File #11 - a Homecoming Wedding
Some weddings feel like they’re stitched together from two different worlds - and this one absolutely was. Two men, two countries, two families with different languages but the same look of fierce pride in their eyes. One groom born and raised in the UK; the other from a sun-soaked Spanish town where they now live together, surrounded by tiled streets, late-night cafés, and the kind of community where neighbours still greet each other in the morning.
When they first talked about the possibility of having a wedding in the UK, the Spanish groom laughed and said, “But I’ll need subtitles for the speeches!” His partner nudged him gently. “You’ll understand more than you think.” And he did.
On the morning of the wedding, the UK groom was more nervous than he expected. Not about the marriage - they were rock solid - but about bringing his whole world together with the man he’d built a life with abroad. Returning to the town he’d once sprinted out of at eighteen suddenly felt tender, like stepping into a long-forgotten version of himself. His husband-to-be squeezed his hand and said, in soft-accented English, “Your people will be my people today.”
He was right.
Guests arrived in a beautiful chaos of British reserve and Spanish warmth. Some had flown in from Spain carrying little gifts, fans, and laughter that echoed down the hallway. The UK side brought umbrellas, obviously. One of the Spanish cousins kept saying, “It’s like a movie set. Everything is green!” The groom’s childhood friends wrapped the Spanish groom in hugs as though he’d always been in their WhatsApp chats.
When the ceremony began, something shifted.
There was a moment - quick as a blink - when the Spanish groom caught sight of his future mother-in-law dabbing her eyes, trying not to smudge her mascara. His partner saw it, reached for his hand, and he steadied instantly. Love speaks all languages, but that moment needed no translation.
Their vows were slow, deliberate, and full of the little details that make a life: learning each other’s expressions, navigating two cultures, switching between languages at breakfast, finding home not in geography but in each other. When the Spanish groom promised "siempre contigo" - always with you - the whole room softened.
Afterwards, one of the Spanish guests, still glowing with pride, said, “Now I understand why he wanted to marry here. This place is part of him.”
But my favourite moment? Right as the applause settled and the music swelled, the UK groom breathed out - one long, releasing breath - and murmured, “I’m glad we came back.”
His husband squeezed his hand and said, with a grin that lit the room, “I knew you would be.”