Spanish photographer Hugo Alonso Larrinaga Colindres captured wedding celebrations of a gypsy family who are based in Colindres (Cantabria) and Mirasol (Cataluña) at the north eastern coast of spain. The weeding party itself can take 3 to 6 days of non stop parting and is one of the most important days of the bride’s life. The rules of the procedure are very strict as Hugo explains:


“First the future husband has to go to the brides parents and ask for permission to marry his loved one. If he is accepted everybody speaks with the patriarch of the family who is in charge or about 120 family members. In this particular wedding the patriarchs were the great grandparents of the wife and husband because they are cousins. It is normal to get married to a cousin. It is tradition that they can only get married if she is a virgin. The women gather around to “test” the brides virginity. An old lady who apparently has “some kind of powers” (as they claim), inserts a white tissue in the bride’s vagina to see if she still is a virgin – and if there is blood the party starts!


The husband has to take care for all the guests, which makes this day rather stressful for him. The bride on the other hand is enjoying complete attention of everybody, receiving loads of presents. The party crowd sings songs just for her. Then they couple is being lifted into the air whilst guests throw candy at them. After the reception everybody gets some cake (which they only get in exchange for money they put in a huge basket beside the cakes..). These are the first hours of the ceremony, but the party continues.”

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