A Fun Wedding – Cuban Style!

Wedding Week has been such a fun week, here at New Latina! Today’s wedding and love story belongs to the fun and lovely Carrie Ferguson Weir!!  Many of you know Carrie through her popular Tiki Tiki Blog.  Carrie has been happily married for 18 years!  Can’t wait to read what all her bloguera friends have to say about these awesome photos…Love the hat, Carrie!

Where/how did you and your husband meet?

My husband and I met in the lobby of the Habana Libre hotel in Havana, Cuba. We both were there as journalists during the 1991 Pan American Games. My family says la Cachita sent him to me because I had to go to the homeland to find him. (It was my first trip to Cuba, the country my family left in 1957.)

How/where did your husband propose?

We talked about getting married within the first six months of meeting. After a year of dating, we went to NYC and picked out a diamond (very exciting!) and had it sent to be set. When it arrived at my home in Nashville a few weeks later, he made it official by asking for my hand in marriage. It was simple and lovely.

Where was your wedding and did you have a theme?

We were married in a chapel in Miami where I attended church as a child.

My childhood minister, who had retired, was allowed to come back and marry us and he graciously allowed my husband’s uncle, who is a minister of the same denomination, to take a main role in the ceremony too.

Part of our service was in English and our vows were in Spanish. My husband — who spoke only a little Spanish then — reached the end of the vows and let out a gasp at the same time my American, non-Cuban aunt started clapping from the pews.

It was a light-hearted, tender and memorable moment.

Our reception was at the Venetian Pool in Coral Gables, a beautiful, historic pool built in 1923.

I picked both of those places because they meant a lot to me. Also, I did not feel I had to over-adorn the chapel and the Venetian is so beautiful that all we did was show up and have a good time. We were on a budget and on a mission to stay fuss-free.

Despite our Nashville residence, we married in Miami because I have a huge family in South Florida and my husband has a small family and group of old friends in California, who flew in for the wedding.

The most memorable/wonderful part of your wedding day?

I followed the advice our laid-back photographer gave me: “On your wedding day, the only thing you need to worry about is getting married.”

I did not put any energy into worrying about flowers or food or details that day — nada. I got up, hung out with my best friends and family, got dressed and went off to get married.

My focus was on enjoying our day and knowing that everyone we loved would be there with us, cheering us on, and wishing us many happy years.

We had a blast, as did our guests who greatly enjoyed the maracas and guajiro hats we provided. I so treasure the photos of my grandparents, all of whom have passed on, wearing the guajiro hats and dancing with maracas.

Your best advice to someone preparing their wedding day?

Keep your eye on what is important — that you wed your partner in a ceremony that reflects who you really are before a congregation of people who love and adore you both. Nothing else is as important.

This spring we will celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary.

Carrie Ferguson Weir is a veteran journalist and freelance writer who hawks Spanish baby t-shirts and blogs at two Latin culture sites, Tiki Tiki Blog and Bilingual in the Boonies.

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Angélica Pérez-Litwin

Angélica is the creative force and publisher of New Latina. She is a licensed Clinical Psychologist in private practice, focusing on Latina women.

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