Such a perfect day

What a stunning dress	The Grau family pose for a photo
The radiant bride exudes happiness	as her husband to be watches on

The sun shone but it was not too hot and with just a mere breeze, it was the perfect day for a wedding.

As I said yesterday, this was a first for Pamela and I – a Spanish wedding.

The setting was Bahia Costa at La Mata, the wedding ceremony itself was in the garden area followed by canapés and drinks in the salon. We then moved to the main banqueting room for the wedding breakfast. Later on there was a disco back in the salon with a free bar.

Fine dining

Look at that list of canapés, each one delicious in its own right.  I think I managed to sample most of them! Then move to the menu itself - seven courses starting with a refreshing tuna salad (not the tinned variety you understand) and finishing with the richest chocolate soufflé you could imagine (deliciously soft in the middle). The Mariscada Bahia was a plateful of different varieties of prawns with a crayfish as the centrepiece. That was followed by another plate of warm red prawns (a different flavour altogether). Then there was sea bass cooked to perfection followed by pork fillets in port wine. The Centro de Fruta was served on a large plate with a pineapple in the centre surrounded by a selection of fresh fruit of all sorts.  All this was accompanied by a very fruity local white wine and a delightful red. There were bottles of beer, Coca Cola and Fanta for those who preferred them.

Of course, a sumptuous meal like this would be just food if the company you ate it with was less than enjoyable. If you have never been to a Spanish wedding, I can tell you they are boisterous affairs.  There was a lot of cheering and clapping as the guests encouraged the bride and groom to kiss over and over again.

Everyone was there to enjoy themselves – a total fiesta as you might expect and far less formal than most British weddings.

From all this, you have probably gathered that Pam and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I am finding it hard to choose suitable words sufficient to thank Eladia and Joaquin for inviting us. We hope that they enjoyed their day and have a very happy and prosperous life together as man and wife.