A Wedding in Mexico

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October 25, 2025

A Wedding in Mexico

In mid-October my husband Miguel and I traveled to Mexico for a week to take part in his sister’s wedding. The trip began in Monterrey, with the wedding in Mérida, and finally a couple days to ourselves in Cancun. There was a lot of flying, a lot of driving, a lot of eating, and a lot of celebrating. There was also a lot of sun, a lot of heat, and a lot of crazy rain! The entire trip was a whirl and a blast. There’s simply too much for me to recount here, lest I spend the next eight hours hunched over this keyboard. So, I’ll keep it moving.

After arriving in Mérida, there were a couple days of outings for the entire family. This was no small feat. There were chartered vans and private dinners, a personalized tour of underground caverns and Mayan ruins, and dinners out and lunch at the beach. Miguel’s family made me feel so welcome. I wasn’t worried about feeling like I was on the outside looking in, but as a pasty white American attending a Mexican wedding, I knew I would stand out. Any feeling of uncertainty quickly evaporated as I was welcomed wholeheartedly as part of the family. I’ll be eternally grateful for this.

The wedding itself took place in a large Catholic church in Mérida. I’ve attended church weddings in the US before, and they tended to drag a bit. Maybe it’s because I was raised Catholic and the mass was always so familiar. But Miguel’s sister’s wedding was quite different in many ways. The rituals were new to me, the language was different of course, even the order of events was educational. It was exciting to be welcomed and to participate in something so personal and meaningful to Miguel’s sister and their family.

Near the end of the trip, Miguel and I said our farewells to everyone and drove from Mérida to Cancun. We spent two days there, lounging in swimming pools while our brains unwound. Alas, two days weren’t enough for us. While we wished we could’ve stayed longer, this modern world of work and duty called us back to San Francisco all too soon.

Much of this trip was new to me, particularly Mérida, and it was also the first time I felt personally pressed—and excited—to speak Spanish. I took Spanish classes in high school in the 80s, but that was a long time ago, and the way the language was taught back then just wasn’t conducive to real conversation. I’ve been doing my best to learn again for the past couple of years, and while I understood most of what was being said during the trip, being able to participate remained a challenge. I’m now committed to learning more and faster, so I can better communicate with all the amazing people I met.

I don’t know when Miguel and I will head back to Mexico, but we’re hoping it’s sooner rather than later. Every time I’ve gone I’ve enjoyed myself thoroughly, and I feel I’ve found a new home away from home with his family.