Why British couples choose Mojácar for their wedding

In September the whole of Mojácar was talking about one wedding. Emily Atack, the British actress many of you know from The Inbetweeners, celebrated her marriage to Alistair Garner here, in the old white village on the hill, with almost 200 guests.

Why Mojácar? Because she spent her childhood holidays here. Her family had a summer home in the town, and that place stayed with her.

I wasn’t involved in her wedding. But when I read about it, I smiled. Because that’s exactly the story I hear from so many British couples who are thinking about getting married in Mojácar.

Two weddings, one story

Emily and Alistair did something that almost every couple from the UK does when they get married in Spain. According to the reports, they first married in a small ceremony in Bedfordshire, in August. Three weeks later came the big celebration in Mojácar, with family and friends, in the courtyard of the old church.

That’s not a celebrity quirk. It’s simply how it works. A Spanish civil wedding is only possible if at least one of you is legally resident in Spain. So most couples do the legal part at a register office at home, small and quick, often just with two witnesses. And then they celebrate properly here, with everyone they love.

On the day, nobody can tell the difference. And most couples end up celebrating the Spain date as their anniversary. I’ve explained the legal side for UK couples step by step on my page Wedding in Almería, Cabo de Gata, Mojácar & Vera.

Why Mojácar feels like home to so many Brits

Mojácar has been a favourite with British holidaymakers for decades. Many of you came here as kids, with buckets and spades on Mojácar Playa. Your parents had a flat in Vera or Garrucha. Or you’ve been coming back every summer since your twenties.

So when couples tell me “we want to get married where we were happy as children”, Mojácar comes up again and again. And I understand why:

• Your guests know it, or they’ll love it straight away. A wedding here feels like a holiday, not a duty.
• There’s a bed for every budget. From simple apartments to four-star hotels, in Mojácar and in Vera, a quarter of an hour north.
• It’s easy to get here. Almería airport is about an hour away, Murcia about an hour and a half, and Alicante, with flights from almost every UK airport all year, about two and a half hours.
• The weather is on your side. Around 3,000 hours of sunshine a year and only about 25 rainy days. We plan weddings all year round, except in August, when it’s simply too hot.

What a wedding in Mojácar can look like

Not every couple wants 200 guests and a closed-off village square. That’s the nice thing about this corner of Spain: there’s a place for every kind of wedding.

In the sand. My white beach bar on the promenade of Mojácar Playa is made for this: ceremony with your feet in the sand, dinner on the terraces above the waves, for 30 to 150 guests. Everyone walks back to their hotel, nobody needs to drive. Here’s the beach bar.

In the hills. Above Mojácar there’s a finca with whitewashed walls, arches and a view all the way to the horizon. Gabby and Sam from England got married there this summer, with eight bridesmaids, a live band and dancing until the morning. Read their wedding.

A little further south. If you’d rather have quiet, hidden coves and nature, the Cabo de Gata natural park starts about 35 minutes from Mojácar. Most of my venues are there, from fincas above Agua Amarga to cortijos by the sea.

What it costs, and how planning from the UK works

You don’t need to fly over to plan. We meet online, share one planning document and talk on WhatsApp. If you’d like to see venues before you decide, I’ll show you round.

Most of our weddings start at around €18,000 to €22,000 all-in, depending on guest count, venue and your wishes. My planning starts at €4,950. And I plan everything in English, from the first call to the last dance.

Everything else you might want to know, from airports and driving times to the weather in your month, is on my page Wedding in Almería, Cabo de Gata, Mojácar & Vera.

Mojácar is calling?

If you read about Emily’s wedding and thought “that’s our place too”, then write to me. Tell me your date and roughly how many guests, and I’ll tell you honestly what’s possible.

Sources on Emily Atack’s wedding: Euro Weekly News, LBC. Ambrosia Wedding was not involved in planning this wedding.

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