Unlike most of the West, many couples in Spain and Latin America will choose to marry rather than living together, and church weddings are still commonplace. Religion still plays an important role there, and as two very good friends of mine from Mexico are about to get married, let’s have some useful Spanish words and phrases all about marriage.
The Spanish phrase for a wedding is: una boda, and there are two phrases commonly used for marriage: el matrimonio and el casamiento.
The bride and groom are los novios, el novio and la novia respectively. Further simple Spanish phrases for your continually increasing vocabulary are: el padrino – the best man and la dama de honor – the bridesmaid.
Of course, the perfect couple – la pareja perfecta – will need to exchange rings – los anillos de la boda – as a symbol of their unending love. One tradition you’ll probably come across at weddings throughout the Hispanic world is the groom handing over thirteen gold coins – los trece monedas de oro – to the bride.
These coins are called: arras – security, and are a sort of dowry. There is also a religious significance because los trece monedas de oro symbolize Christ and his apostles. After los novios have completed los votos – the vows – the gold coins will be passed to the bride.
When the happy couple come out of the church, be prepared for a quite a different scenario than usual. They are not showered with confetti but greeted with petardos – firecrackers, which makes the exit from the church a tad more lively!
In English, one is married to their sweetheart but this changes in Spanish as one is married with them. For example:
Estoy casada con Juan – I’m married to Juan – Miguel está casado con Cleo.
What may cause confusion to arise is the usage of both ser and estar in the first person when a person states “I am married” as it is subject to whether or not an individual thinks people are married at present or permanently.
That’s a small selection of common Spanish phrases about marriage that are nice and easy to learn. They’ll give your vocabulary more depth and give you a useful insight into Hispanic culture too!
