This was something I didn’t expect to do… wedding crashing in Cuba.
Well, not quite crashing since I paid for my meals and also a fair amount of contribution for the couple, but the invite was from Rodolfo and his wife Dayana, rather than from the wedding couple.
I was expecting it to be a more Cuban traditional wedding, which would had been more interesting to see the customs. However, since the groom is Spanish and bride is Cuban and living in Spain, it was more modern.
The wedding celebrations was a 2 full day affair, surrounded around a lot of food and drinks among friends and close ones. The day before the wedding, we had lunch and dinner in a couple of really nice restaurants, with the same group of people that was going to be at the wedding ceremony.
This was followed by a hen’s night and bachelor’s night after dinner, where the male and female split up to 2 different venues. At the club, the ladies had booked off a private area, for the 18 girls who had joined for the hen’s night.
Our private section had a good view of the entire bar, which was when Patricia and I noticed that there were a number of local Cuban women, who seem to be high class prostitutes, looking for men.
On the day of the wedding, I met up with Rodolfo and the rest of the group at the house they were renting in Miramar for lunch, located next to the sea. The house also had an outdoor pool, nice!
Had my first dip in the sea in Cuba, and was surprised that I could easily float in the water – high salt content in the sea!
Lunch was a BBQ, comprising fish and lobsters.
I wasn’t planning to be attending a wedding when I packed for my trip. It was a good thing I had packed a skirt, but without proper footwear, I had to use my trekking boots. I must had definitely looked awkward with the mismatch outfit.
At 6.30pm, the bride had a classic entrance (very cool!), and procession was led in by a flower girl and boy, before the bride and groom exchanged their vows.
The gods must be looking out for us, because as soon as the reading of vows were completed, it started pouring. We were lucky to had all just taken shelter, and were served with canopies and free flow drinks. The canopies served would be sufficient for an actual dinner, but Rodolfo told me that there was still going to be a dinner later
It must had been about 9.30pm, when we were told to head downstairs and get on a bus, which will bring us to the dinner venue. Dinner was located in an outdoor garden around Miramar area, where tables were elegantly laid out. I had noticed that all the lunches and dinner we had were extremely late, as the wedding dinner only begin at about 11pm.
By that time, I was still full from the canopies from the wedding reception that I hardly ate any of the main dinner. The dinner had a starter comprising a plate of different local Cuban appetizers, followed by 2 main courses – a lobster dish (Rodolfo’s friends and I were all overdosed with lobster from lunch and yesterday’s lobster meals, that we couldn’t take another lobster that night), as well as a pork dish. I was also more tired since it had been a long day.
Again, I got bored, as everyone was talking among themselves, and the dinner was a long affair. There were some interesting segments, where the men who attended the wedding were given a Cuban cigar, and the female a “branded” shawl. I took a Burberry designed shawl, though I wouldn’t expect it to be authentic :D
There was also a section where the bride and groom gave personalised gifts to immediate families and close friends.
Finally, everyone proceeding indoors to a house where the bride and groom took their first dance. I was extremely exhausted, and was glad to be given a lift back at 1.30am, while there were others who stayed behind to continue mingling with the crowd.
Not quite the Cuban wedding I expected, but was still interesting to experience.
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