No request is too big and no intricate detail is too small when it comes to the "Big Day." But why do we get married the way we do? World Wide Wed explores the customs and traditions that define weddings around the globe — and shows how today's multi-cultural couples are making their ceremonies uniquely their own.
In our third episode of World Wide Wed, we're heading to Mexico's San Miguel de Allende for the marriage of law school sweethearts, Sara and Keith. While the newlyweds are from cultures located on opposite sides of the world, they're throwing an exuberant, colour-splashed ceremony that blends her Mexican heritage to his Filipino roots. The common thread in their nuptials? Catholicism — and, above all, Sara and Keith's investment in giving its age-old traditions a modern, intersectional update.
"What was really special to us was to be able to do a ceremony that was distinctly ours and really embodied how we felt about our culture, about our family, about our friends, and what we believed in," Sara explains. "For me, religion is the experience that you have when you are part of a larger community." And for this boundary-breaking couple, that means bending ancient cultural customs to embrace friends and family of every background. Don't miss their jubilant callejoneada — a classic pre-wedding procession (complete with tequila shots, mariachi music, and a ceremonial donkey, of course) where life-like bride and groom puppets, or mojigangas, dance down San Miguel de Allende's iconic cobbled streets.
Press play above to catch every moment of Sara and Keith's exquisitely modern marriage ceremony, which combines their heritages into one vibrantly cross-cultural extravaganza.