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Our wedding in Guatemala had been scheduled for over a month. In Saltillo, shortly after we had crossed the border, we met a family that was having a wedding in Antigua on the 14th of October. Perfect! We had to fly from Mexico to Guatemala. We stopped in Belize, in Tikal and continued on.
We arrived in Antigua the day before, we were with the bride's relatives and at the end of the night we can meet them. A friend of the groom was going to photograph the ceremony but we could also be there and as he wasn't going to the bride's preparations, we went. In the morning we were there: make-up, hairstyle, dress, shoes,... nothing left to chance. In the invitations the ceremony was for 15.30 but in reality it would only be at 16.00. It was not. It was 17.00 when we were leaving the house where the bride was getting ready. We took a couple of getaway photos because time was short but we didn't want to miss out on taking advantage of all the surroundings of the place.
The bride and groom are not from Antigua, they are from Zacapa. A town in Guatemala that lives off agriculture. The guests come from there, from the United States where many family members are emigrated and from Mexico. The ceremony is first for civil and then a religious celebration. All in the same space as the farm.
As in Mexico, here they also perform the ceremony of the ropes that connect the two. Then something different, each groom has a candle that the other blows out because now they are no longer two people but one and they light a new candle together. All these symbolisms serve to remember the power of union. The ceremony is emotional, with the groom's mother giving a few words at the end. Must be close to 100 people.
We pass to the area where the banquet will be held. The bride and groom dance their first dance together, make the symbolic cutting of the cake and toast table-to-table with champagne. People get up to get their food, the bride and groom stay until the end. They sit at the empty table and invite us to join them. What an honor.
We get to know more about Guatemala and the bride and groom! Kimberley came to work in the United States but returned to Guatemala where she worked in a travel agency. He loves to discover new places. The groom has a logistics company, and collaborates with companies such as Chiquita bananas. They met through mutual friends, and from what we understand all the steps of a traditional relationship were preserved: he asked her to marry him and then to marry him in August of this year.
After the meal they serve the delicious wedding cake and a Guatemalan coffee. We love the coffee here. People start to leave slowly. It's still early, and we took the opportunity to go with the bride and groom to take some more pictures.
We love this couple and we can't choose the best photos, who can help us?
