this first PearlSandals same sex wedding will be the start of many more to come! The couple live in Brighton but Ivan has Spanish roots in the Canary Islands so they visit our country on a regular basis. We met through Hotel Neri and from that first meeting onwards, our journey towards their wedding was so much fun!
The Ceremony was held on the terrace on Plaza Felip Neri and we had a Flower arch with bouganvillea in three colours to honour local, 0 km, eco friendly footprint. It was fiery fuchsia, mellow yellow and warm orange/coral colours and it looked a dream! Different coloured rose petals marked the aisle from red to yellow, pink and orange.
Table decorations were a mix of structures of drift wood with happy bright colours and we used them for the get together, the aperitif and then during the banquet! Recycling them to the max and enjoying their brightness during two days.
We really enjoyed the vast mix of people from all over the world of all religions and sexual orientation, such a fun and open crowd! I love colourful guests and to name a few show stoppers, we had polka dot 50’s dress, shorts and shirt in Flamingo pattern, a gentleman in a soft pink skinny suit and the grooms both wore light pink shirts with cakes on, tailor made in England!
As transport to Pez Vela from Neri Hotel we used a rented Barcelona tourist open double decker bus and the looks on people’s faces as we defied the law by driving down the Rambla whilst a gorgeous Transgender dressed in Drag sat at the very front doing an elegant Royal Wave along with the laughter and the very mad but brilliant tour guide did her bit for the atmosphere!
The Grooms took a well deserved little break to share a private moment in their Trixi bike.
Over the two days of festivities the get together was held at Neri in the restaurant with the closest family and groom’s trains. Everyone was invited to the bar afterwards and spilled out into the square. Welcome drinks and aperitif after the wedding ceremony were held at Hotel Neri in the bar and on the square.
The banquet and dancing were held at Pez Vela under the world famous W Hotel by the beach in Barcelona. We had the restaurant in exclusivity and it was a gorgeous summer evening with a starry sky and waves lapping the shore. At Pez Vela the banquet was traditional good food with several tapas and two different paellas and grilled whole fish served on giant plates on each table. Flan was one of the given desserts, can’t get more Barcelona feel than that!!
When the dancing started it was a fantastic Idea by James & Ivan to create a Trip through time starting with music from the 60s, then 70s’s 80’s all the way to 2010’s:-) This meant that the parents were first on the dance floor which got everybody in the mood and that was only the start! Even our Jordi got on the dance floor!
A true modern wedding of the world where everyone was included and made feel special!
Oh it was a wedding to remember… and I love the comment they made to us after the wedding… Unfortunately you are now friends for life:-) Thank you guys!
Photographer: Cathy Loughran
Venues: Hotel Neri , Pez Vela Restaurant
Flowers: Vidiella Flors
Pearlsandals is a Barcelona wedding and events planning company dedicated to creating special moments in Barcelona, Catalonia and Mallorca for Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, German, Spanish, Catalan and English speaking couples.
