Real wedding

Erika and Cem: from Ecuador and Turkey to a wedding in Madrid

We photographed Erika and Cem's portraits in September and their wedding in October, from the civil ceremony to the dance floor late at night, with guests from 20 countries.

From Ecuador and Turkey to Madrid

Erika is from Ecuador and Cem is from Turkey. Each of them moved to Madrid. This is the city where they met and fell in love.

They married here on Saturday 24 October 2026, with 80 to 90 guests from 20 countries. By the end of the night everyone was on the same dance floor.

The civil ceremony

The day began with the civil ceremony. Erika and Cem did not walk in alone. They came in with their guests, exchanged rings and signed the register.

Outside the registry office, musicians in costume were already waiting. They played for Erika and Cem under a pergola and everyone raised a glass of champagne.

Erika and Cem walking in to the civil ceremony with their guests behind them

Erika and Cem after the signing with the bouquet raised in the air

Cem taking a ring from the ring box while Erika smiles at the civil ceremony

Musicians in costume playing guitars for Erika and Cem outside the registry office

Erika signing the marriage register at the civil ceremony

Erika and Cem raising their champagne glasses under a pergola

Portraits before the wedding

We had met Erika and Cem a month earlier, in September, to make their portraits. They came in the same outfits they would wear to the civil ceremony in October, so the portraits and the ceremony photos belong together.

We photographed them in Campo del Moro with the Royal Palace behind them and in another park in Madrid. Erika's mother is in one of the portraits too, kissing her daughter's hands.

Erika and Cem embracing by a fountain in Campo del Moro with the Royal Palace behind them

Erika's mother kissing her daughter's hands, black and white

Cem lifting Erika in Campo del Moro with the Royal Palace behind them

Cem kissing Erika on the temple under the trees

Erika smiling over her shoulder in the gardens of Campo del Moro, Madrid

Erika and Cem embracing under a tree with silver leaves

Grupotel Mayorazgo

From there the day moved to Grupotel Mayorazgo, a hotel on Calle Flor Baja right beside Gran Vía. We took Erika and Cem all over the hotel for portraits: up on the rooftop terrace, along the corridors and down the staircases.

Erika and Cem laughing and showing their rings on the hotel rooftop

Erika sitting on the rooftop terrace with red roses and her long veil spread out

Erika and Cem kissing on the rooftop terrace in Madrid

Black and white: Erika and Cem sitting on the hotel stairs holding hands

Erika and Cem walking along the rooftop terrace with their arms raised

Cem holding Erika's face as she leans back laughing in a hotel corridor

The reception

The reception opened with white cloth napkins. The guests waved them in the air as Erika and Cem came in and the two of them danced their way into the room.

The speeches came next, microphone in hand. Then the cake, cut with a sword. After that, the first dance.

Black and white: Erika and Cem coming into the banquet hall with their arms raised

Black and white: the first dance of Erika and Cem with their guests around them

Guests waving white cloth napkins in the air as Erika and Cem come in

Black and white: Erika laughing at the microphone during the speeches as Cem raises his arm

Erika and Cem dancing hand in hand into the banquet hall

Erika and Cem cutting the white wedding cake with a sword

Twenty countries, one dance floor

The music came from both sides, Turkish songs and Ecuadorian songs. Guests from 20 countries danced to all of it together. Nobody stayed in their own corner. Heart shaped sunglasses on, light up wands in hand, everyone on the same floor.

Cem dancing in heart shaped sunglasses with a glass in his hand

Friends hugging Cem on the dance floor while he wears heart shaped sunglasses

A full dance floor with everyone's hands in the air

Guests dancing on the floor in heart shaped sunglasses

Erika dancing in sunglasses among the guests on the dance floor

Erika and Cem dancing late in the party, both in heart shaped sunglasses

Erika and Cem dancing together, Cem in heart shaped sunglasses

Erika with both arms up on the dance floor in heart shaped sunglasses

Next step

Planning a wedding in Madrid?

We are a couple of photographers based in Madrid. Tarık looks after couples in Turkish, Srđana in Croatian, Serbian and Bosnian. English works with either of us. You will find our wedding packages on the wedding page and you can write to us through the contact page in any of those languages.

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