Júlia and Marc approached their wedding day like they do their work: start with a story, assemble the cast, build the set and leave enough space for something magical happen. “We never actually set out to have an ‘alternative’ or ‘untraditional’ wedding,” Júlia began, “we just kept asking ourselves, over and over again, ‘what feels most like us?’”

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the first play the couple directed together and still their favourite. Its mix of romance, comedy, performance and absurdity made it the perfect choice. They chose their date, June 20th, as close to the summer solstice as they could get. They even started referring to their guests as “the audience” and the decorations as “the set”.

“The wedding was held in countryside near Girona, Spain”, the bride explained. “Our ceremony took place in a Mediterranean forest beneath a giant handmade wooden sun inspired by Ari Aster’s Midsömmar, which we built ourselves. We were married by two drag queens who are among our closest friends.”

The ceremony began with Kika Superputa announcing that the wedding had been cancelled because Marc had run away. Marc then appeared tied up and gagged, exposing Kika’s scheme to destroy the wedding and keep a all the gifts! Fellow drag queen Tita Mari rose from the audience, challenged the plan and joined Kika to officiate.

“From there, things got a little more traditional”, Júlia said. “Marc walked in with his mum to Praise You by Fatboy Slim, and I walked in with my brother and nephews to Wildest Dreams by Taylor Swift. A few of our friends gave speeches and then came our vows. Marc had written his months before. I finished mine that very same morning.”

Much of the setting was been made with the help of couple’s creative community. A ceramicist friend produced every pot used for the ikebana arrangements. More than 25 friends gathered at the day before for an informal flower workshop, making baskets for the ceremony alongside the bud vases and table arrangements. “None of us had any previous experience, so it was mostly an excuse to spend the afternoon together, get our hands dirty and see what happened. Somehow, everything turned out much better than we expected.”

Instead of a traditional wedding cake, ten couples each brought their favourite homemade cake to share. The bride’s dress was designed by her sister-in-law and made by one of her closest friends. They also chose to have an entirely vegetarian wedding, and invited only the people who truly make up their community. “By the end it felt less like we’d hosted a wedding and more like we’d created a piece of theatre together. It was handmade, but above all, it was people-made.”

For the dinner entrance, the couple pulled on giant papier-mâché versions of their own heads. The props referenced capgrossos, the oversized figures found at traditional Catalan festivals, and transformed their arrival into a sort of surreal parade. Their theatre friends then continued the theme with an original adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream performed for the newlyweds. And before the night was over, there was one more surprise – the bride jumping out of a cake!

Their advice for other couples is unsurprisingly, all about utilising your own skills. “Trust yourselves, your taste, your ideas and the kind of wedding you actually want to have. Enjoy making things happen and enjoy each other along the way. It’s such a special day, and we honestly think it’s worth getting your hands a little dirty during the process to make it happen. For us, being involved in creating so many parts of the wedding made the whole thing even more meaningful.”