Weddingbee Blog

You may know by now I’m a Texan through and through. However, where I come from is not quite so much your typical country music lovin’, cowboy boot wearin’, Dallas-esque type place (although I do love all of those things in their own right). I’m from a place that’s much more tamales y menudo than biscuits and grits, a place where it averages 98 degrees in the shade (only a very slight exaggeration on my part here), and it’s almost as common to read a sign in Spanish as it is in English. I absolutely LOVE my hometown and am so so so excited to be not only getting married there, but to be getting married during the best time of the year – Fiesta!

What is Fiesta, you ask? Oh, dear reader, are you in for a treat as I take you on a tour of the wonders of Fiesta week.

The Spanish word fiesta literally means a holiday or a party. Our Fiesta is more of a proper noun referring to the awesome ten day party the city throws every April to honor the memory of the heroes of the Alamo and the battle of San Jacinto (the one we won). The festival has evolved over the years to also celebrate the diverse traditions and cultures of the city of San Antonio. It started out in 1891 with a group of local ladies pulling a carriage up to the Alamo and showering each other with fresh cut flowers. This was the first occurrence of the Battle of the Flowers Parade, which is now one of the biggest events of the celebration (and was always my favorite growing up as it is always held on a Friday [literally Battle of Flowers Day] and the entire city shuts down and schools are closed – yay!).

Fiesta has evolved into a huge affair with many different events, most of which are centered around my 2 favorite things: music and food!

When we first got engaged I actually tried to avoid having the wedding anywhere near the Fiesta dates as the city tends to get a bit crowded (this is an extreme understatement). However, we have many friends and family members who aren’t from SA (or the great state of Texas, for that matter) and we really wanted to show off the local flavor and traditions that our hometown is known for. Thus, we went with Fiesta week (and made damn sure to book a large block of hotel rooms ASAP).

Our wedding weekend will start on Friday, which is the opening day of Fiesta (and happens to be Mr. Lemonade’s birthday as well… more on that later), and we are encouraging our guests to stay through to the next week to experience the parades, NIOSA, and many more super fun events! I can’t wait!

Does your wedding day fall on or near a holiday?

all images from here