Wedding in the Basque region
Oct 29th, 2007, 07:43 PM
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Wedding in the Basque region
a report to help anyone who might be thinking of having a wedding or taking a trip in the San Sebastian area. It wasn't easy to plan but now that its all over, I can't recommend the area enough...either as a vacation destination or as a setting for a wedding.
Surprisingly, my trip/ ceremony and reception went off with very few problems, and thats thanks to all the wonderful people involved...I was truly overwhelmed by how warm, welcoming and helpful the local residents were. I don't speak much Spanish
and neither did the rest of my group, if that gives a clue to how great the residents were.
Like everyone else, Maribel's guides was my biggest source of info on the area and as everyone said, it is the single best source out there.
Hotels: I can't recommend the first hotel we stayed at enough-- the Hotel Saiaz Getaria. the owners, Michel and his wife, are a young couple who bent over backwards to help my group. Info on the region, driving instructions, restaurant tips and reservations-- they were enthusiastic and attentive to every question, no matter how complicated or small. On top of which, their hotel was wonderful,affordable and new. We stayed in rooms with a sea view , there was free wi-fi, and flat screen tv's. They made the best cafe con leches I've ever had.
We then stayed at the Parador and the Hotel Obispo, which were also lovely experiences. In San Sebastian, we deviated from the guide and stayed at the Hotel Silken Amara because all the other hotels in the guide were booked (not kidding). Although a it is business hotel not in the Parte Viejo, the Silken Amara was still fairly conveniently located with an extremely professi
Surprisingly, my trip/ ceremony and reception went off with very few problems, and thats thanks to all the wonderful people involved...I was truly overwhelmed by how warm, welcoming and helpful the local residents were. I don't speak much Spanish
and neither did the rest of my group, if that gives a clue to how great the residents were.
Like everyone else, Maribel's guides was my biggest source of info on the area and as everyone said, it is the single best source out there.
Hotels: I can't recommend the first hotel we stayed at enough-- the Hotel Saiaz Getaria. the owners, Michel and his wife, are a young couple who bent over backwards to help my group. Info on the region, driving instructions, restaurant tips and reservations-- they were enthusiastic and attentive to every question, no matter how complicated or small. On top of which, their hotel was wonderful,affordable and new. We stayed in rooms with a sea view , there was free wi-fi, and flat screen tv's. They made the best cafe con leches I've ever had.
We then stayed at the Parador and the Hotel Obispo, which were also lovely experiences. In San Sebastian, we deviated from the guide and stayed at the Hotel Silken Amara because all the other hotels in the guide were booked (not kidding). Although a it is business hotel not in the Parte Viejo, the Silken Amara was still fairly conveniently located with an extremely professi
Oct 29th, 2007, 08:12 PM
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(oops) professional staff. The rooms were clean and quiet.
Ceremony: I arranged my ceremony at the Parador in Hondarriba ( where the Obispo is too). If you are looking for a non religious place to host a ceremony, I think this should be high on the list. The manager, Nieves Yague and the reception head, Michel Martin, made the planning relatively painless. The pictures on the website don't do it justice!! A local florist, the Endanea, had an English speaking employee, and they did a fablous job with my limited budget. We did a champagne reception in the courtyard/ terrace after the ceremony, which the Parador arranged.
Reception: Held at Mugaritz restaurant. Once again, I have the highest of praises for Mugaritz and Susana, the personal secretary of Chef Andoni. I don't think I have the words to convey the care they took to make sure my reception dinner was perfect not only to execute my wishes, but other aspects I didn't dream was possible. The 8 course dinner they helped my construct was hands down the most creative meal I've ever had and one of the best tasting. Keep in mind I am from NYC and have had the privilege of eating at restaurants like Per Se, Jean Georges, etc. Chef Andoni deserves both his Michelin stars (and a third IMHO). If you are just visiting the area and can only afford one expensive meal, I urge you to choose Mugaritz.
Sorry this is really long. The last thing I should comment on, is the services of STI, http://www.stipaisvasco.com . If you need help for a group or random services, I can vouch that they deliever what they offer for a reasonable price. I booked a trip to Rioja, set up of a piano, a tapas tour, and a bus for transportation to Mugaritz through them.
If anyone needs help with vendors in this area, please let me know. I haven't mentioned my photographer (who was awesome) or the sound system people (also awesome), but I figure this is long enough! One day I will review some of the restaurants we went to....
Ceremony: I arranged my ceremony at the Parador in Hondarriba ( where the Obispo is too). If you are looking for a non religious place to host a ceremony, I think this should be high on the list. The manager, Nieves Yague and the reception head, Michel Martin, made the planning relatively painless. The pictures on the website don't do it justice!! A local florist, the Endanea, had an English speaking employee, and they did a fablous job with my limited budget. We did a champagne reception in the courtyard/ terrace after the ceremony, which the Parador arranged.
Reception: Held at Mugaritz restaurant. Once again, I have the highest of praises for Mugaritz and Susana, the personal secretary of Chef Andoni. I don't think I have the words to convey the care they took to make sure my reception dinner was perfect not only to execute my wishes, but other aspects I didn't dream was possible. The 8 course dinner they helped my construct was hands down the most creative meal I've ever had and one of the best tasting. Keep in mind I am from NYC and have had the privilege of eating at restaurants like Per Se, Jean Georges, etc. Chef Andoni deserves both his Michelin stars (and a third IMHO). If you are just visiting the area and can only afford one expensive meal, I urge you to choose Mugaritz.
Sorry this is really long. The last thing I should comment on, is the services of STI, http://www.stipaisvasco.com . If you need help for a group or random services, I can vouch that they deliever what they offer for a reasonable price. I booked a trip to Rioja, set up of a piano, a tapas tour, and a bus for transportation to Mugaritz through them.
If anyone needs help with vendors in this area, please let me know. I haven't mentioned my photographer (who was awesome) or the sound system people (also awesome), but I figure this is long enough! One day I will review some of the restaurants we went to....
Oct 30th, 2007, 02:49 AM
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Congratulations and thanks so much for posting! You have given us all some excellent tips, even if we do not plan to marry! (Who knows, though, right??) Seriously, I will look into the Getaria hotel and book at Mugaritz on my next trip tot he area which I hope will be in the not-to-distant future..(combined with a stop in Pedraza, of course) Do you think Getaria would make a good base for touring the region?
Oct 30th, 2007, 03:19 AM
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Getaria is a great little town, home of the first man that circumnavegated the globe (Juan Sebastián Elcano), with some ExCeLlEnT restaurants (Elkano), and very close to Zarautz (great beaches). IŽd stay in Zarautz, and you can walk to Getaria (a couple of miles).
Oct 31st, 2007, 07:59 PM
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can i post pictures on this site? if you go to my photographers blog, you can see some of the pictures from the Mugaritz
http://jstandley.bigfolioblog.com/
to answer mikelg, nope, i married a german! we had to do the wedding in europe for his family and i picked hondarribia/san sebastian because of what i had read about the food, and i wasn't disappointed.
we went outside of beach season, so getaria was a great base (if you have a car that is)...for the itinerary i planned, it was sort of in the center (bilbao, the biosphere reserve, the shrine of Gaztelugatxe, astigarra, hondarribia, san jean de luz, biarritz, san sebastian, rioja). if you go without renting a car, san sebastian or bilbao might be easier.
the drive on the coast of both sides of getaria was beautiful!
http://jstandley.bigfolioblog.com/
to answer mikelg, nope, i married a german! we had to do the wedding in europe for his family and i picked hondarribia/san sebastian because of what i had read about the food, and i wasn't disappointed.
we went outside of beach season, so getaria was a great base (if you have a car that is)...for the itinerary i planned, it was sort of in the center (bilbao, the biosphere reserve, the shrine of Gaztelugatxe, astigarra, hondarribia, san jean de luz, biarritz, san sebastian, rioja). if you go without renting a car, san sebastian or bilbao might be easier.
the drive on the coast of both sides of getaria was beautiful!
