Weddings in the 60s

September 2024

Weddings were a very important religious and social event, especially for the bride and groom and their families. With this union, the continuity of the house, which at that time was a priority, was ensured and the members of the family increased. Up to four generations could live together, grandparents, parents, children and grandchildren and sometimes even an uncle. At first, newlyweds were often called "the young people", or "young man/woman from so-and-so" For both parties, the fact that one of them had to leave his house could mean a total change of life.

Weddings were also important for the rest of the town, apart from consolidating the houses and their maintenance by fixing the population, children would also come to help fill the school, to run and play screaming in the street, because a town without children on the street is a sad town with no future.

In the middle of the last century there were many weddings, around twenty, in which the bride and groom were from Radiquero. There were many others of women who came down from the mountain, especially to Los Meleses. There was a man there who, the afternoon before a wedding, sang "Little town of Los Meleses, you can cheer up at this time of tomorrow one more mountaineer" and "I broke the fire", meaning that he had been the first to get the woman from the mountain. Ladies from Las Bellostas, Pueyo de Morcat, Arcusa, Barcabo, Almazorre, Lecina, Betorz, Las Almunias came down....

The young men invited by the groom went up to the wedding in the Lascorz or Nasarre de Adahuesca truck on benches that they put in the box. There were no buses or cars. I saw the first car and the first tractor that arrived to Radiquero.

An important thing for the bride was her jobar (trousseau) that she showed with enthusiasm to her friends, it consisted of the household linen that she brought to the husband's house, bedding sets, sheets, bedspreads, towels, tablecloths, some embroidered with care by herself and in most cases by her mother who for years had been preparing them for when the day came. She showed also the gifts that had been given to them.

On the day of the wedding at the indicated time a party, preceded by the groom on the arm of his godmother and all his guests who had previously come there, went out from the groom's house, to pick up the bride at his house, where his guests were also waiting. From there, in front the bride on the arm of her godfather, behind the groom with his godmother, and then, all the others together went to the Church where the priest was waiting. The bride was accompanied by two girls dressed in white who carried a tray with the wedding rings and a cake of arras that at the end of the ceremony was distributed among those attending mass. The celebrations were always for the Church; the civil weddings had not yet arrived.

A very peculiar curiosity was that the rest of the town that had not been invited, especially the women, came to the square to "see the bride". She usually wore white, but on occasion he could wear black (if the house was in mourning that lasted two years).

Once the ceremony was over and after the signature of the witnesses, when bride and groom went out to the door began the noise of the bomblets (1) that the young men exploded and the rain of sugared almonds that they threw at the couple. We, children, ran like crazy to catch them from the ground until we filled our pockets. We didn't have many treats then. Now rice is thrown away.

Then came the congratulations and hugs and then the banquet that was usually held at the bride's house. An assistant was sought to help in the kitchen. The menus used to be simple, broth, hors d'oeuvres and mainly roast or stewed meat. Sometimes if there were many guests man had to borrow crockery and chairs from a neighbour. There was no habitude to celebrate in restaurants and there were no means to move to them.

Usually the party ended with dancing that could be attended by those who had not been invited and they were entertained with wedding cake and coffee.

And the next day the bride and groom start their honeymoon and the rest try to digest the hangover from the excesses, especially of drinking. Some finished the party earlier than they wanted and ended up sleeping in the haystack.

Another comment that was made in later days was that, if there had been a lot of noise from bomblets and sugared almonds, the wedding had been of a rich house.

May this account serve to remind us that the content of this story has been the construction of our lives and not forget that thanks to it in one way or another we have come this far.

1-Bomblet: Rustic firecracker composed of gunpowder and flint fragments that explodes on impact

The photos are from stock and do not correspond to the place and time. There were no photographers at the weddings of the 60s in Guara.

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