Casamiento Pato y Magui – parte 2

The Church Ceremony and Party!

It is not unusual for people in Argentina to celebrate their wedding on 2 occasions. For legal reasons couples are required to be married by a justice of the peace at an official government building, some then also chose to be married by a priest. Magui and Pato’s marriage civil service was 2 weeks ago and now we are here at Iglesia Santa Teresita del Niño Jesús (church of Saint Theresa the child of Jesus) to for their catholic church marriage. No rain today (4th April) for and Echagüe wedding – that’s a first in Buenos Aires! The service is due to start at 6:15pm and we have arrived early and the usual chasing Alfie inside the church and around the grounds ensues. We pulled him out of kindy at lunch time to ensure he had a nap before tonight. He’s a bit hyperactive now but we manage to calm him down enough and feed him some snacks so that we get to see Magui walk down the aisle on her father’s arm. That was about the most of the service that I was able to witness though as like with Santi and Caro’s wedding I had to take him outside to run around…thankfully this time he didn’t find a light switch to turn off. There is a large courtyard for kids to play in (there is a school attached to the church) and a small cave in one corner (I think for baptisms) so of course he heads there. After a while I take him out into the garden out the front and we chase imaginary animals for a while. I hear music and then see the photographer emerge through the front doors so I send Alfie running towards Magui and Pato to congratulate the newlyweds!

After taking some photos with the bride and groom we head back to the car and drive to Deriva Resto for the reception in San Isidro. We park in the back, it’s an old but nicely converted horse stables that now house individual offices for local businesses with the restaurant in the front. We arrive just before Santi and Caro who are chauffeuring the bride and groom…a good thing as we wanted to be in the venue before they made their entrance. If you have been to an Argentinian wedding then you will know what is in store for us, if you haven’t then this will be a complete culture shock. Formal speeches & sit down 3 course meals are not normal here. They are parties, think of that dance party you went to in your 20’s/30’s and this is it, just with cake and upmarket food and beverages & a desert bar!

¡Entran los novios!

Waiters with finger food start making the rounds and we are taking it in turns to feed Alfie and play with him outside. Tio Santi (favorito) is the focus of a lot of his attention – I suppose that is what you get when you spend weeks telling him that you are the favourite uncle. The other “uncle” in the house (not Pato) has supplied the beer from his artesian brewery – there is a Trent golden ale and a summer IPA on tap. El Tio is his nickname – see my other post about what’s weird to me here to understand more on Argentinian nicknames. I’m straight onto this self serve beer and it’s good. Micro breweries have taken off here, there were none 10yrs ago (it was very rare for a bar to have beer on tap), 5yrs ago a few started popping up, now it they are everywhere in Palermo it seems. Trent is up there with one of the best that I have tasted here.

It’s not too long before the band starts warming up and Alfie is up for this. His exploits at Santi and Caro’s wedding tells us he has the energy for what is about to happen…he has added to his dance move repertoire since then though so I am keen to see how this plays out as a lot of it involves some not so fancy footwork (more like kicking). After wrangling him away from the bands equipment (he was very keen on the guitars – take note uncle Tom, you might be called upon for music lessons soon), the band starts what I think was meant to be a first dance song for the new couple but with Alfie front and centre, he steals the show.

With the first song done we removed Alfie let Pato and Magui have the floor to themselves.

You wanted the best, you got the best! The hottest couple in Buenos Aires tonight…Pato and Magui!

So this was a surprise to all of us, maybe even for Pato, definitely for Magui. The band calls Pato up to sing a song with them…he seems nervous sort of, then reads the lyrics that were handed to him. For a moment it looks like he is going to do this alone, but he motions for Magui to join him – fair play, they are a married couple now and it’s one in both in. The first few bars are played and I already know the song, it’s not going to be a hard one to sing, but I’m going to enjoy hearing them sing it anyway. “My sweet lord” by George Harrison – the unedited version for your listening pleasure is one click away below.

Una cosa más…Magui’s grandma joined the dance train!

Fast forward to 3:08 in the video…

Ok, so remember when I said that Argentinian weddings are just like a big dance party…well that’s pretty much what happened next. Argentinians like to surround the novios and just jump up and down nonstop for the entirety of the song..I guess you can call it dancing, well, maybe not the part where they throw them up in the air. So here are some pictures of the events that ensued both when the band played and when the DJs took over and kicked it into high gear starting with some local Cumbia tracks (in spanish) – from the 80/90’s. Also who would have thought that I actually knew one of the songs and can sing a lot of the lyrics!

Yo soy la aventura, Y tú, la realidad, tú, la ternura, Yo soy la libertad, tú, la esperanza, La vida que me das y no me alcanza, no me alcanza

Sergio Denis…como la canta en pedo por Jason

It was getting on in the evening when Alfie was showing all of the tired signs – eye rubbing, baby stares, lashing out etc. We tried the good old iPad trick but he was actually getting pretty bored of it and ran outside – luckily I followed him and stopped him from doing a “bush wee” on the tiled area by scooping him up (pants 1/2 way down) and getting him to point it at a grassed area. He ended up crashing out in Agus’ arms outside when she took him for a walk. With Trombetta’s help we moved one of the couches to the front of the restaurant and put him on it. He was out to it even with his uncles taking phots of him passed out with a beer in hand. We later moved him back into the main room on another couch when we realised that he wasn’t waking up to anything…sleep vs. DJ, the DJ stood zero chance.

There was a break in the music to cut the cake. I remember telling Pato to make sure that he got some of his wedding cake as I remember cutting mine and never getting to try it. I didn’t see it get cut up and distributed (maybe we went home early with Alfie) but I hope he did. The motion picture academy must have had a word to them as their speeches were short and sweet – take note Aussies, say thanks and get on with the party!

Remember that I said there were desert bars at Argentinian dance parties, sorry Argentinian weddings…well this one didn’t disappoint. I may have smashed a few of these sweet treats.

We had an awesome time and it was great to be part of this festive event…and a little bit emotional as well (both Pato & Agus knows what I am talking about). Buen viaje chicos – have fun on your honeymoon in Ushuaia!