An UnBEETable Adventure 6: The Reception

Naturally, the perfect wedding should be followed by the perfect reception.

The Napkin from the Alba-Carballo nuptials.

After the ceremonies at the Iglesia de San Salvador, the wedding party made its way to the lovely and spacious—

Casa Luque

—to gather and welcome the newlyweds.

We were a bit confused as we were ushered through the restaurant (which seemed to be closed for the day) and were finally led through a pair of heavy double doors in the back.

Where are we going? I thought the reception was in here?

However, after crossing a brick walkway, we reached the location of the first part of the reception: the patio.

Charming!

I super loved the casual and intimate setting. Everywhere you turned small groups of people chitted and chatted; an obvious aura of happiness, shininess and love emanated from everyone and from the place itself.

Reed, Pards, Shwekky and Me.

Captain Planet and Cammy.

Pablito, Papa L, and Tito A.

Yogi Bear and Baby Girl.

Barca, Futbol and Soccerhontas.

Beets, Tita Mallorquina and Me.

After about fifteen minutes or so of settling in and regrouping, it was time to welcome the newlyweds.

Reed and I ushering in Twin.

Beets ushering in Iron Man (who shall from now on be referred to as Triplet).

I don't know how it happened, but instead of the newlyweds walking in together, Beets and I were there too. Haha I love it!

As soon as Twin and Triplet stepped onto the patio, the expected plinking of glasses began to fill the air: it was time for a kiss. Naturally, as Twin is probably one of the least traditional brides (women) you will ever meet, she rolled her eyes, but kissed him anyway—and loved it.

*********

In case you wonder later on, here's a little more on Twin's non-traditional nature. There was to be no garter shenanigans and no throwing of the bouquet (which was a single long-stem lily—so chic!). In fact, had she had it her way, the reception would've been on the floor (to which her mother objected) and been really Middle-Eastern.

*********

The newlyweds soon joined the guests in their congratulations, hugs, smiles and laughter.

Triplet with the guys.

Twin with the girls.

Halfway through tapas and cocktails, Twin lifts up the table cloth to show her bare feet. "Flats," she says/requests. Again, not your typical girl. =)

*********

My dream-like state of happiness and joy was soon non-existent as Sonja, the wedding coordinator strode huffily to my side.

"Well," she begins, "the guitarist is ready for you. He received your email and learned the song that you are singing."

Holey Moley, I thought. The time has come.

*********

Flashback:

February 2011. Not only did Twin make me promise to be at her wedding, but she also asked me to sing something. "I want it to be a surprise," she says. To be honest, I did prepare. I emailed the guitarist and everything to be sure that when the time came, we would be able to pull it off. However, the excitement of the Beets/Twin/Twin reunion, and not to mention the fact that we were in Europe (hello?!) kind of pushed the fact that I had to sing to the back of my mind.

*********

Back to the reception:

"Oh.... Okay..." I stutter back at Sonja. "Well, what time does dinner start?" I ask.
"Seven," she says.
"Okay... Can I go at like, uhm, 6:55?"
With a smile, she says sure and hurries off to check on something else.

Suddenly, my joy and happiness are replaced by anxiety, nerves and an overall feeling of Barf. Thankfully, Twin's sisters all helped calm me down. I nervously scarfed down croquetta after croquetta (which were absolutely delish!) and made many trips to—

—the drinks station (for some liquid courage)—

—and as a result, the bathroom. We couldn't wait any longer... Dinner had to start. Finally I tell Penny that I'm ready (half-true) and at that point, she marches front-and-center of the patio and calls for everyone's attention.

I stand a little off to the side, and watch as heads swivel and turn to her direction, and once she finally finishes speaking, every pair of eyes has landed on me.

Get a grip, Geo, geez! I tell myself.

After steeling my nerves, I dive right in.

Now, Twin knew I was singing a song, but the song itself was a surprise. But, before coming to Nerja, I realized that I probably should say a little something before the song as well. So, instead of saying a speech, I decided to write a surprise poem to celebrate Twin and Triplet's union.

The poem started off well enough, with chuckles and laughs at the funny parts,

Ha! You're all smiles and cheers now... Fool...

but soon after, boy, the waterworks really started, well, working.

Literally choking back my sobs. Look at the guitarist smugly smirking in the back. Ayhetchu.

The song? Well... I more rasped it, than sang it... I wrote the poem to segue into Alanis Morissette's Head Over Feet.

*********

The reason why I chose the song: In the beginning, when Triplet was a young man, and Twin, a carefree tomboy, she was a bit resistant to Triplet's advances. One day, however, she realized that she was in fact, in love with this man, and this is the song she dedicated to him at that time.

*********

I may have tripped over some words, and vocally crawled through the song, but one thing is for sure, every word I said, and every note I rasped came from the heart.

Twins forever—swollen raccoon eyes and all.

After the poem and song (click here to read it), it was time for dinner, which was at a different area of Casa Luque.

This entire time, Twin has been keeping the reception set-up somewhat of a secret. Granted, some of us had half our check-in suitcases full of decors, but as to what everyone else had, or how they would come together remained Twin's well-guarded secret. Despite not having enough manpower, Twin refused helped from her guests (except her mom, Penny, and her other sisters) so as to keep the table setting a surprise.


The wait was worth it.

Stunning.

Dinner was to be served on a cliff-top balcony that looked onto the Mediterranean Sea. Absolutely magical.

Oh! Hey there Sonja!

Gor-jus! Twin has an affinity for all things Middle Eastern.

I cut those table runners! (Patting my own back)

And it comes with a bar! YES.

*********

Speaking of bars and drinking. Right before the dinner was set to start, we notice that Triplet, his brothers and a couple of their friends were missing. It was because they were busy examining this:

Iron Chef and his little friend: a bottle of Absinthe. Oh My! That skull sure looks inviting.

Oh! Did I say A bottle of Absinthe? I'm sorry. I meant three.

Triplet smiling in disbelief. Or is it excitement? As your new Triplet, I hope it's the latter.

*********

Chuckling, we all headed to our seats. I was to be seated at—

—Mesa 2—

—in between—

—Beets—

—and—

—Triplet and Twin—

—across from—

—new friends: Italy and France.

And oh hey, here's the view from my seat:

Talk about a place to see the sun set.

*********

Twin's dad, Tito Jeem, soon makes his way to the heads of the tables and delivers his speech with more (a lot more) composure than I did.

Tito Jeem.

Despite his numerous jokes and chuckles, the audience again found themselves in tears as his speech ended with talk of change, the past and the future. He leads us, the audience both smiling and tearing up at the same time, to another toast to the newlyweds.

Cheers!

After, Trip's (short for Triplet) eldest brother, Iron Chef, takes the floor to say a few words and to lead us all in a prayer before the meal.

Who better to bless the food than a chef?! Well... maybe a priest...

It's time to dig in!

Now, if Twin did a number on the decor for the reception, she really outdid herself with the meal. The whole meal was sit-down family style which made everything feel more intimate and cozy. Numerous appetizer courses were served followed by a staggering array of main dishes. The dishes were cooked in an assortment of Iberian and Middle Eastern flavors. There was lamb (my fave!), seafood, sausages, salads and vegetarian dishes to name a few. I guess everyone really REALLY enjoyed their meals because try as I might, I couldn't find any pictures of the food. Everyone was too busy eating and chatting! It was soooo good! To give you an idea of how many platters were served, here's a look (sideways peek) at the menu...

Each item is a name of something that was served. There was A LOT.

Towards the tail end of dinner, Twin had one more surprise for the guests: A Flamenco Performance!

(Sadly, not by her... What a sight it would have been though to see Twin and Triplet stomping and gesturing!)

WAIT.

We do get to see Twin and Triplet stomping it out after all.

Flamenco!

As Twin and Triplet cut a rug, other members of the wedding party begin to sashay their way to the dance floor. A night of singing, dancing, drinking, merry-making and good 'ole fashioned celebrating ensues.

Getting warmed up in your typical dance circle.

Getting warmed up with chupitos!

Beets with the Alba girls: Quin, Pards, Twin and Penny.

The Alba Men.

After a shot of Absinthe (poison). Lesson learned: drink Absinthe—pop a button.

Trip and his mom, Tita Honey. Too sweet =)

Looks like Preggy's feeling especially preggers.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice... pass the chupitos!

" ♫ And every last inch of me's covered in hairrrr! ♫ " - the guys.

The newlyweds with the bride's parents. Tito Jeem was in an extra-celebratory mood!

Seriously. Tito Jeem may have earned the MVP title of Best Dancer that night.

Observe:

Solo category. Extra points for kagat-labi (lip-biting) enthusiasm!

Partner category. Extra points for getting low!

To be fair, he did have some stiff competition:

Reed doing his signature move: the Snake!

It was such a fun night! The kids got in on the action, too. =)

Trip and Nyoppers.

Twin and Reed.

Me and Nyops, Reed and Beets.

As what happens with most dance circles, people were called to the center to sample their signature dance moves.

"Diego! Diego! Diego! Diego!"

I can't get over how much fun that night was. There truly was so much happiness and love in the air; smiles and laughter all around.

Preggy forgetting she's preggers.

Cuba and Sweet Pea. I told you, everyone was feeling the love.

*********

As midnight drew closer, we decided to move the party to a different location as the reservation for Casa Luque was about to expire.

Almost reflexively, we decided to head to the Buddha Bar from our first night in Nerja.

Pinwheeling in Twin Beets. T3 we super missed you!

Most of the group at the reception had opted to return to the hotel. For the brave (reckless?) few, we made our way merrily down the street. Finally we reached the Buddha Bar and a lot more partying, dancing, chupitos and whatnot continued.

After a while, our server from the first night, Pepe, who knew about the wedding came by to give his congratulations.

Before long, Twin and Trip were next to the DJ being presented to the entire bar.

It seemed like the love and happiness just followed us wherever we went! That entire day strangers would congratulate and share their happiness with Twin and Triplet, it was no different at the bar.

Twin says: "Awww thanks!"    Trip says: "Say whaaaa?!"

*********

As the night started to wind down, some of our merry band decided to head back while the rest of us decided to do a little more exploring. We actually did very little exploring because we stopped at the first open restaurant we saw.

Butete.

And they were serving the PERFECT late night craving: Pizza.

Double Butete.

Yogi Bear.

Futbol and Soccerhontas.

With our hearts warm and bellies full, we assented to return to the hotel and rest up for the day ahead for at that very moment, we were content.

Whatever problems and worries we had coming to Nerja—work, bills, deadlines and fights—were pushed out of our minds that day. Instead, we were in a constant euphoric state of love and peace and beauty and excitement and everything-is-right-with-the-world-ness. It was because for many of us (for two of us most especially), that day was perfect.

*********

Congratulations Twin and Trip! I love you guys!

Next up—Chapter 7: Ferya, Cuevas and Frigiliana—the last Spanish day.




<3