A couple in the city of Melo, in the department of Cerro Largo (eastern Uruguay), got married painted green and dressed as the animated characters Universal Shrek and Fiona.
Jessica Antúnez and Maicol Diogo are the names of the new spouses who got married at the city's Union Club last Tuesday, local newspaper Diario Atlas reported. They entered the municipal building in disguise accompanied by their loved ones and, in front of the civil registry officer Luis Morales, they married.
In a video shared by journalist Silvia Techera, both on Facebook and on Twitter, they went down the marble stairs and people there threw rice at her to celebrate.
Once the greetings were finished, the bride and groom left in a white van prepared for the occasion and with a yellow sign that was written “newlyweds” accompanied by a red ribbon. T he couple was greeting as he walked along the main street of the city, Aparicio Saravia.
The new ceremonies in Uruguay
It is common for couples who decide to marry only in civil society in Uruguay to personalize the ceremony: that the bride with the godfather enters the Registry, that there is an exchange of rings and words from family and friends, in a context where the law does not need it, but allows it.
According to Justice of the Peace Eduardo Pintos Lasarga, the bride and groom make civil marriage warmer through different mechanisms. “The civil ceremony always takes place, it starts with the signing of the bride and groom and witnesses, and then the ceremony begins. When the bride and groom only marry by civilian, before starting the signatures, the bride enters with her godfather. Once the ceremony is over, the officer or judge greets the bride and groom and the bride and groom ask the Civil Registry Officer to announce, in good will, the placement of the rings, or they also ask that a brother or friend of the bride and groom do some reading. On some occasions it has been given that a pastor goes and gives a blessing or saying a few words,” he told Bodas Magazine.
Although this kind of curiosities always existed, the pandemic left a strong mark on the new type of marriage ceremonies being held in Uruguay. The possibilities that the protocol allowed in the last two years transformed the traditional format. “We are very enjoyable, for us a party is synonymous with delicious food, lots of dancing, music and alcohol. It happened to me many times to have to tell the guests of a wedding: 'Well, guys, you have to go, it's already 6 in the morning and we have to take apart the party'”, explained event air freshener Gabriela Curbelo, according to Galería.
Now, the holidays are becoming much more intimate and smaller. The option brought by the anti-covid-19 protocol was microcelebrations, where people think of fewer people, for less time and of alternative celebrations such as a lunch in a winery, a civilian by videoconference, a two-shift party focused on the gastronomic part and with a live band.
The designer and founder of Estudio Monaqueda, Clara Laborde, stated that at the beginning of the pandemic most of the bride and groom had trouble celebrating in a different way than they had planned, but that little by little they are beginning to give in to the option of doing it in a different format.
“I spoke to several couples who managed to postpone everything and are now considering getting married in a reduced format on the scheduled date and, why not, on the first anniversary of marriage to have a bigger party with dancing for the younger ones,” Laborde said.
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