| On June 13, 2003 I wed my beautiful Bride Amalia Gomez Sancha in Los Molinos, a small town
near Madrid. I went to quite a bit of trouble to find her - 2 1/2
years and 10,000 miles on a bike, but she is worth every bit of it. I'm the luckiest man that
ever lived.
The wedding was a short efficient civil ceremony. It took place in the evening of a
full-moon night. My entire contribution to the operation was the word Si (which I had
been rehearsing carefully for months). It drew considerable applause from the audience, who all know
just how pathetic I am with language. The ceremony was presided over by the town's
judge/postmaster.
|
 |
| This is Amalia and I with her parents Amalia and Santiago, who served as the official
witnesses. |
 |
| The groom's side of the ceremony was very thin. My stepdaughter Noelle was going to come down
from France, but at the last minute they had a massive strike in France that shut down all
transportation, so she was there via mobile phone :( |
 |
| Spanish wedding ring customs are different from Anglo. In America, generally the bride gets a
fancy ring with diamonds if they can afford it, and the groom gets one made out of brass or sheet
metal or something. In Spain, both partners wear identical rings except for the size. The
Spanish wear their rings on the right hand, instead of the left. Sometimes a bride will get a
fancy engagement ring, and in that case the engagement ring is worn on the left hand and the wedding
ring is worn on the right hand.
The Spanish also do not change the last name for the bride. Children are named with the last
names of both parents, and no middle name. They then keep that name for life. For
example, Amalia's father is Santiago Gomez Pintado, and her mother is Amalia Sancha Trueba.
Amalia was named Amalia Gomez Sancha. We went with the Spanish system. I considered
changing my name to Gomez Sancha, but that seemed a bit silly. |
 |
| Amalia had a beautiful bouquet that her friend Monica gave her as a wedding present, but at the very
last moment we forgot to bring it so she had to improvise with the flowers :( |
 |
 |
| You may have noticed I'm dressed a bit better than is my usual cycling custom. I asked my
mother to send my good suit from home. It was especially funny because we insisted that all
guests dress casually. Some have advanced the theory that we just didn't want any guests
out-dressing us. It's not the best photo of us ever, but these ceremonies require a bit of
silliness to lighten them up. |
 |