🇪🇸 Spain · wedding
Spanish weddings — las arras, the lazo, and the photo of thirteen coins
Two small rituals during the ceremony — coins and a cord — produce the photos that travel back home in every family album.
Spanish weddings — and the Hispanic Catholic weddings descended from them across Latin America — are organised around the Mass, but the moments that get framed at home are two small, intimate gestures within the Mass: **las arras** (the unity coins) and **el lazo** (the wedding cord).
Las arras matrimoniales
After the rings, the priest blesses thirteen coins — the *arras matrimoniales* — and the groom pours them into the cupped hands of the bride. She pours them back. They go back and forth three times. The number thirteen represents Christ and the twelve apostles in the Catholic interpretation, and the pouring is a public promise to share everything materially across the marriage. The *arras* themselves are usually a family heirloom — passed from a grandmother, godmother, or *madrina* — and the box that holds them often ends up with another grandchild a generation later.
El lazo
In Spanish and Latin American Catholic weddings (especially Mexican and Filipino), a *lazo* — a long cord, traditionally a giant rosary or a length of silk — is draped around the couple's necks in a figure-eight by the godparents (*padrinos de lazo*) after they exchange vows. They wear it through the rest of the ceremony. It symbolises that two are now one (an infinity loop), and that the bond is made by their families in addition to themselves.
What guests photograph
- The arras pouring from hand to hand — best from the side at low angle - The lazo being placed — usually the day's most emotional photo - The bride and groom standing for communion with the lazo still on - The padrinos removing the lazo at the end — they keep it, and it gets framed too
The reception — the convite
After the ceremony, the *convite* (reception) is everything from a brief copa de cava on the church steps to a six-hour seated dinner in a converted *finca*. The Spanish wedding meal traditionally includes *jamón ibérico* and seafood as antipasti, a rice course or fish, a meat course, and a wedding cake (*tarta nupcial*) usually with mazapán or *crema catalana*. Then the *barra libre* — the open bar — opens, and the dancing runs until 4 or 5 am. Guests upload throughout. The bride's mother gets the first selection at 9 am the next day.
Regional differences
A wedding in Andalusia is musically different from one in Catalonia (where you'll often hear a sardana danced at the cocktail), which is different again from a wedding in Galicia (where the local pipes — the *gaita* — often play during the procession). The arras and lazo are the constants. Everything else regionalises.
Citations & further reading
- Wikipedia (Spanish): [Matrimonio en España](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrimonio_en_Espa%C3%B1a) - Wikipedia: [Arras (wedding ceremony)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arras_(wedding_ceremony)), [Lazo (wedding ceremony)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazo_(wedding_ceremony)) - Conferencia Episcopal Española: *Ritual del matrimonio*
Frequently asked
What are the arras matrimoniales?
Thirteen coins blessed by the priest. The groom pours them into the bride's cupped hands and she pours them back, three times — a public promise to share everything materially across the marriage.
Why thirteen coins?
In Catholic interpretation, twelve coins for the apostles plus one for Christ. The exchange is a symbolic affirmation of mutual stewardship.
What is the lazo?
A long cord — traditionally a giant rosary or silk length — draped around the couple's necks in a figure-eight by the padrinos de lazo after the vows. It symbolises that two are now one.
When does the open bar (barra libre) start at a Spanish wedding?
Usually after the dessert course at the reception. It then runs until 4 or 5 am — Spanish weddings end very late.
Other cultures in the series
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