Mary Keegan and Marc Berenguer met while attending Flagler College in Florida—they were next-door neighbors. “I remember he had a karaoke party one night at his apartment with friends, and my roommates and I ended up crashing it,” Mary says. “He serenaded us with Enrique Iglesias, and I think it was game over for me.”
They had a quick connection, but she soon after left to study abroad in his native country of Spain. They ended up staying in touch, and she stayed for the summer as an au pair to his cousins. “I fell in love with his family too!” she says. After five years together, he proposed in Central Park, while it was snowing, on a surprise trip to New York.
The summer before their wedding, Mary toured several venues in Barcelona. “Since weddings last typically for more than 12 hours in Spain, I needed a place that was convenient to transport our guests but also a place that was special to us both,” she explains. They decided on Can Magi, a masia in Marc’s hometown of Sant Cugat, 20 minutes outside of Barcelona.
On May 15th, 2019, the two legally wed in a tiny courthouse wedding with their immediate families, for visa reasons. Their larger September 6th celebration was organized by Marc and his parents, and they chose the Monastery of Sant Cugat, founded in the ninth century, for the church ceremony.
To celebrate her union with Marc, Mary was torn between wearing something classic or romantic, so she went with both! For the rehearsal dinner, she wore a satin camisole with matching pants from Cami NYC, statement Tory Burch earrings, and Le Specs. On her wedding day, she looked beautifully bridal in a beaded, tulle BHLDN gown, and for the reception, she changed into a high-low Oscar de la Renta design. “I had planned to wear Marc’s grandmother’s beautiful diamond earrings, but we had trouble actually getting them into my ears, since they were so antique,” the bride explains. “About one hour before the wedding with no earrings, I found a pair of 10 euro stud earrings and ended up wearing those. We can all laugh about it now!”
The groom looked handsome in a Toni Barceló ensemble with Montblanc cufflinks that Mary gifted to him as a wedding day present. The wedding party, made up of the couple’s siblings, wore sparkly, pastel ASOS dresses and Toni Barcló suits. “I gifted them Swarovski crystal teardrop earrings in different colors and personalized hand-painted jewelry dishes for their earrings from The Printed Press,” the bride says. “I also bought my parents hand-embroidered handkerchiefs, which brought tears to their eyes!”
On the day-of, Marc and his mother greeted guests at the entrance to the monastery. Then, Mary and her father arrived in a light-blue Bentley Continental—Marc’s uncle collects vintage cars and loaned them one. They walked down the aisle to an organ playing, and the bride met her groom at the altar for their ceremony in English, Spanish, and Catalan.
After saying, “I do,” everyone walked down a red carpet to the outdoor, three-hour Apertivo at Can Magi. “We had jamon Serrano, cheeses, risotto, gazpacho, paella—just about every type of Spanish appetizer you could imagine,” Mary says. Dinner started at 10:00 p.m. indoors. “I love the Spanish tradition of eating late, as it gave us more time to speak with our loved ones and mingle with guests who traveled so far to be with us.”
During the meal, Marc’s uncles, aunts, and cousins surprised everyone with a song they had written for the newlyweds, called “Familia Para Siempre” or “Family Forever,” in English. “They threw Marc and me on their shoulders, put a Peineta—Spanish comb—in my hair, gave our guests scarves, and the lyrics, and we all sang along and danced!” Mary says. “If I had to describe this part of the night, it would be My Big Fat Greek Wedding but the Spanish version!”
After dessert, the pair snuck off to the old wine cellar to begin their first dance to Grace Vanderwall’s “Beautiful Thing.” “They put our song on, moved the curtains back, and blasted fog around us while we danced,” the bride says. Everyone quickly got up to inspect what was going on and were delighted to see them dancing. The party then didn’t stop until around 4:30 a.m.
“We had two bus options, 2:00 a.m. and 4:30 a.m., and to our surprise, we had the majority of our family and friends stay until the very end,” Mary says. “Our favorite part was the last song. We blasted a live extended version of ‘Hey Jude,’ and we all sang in a circle and ended the night in a giant hug! Even through the language barrier, everyone became family by the end of the night.” The new Mr. and Mrs. made it back to their suite in time for the sunrise at 6:30 a.m.
