A Wedding !! The First Wedding to be held at Cortijo Las Salinas since 1944

On the 8^th October 1944 a wedding was held at Cortijo Las Salinas.  This was to be the last wedding held there for 66 years until on the 15^th May 2010 our very good friends, Francesca Rajewski and Jerome Duquene were married at the cortijo, starting the tradition over once again.

Steve and I with the bride and groom

It was the first wedding we had organised here at the cortijo, and it didn’t happen without a generous helping of stresses and strains.  However the year fast forwarded to May 15^thand all our worries about the possibility of rain were disregarded as it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day with everything going to plan.

Vibrantly dressed in a dynamic red long skirt and jacket, the bride walked out through the old wooden doors arm in arm with her father Claude, the bells rang in time with her footsteps, whilst the acoustic guitarist simultaneously serenaded playing ‘Love Is All’.  The crowd cheered and clapped as she stepped into the sculpture garden and took her place between the palm trees under a cobalt blue sky.  A coincidence maybe that the 1944 wedding and the 2010 wedding – both brides had the same Christian name.

The bride and the father of the bride being serenaded to 'Love is All'

The ceremony followed full of laughter and tears, and everyone made their way into the patio to drink Spanish champagne around the cascading fountain, as it had been drunk in the same place 66 years before.  A feast and fiesta followed.   The 1944 feast comprised of turkey in gravy with a morcilla or black pudding made from the blood of turkeys, the 2010 feast was traditional Spanish paella, Moroccan tagines, salads and a huge chocolate cake.  The 1944 fiesta comprised of three villagers who played the guitar, an accordion and a mandarin and the 2010 fiesta embraced a DJ from the Island of Ibiza – complete with all his music kit and very large, loud speakers.  Dancing continued until 4 o’clock in the morning on both occasions.

The ceremony under the palm trees

An historic occasion had taken place, with the ghosts of Las Salinas watching approvingly as the tradition for love and laughter had begun once again.

Champagne chilling in the fountain