The Glossary for the Bilingual Bride

Oh, to be bilingual! The joy of having two languages in your mind at all times and simultaneously alternating from one to the other without even flinching. We have been blessed with this great gift but when it comes to a formal affair, it feels a bit like a curse! Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn't change this for the world but I have had such a hard time creating a bilingual wedding.

Our wedding is a couple of days away, but I’ve had the intention to write this for a while since I lived through this experience. This guide might be helpful to future bilingual brides. This time of celebration will also be a time of reuniting family from Colombia whom we have not seen in over 15 years. There is a lot of pressure to make them feel comfortable since it's an environment they have never been to, however, we also have a big part of the invitees that live or are from the United States. So, basically everything has to be in both languages (thank God we live in Miami and having a bilingual ceremony is an option!).

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Finding the perfect bridal accessory

As the wedding gets closer and errands seem to multiply by the minute, I'm very relieved to have one less thing on my bride-to-be to-do list!

You guys may already know that our big day is about a month and a half away and I just cannot wait! We are having a traditional Catholic Church ceremony because it was important to us to have God’s blessing, and also because faith has become a big part of our lives together.

We already have most of the tasks done but we have a good chunk to go as well. One of the things that I was completely lost about was the veil. Some people may think it old school or traditional to have a veil, but I truly believe that it is the one piece that makes a bride. Not only the meaning behind it, but who doesn’t like fluffy tulle around them on the day they feel like a princess?!

My quest began a few months ago and I had no idea of the many different fabrics, colors, and shapes there were JUST for your veil. I really didn’t know what I wanted so since I already had my dress, it was the dress that chose the veil.

I found a company called ZVeil that has a try-at-home program which was just perfect! I didn't purchase the dress with the veil because of budget restrictions, plus I really just wanted to see what else was out there. I'm glad I did because I found the perfect veil to complement my gorgeous gown and I was able to do it from my comfy couch.

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The car that helped us breeze through wedding errands

I never thought in a million years that a wedding had so many tiny details that had to be addressed. But my favorite so far has been tastings, because well I do love me some yummy food and deserts!

I partner up with Mazda to test drive their CX-3 and we got lots of errands done while driving it around Miami. It was great since it is so spacious; we were able to get decoration stuff for the wedding. We also got to drive to do our cake tasting and it was delightful!. It is no secret that people in Miami drive like they are insane, and the concept of turning signal just does not exist. So I really enjoyed that this car has very useful safety features. My favorite one is the one blind spot detector, it automatically beeps when you have a turning signal on and someone is on the blind spot. I sure found it very useful a couple of times in this madness and I am positive this feature has avoided a lot of accidents.

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How to keep your wedding guest on their feet all night long!

As wedding planning keeps progressing, one of the things that my fiancé and I have “struggled’ with is how to host the perfect night and entertain guests while keeping this wedding about our personalities. Because, well yeah, it’s OUR wedding after all!

Music is such an important part of the celebration. We don't have a huge group of people attending but mostly are coming from Colombia. Our wedding will be a melting pot of cultures: from Cali girls, to family and friends from Bogotá, to Dominican guys, and even some Venezuelans sprinkled in. Don’t get me wrong, I love having friends and family from different backgrounds, cities, etc. but narrowing down the song list for the night can be challenging since we want everyone to have fun.  And not only music is important, but comfy shoes are key to create an awesome vibe.

Not to mention, weirdos like me who are from Colombia, but well, don’t necessarily enjoy Colombian music all night long… so yeah it gets tricky. As a Latina who partially grew up in the states I became very acculturated. But, I do have hints of my Colombian heritage and I enjoy a vallenato here and there. Plus, weddings in Colombia last all night into the early morning. So you can see why this is important to me!

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Taking the time to enjoy being engaged

Now that I am almost settled in my new home, it is time to do wedding talk! What a better time to do it than at the sobremesa? If you have never heard this word, in Spanish it means the time you spend at the dinner table after a meal just talking, sipping on some coffee, and making great memories.

My fiancé’s and my life have been nuts the last couple of months so it is nice to take a second for us, take a deep breath, sip on some Nescafé coffee and just start diving step by step into our next crazy journey, our wedding.

A couple of days back we did the second payment on the venue, and I should be getting my dress in June, but there are SO many things still to be figured out. Now that we are actually together we get the chance to discuss vendors, prices, styles, etc.

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