If Baz Luhrman and Pedro Almodóvar were to plan a wedding, it would be that of Dominic and Marcos. Leaving to one side the obvious fact of the directors and couple being from Spain and Australia, we can focus on a wedding that was the perfect amalgam of tradition and originality, familiarity and theatricality, and yes… Spanish and Australian zest for life.

When last we spent time with the couple, they were newly engaged in the Christmas-y and cozy vibes of Marcos’s home in northern Spain. One and a half years later, the two tied the knot in the summery and sumptuous vibes of a palace in Asturias.

“Being engaged for 1-and-a-half-years, made for a long wedding planning process, but we were able to make every vision we had for it reality,” Marcos explained. Their wedding could be described as a crossroads. One of two men becoming one couple, but also of many cultures combining for one extraordinarily memorable day of celebrating love, theirs for each other, and above all, theirs for their family and friends. As Marcos described: “We did not want the whole day about us.”

And while the day decidedly was not all about them, the planning was! “We had a very clear vision for a romantic and rustic experience. Starting with a super romantic wedding, we wanted it to go in crescendo to a really great party at night,” Marcos explained. “It all really started from two plants,” Dominic shared. “The olive represented Lebanon where my father is from, and south of Spain where Marco’s mom is from. The second was the eucalyptus as it represents Asturias and Sydney. And we built from there. We wanted it all to be very natural and organic. Everything—food, materials, traditions—were all sourced in Asturias.”

But where they built to, was a full-on Moulin Rouge themed dance party! “We really pushed out what it means to have a wedding in Spain, but also bringing together so many traditions from Spain, Australia and Lebanon,” Dominic continued. “Everyone was so excited to make this wedding real for us,” Marcos said.

And that wedding was a 118-person event at Palacio de La Riega in Gijón, Spain.

When the day came, Marcos “was the calmest [I’d] been the entire year.” Marcos said of the morning of their big day. “I was expecting the tables to be turned, but I was with my best friend and family, laughing non-stop from 6 that morning.”

Meanwhile, Dominic was having his own comedic experience with his Aussie relatives who wanted to keep to tradition of the grooms not seeing each other before the wedding once everyone was gathered at the venue. This is not a tradition in Spain, so it was amusing for the grooms to be in their own version of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.”

Marcos remarked on how the excitement built over the day. “First Dominic’s family arrived, then other guests did, next I was seeing the flowers go in… each of these moments of seeing our wedding come together became a key experience of the day.” Dominic added, “It was a great build-up!”

Another crossroads was when Dom’s English-speaking family met Marcos’s Spanish-speaking family. “With a whole lot of love, all of our relatives used Google Translate to become the best of friends,” Dominic exclaimed. “It worked so well.”

No app was needed to appreciate the beauty of Dominic and Marcos being escorted down the aisle by their mothers. And no feeling could measure up to that of these two feeling the love of all of their gathered friends and family as they stood side-by-side to become husbands.

Their ceremony was bilingual. “We found the only bilingual celebrant in Asturias and he was so great giving everyone a sense of our story, why and how we got to the altar, and what the future will hold for us. This was especially remarkable in that they only met him once, online, and met for the first time in person on the day of the ceremony!” Marcos noted.

Another moment of cultures coming together was for the Spanish lot, who were not familiar with the idea of Dominic and Marcos exchanging their own vows, in addition to having friends give readings in both English and Spanish.

When asked what their feeling was standing at the altar, Marcos said: “Oh shit! This is real! When you’re so immersed in the planning, and focused on the day arriving, you’re suddenly hit with everyone you love looking at you, and what a beautiful feeling that is.” Though the two had legally wed a few weeks prior, this moment still made them feel more connected.

“It is so cheesy, but I never thought I could feel more connected to Marcos until I so publicly declared my commitment in front of everyone you love. It is a strong life milestone,” Dominic said. “And, by contrast, it was so warm that day, I could also just feel the sweat running down my back,” Dominic added laughing.

As gay weddings often do, they also widen the perspective on what love is for those present. “To have my 84-year old grandfather there who had never met a gay person in his life, being so supportive, seeing everything be so ‘normal,’ offering what felt like even more love, was very special,” Marcos explained. Same went for the feeling from some of his straight Spanish friends. “They didn’t know what to expect, what to expect from us. But everyone was literally full-on for everything we wanted them to experience, especially our love for each other.”

When we set aside social or religious norms for universal ones, like love and partnership, the world does become one, crossroads become circles that hold us all.

A room full of Aussies and Spaniards are inevitably going to have an amazing time. “We had one hell of a reception. It was the gift that kept on giving,” Dominic explained. Starting with the food. The venue’s chef just happened to be a Michelin-starred chef and named Spain’s Best Chef for two years running. “We had a 2-hour cocktail, followed by a 3-course lunch, that gave everyone a real sense of home-cooked, Asturian food,” Marcos explained. “We wanted almost a Viking feast feeling… long tables, everyone communing, laughing and enjoying really honest food.”

But then there’s nothing like, ‘spicing up’ a reception with Marcos and Dominic entering the reception to the Spice Girls’ “Spice Up Your Life!” “Throughout we wanted surprising moments,” Dominic explained, “and this was a mini-eruption, mini-party, where everyone was just dancing with us as we danced among all the tables! Everyone loved it because it was really us. And it was the best 3-and-a-half minutes of our lives.”

For Marcos, “though walking with my mom down the aisle and seeing everyone, was the best moment for me, I have to say the moment the reception turned into our Moulin Rouge experience—lights turning red, smoke and fire outside, face glitter and crystal stations, making a costume change and entrance to Lebanese music and dancers—with everyone screaming out their lungs, was pretty fabulous. It was like Ibiza or an adult Disneyland!”

And differently fabulous was the midnight meal of… McDonalds cheeseburgers and chicken nuggets presented on silver trays. “People were appreciative of having something to soak up an afternoon’s worth of alcohol,” Dominic explained. Really, who doesn’t love a cheeseburger after a 13-hour wedding day!?

As the two reflected on the day, Dominic highlighted how amazing it was to see how deeply people connected, despite language differences, age differences. “From the 1-year-old to Marcos’s 80-year-old granddad, everyone had a great time letting go and being together.” And, even at 13-hours, Marcos noted, as so many before him, how fast the day went by. “I kept saying ‘take me back, take me back,’ I want to do it all over again… and maybe started even earlier and added breakfast!” Asked why they thought the day went by so fast, their answer was simple: “everyone was just high on love.”

Immediately following the wedding, the two hosted many guests who were traveling through London. “We went through the wedding over and over, again, with everyone passing through,” Dominic explained. But Marcos clarified, “I did want for the day to be the day. I almost was scared reliving it too much! The beauty of the day was having it and moving on.”

And moving on included a quick honeymoon to Greece, Crete and… of course, Ibiza!

Looking back, the two wanted the day to go on and on and went so far as to advise, “get married in the morning so you have a whole day to enjoy!” Or, as Marcos said, “maybe get married in India so you can have a 3-day wedding!”  

The two jokingly said they were already looking forward for their 10th anniversary party and bringing everyone back together, again. “Or better yet, our 5th!”