Belén Collado and Ricardo Diez’s wedding hashtag was #AlrededorDeLaLuna—the name of the Jules Verne novel that is special to the couple. “Richi’s grandfather had an extensive collection of Verne books, and he grew up reading the adventures,” she says. “I remember when I read Around the Moon because of Richi, and I fell in love with the novel.” At their reception, they gifted every guest a vintage Verne book at their seats with old, collected and personalized postcards from London.
The pair met when they were just seven years old, as scouts in Spain. They started dating in 2009, and he proposed nine years later in a helicopter, while flying over the highest peaks of the Swiss Alps. Once engaged, they chose to get married in La Sierra de Guadarrama near Madrid, where the couple used to live and where their families are.
Belén and Ricardo experienced love at first sight with their venue, La Estación, and found a lovely church in the same village, next to a river, for their early June ceremony. To help plan and design everything, they hired Cristina & Co.
For her wedding dress, the bride chose to wear a custom dress by Argentinian designer Alejandra Svarc. Belén brought a mood-board to her studio with abstract images to reference, and Alejandra started sketching options. To pair with her sleek, silk crepe gown, Alejandra also created a warm-weather-friendly cape with long sleeves that were more appropriate for the religious ceremony and a long silk gauze train.
The bride’s grandmother’s earrings, her family’s white gold pieces, a diamond necklace gifted to her by her fiancés family, and bespoke hair pieces by Suma Cruz completed the ensemble. And on the day-of, Marieta Hairstyle created a specific braid, dubbed as the “Trenza Luna,” for Belén, while Mercedes Couceiro perfected her makeup look.
In Belén’s family, flowers are special, so the bride knew her sister, María, was the perfect person to craft her wedding bouquet. “I just told her I wanted to have peonies and ranunculus—my favorite flowers—and she designed the best bouquet I had ever dreamed of!” Belén exclaims. Since María designed her sister’s florals, she even started her own company, Eme Artisan.
On June 1st, 2019, at Virgen de La Adrada church, Ricardo waited for his bride in a bespoke Hackett London suit with Captain America cufflinks that he also gifted to all of his groomsmen and a Seiko watch, gifted to him by Belén’s parents. Once the bride reached the altar, just outside of the church, Ricardo’s cousin and Jesuit priest, Juanjo, officiated the ceremony, just as he had done for the groom’s other cousins.
After being announced as a married couple, everyone headed to the reception venue, where they were greeted by Cuban music group, Son Cremita. Dinner was held inside and lit up with a romantic design by Luces de Cuento, and typical local dishes like suckling pig and judiones de la granja were cooked by Artigot Catering.
The newlyweds had their first dance to “Fly Me to the Moon,” which is a special song for Belén’s father, and then guests joined in on the dance floor with the band and DJ from High Volume Event. Around midnight, churros and chocolate gave people a sugar kick to keep their energy up, which worked marvelously because the night didn’t end until 6:00 a.m.—the sign of an epic wedding day!
