Finca Castillo Monteviejo, El Molar:the light of a castle with a garden

Finca Castillo Monteviejo, in El Molar, is one of those places that does half the work: a French-inspired castle surrounded by some ten thousand square metres of gardens. The other half is knowing at what hour and from where to behold it.

The light, hour by hour

The long half hour before sunset gives the images that end up framed: the sun is low enough for light to arrive from the side rather than from above, and in a garden of this size that changes everything. The difficulty is that this window moves by almost two hours between May and October, and the wedding timetable is fixed months ahead.

Find your date and subtract twenty minutes: that is the moment to be able to slip away from the cocktail hour. Twenty minutes of that light are worth more than two hours at midday. From September, good light arrives before eight and ends early; cocktail and session overlap, and this must be agreed beforehand with the caterer.

The spaces of the house

• The bride's room: what the estate is proudest of. Preparations in window light bear no comparison with those in a hotel; the earlier they begin, the better the light.
• The Salón de las Flores: the large indoor space, with controlled light; here the clock matters less and one's own lighting more.
• The Carpa del Sauce: where the night ends. A marquee at night is photographed by whatever light has been installed, so it helps to know the decoration's lighting before the day.
• The gardens: ten thousand metres, where the table above applies.

How to plan the day

• Respect the rhythm of service: the estate works to its own beat and the banquet should not be interrupted.
• Arrive with time in hand: about forty kilometres from Madrid along the A-1, and the unforeseen on a wedding day is traffic, not cameras.
• One consistent colour approach across photography and film, so the whole has a single voice.

If you want a religious ceremony in a castle

Some couples want a Catholic ceremony and also to marry somewhere that is not a church. The Code of Canon Law allows it, with nuances:

• A marriage between Catholics is, as a rule, celebrated in a parish church. With the licence of the local Ordinary or the parish priest it may be held in another church or oratory.
• To celebrate it in another suitable place, such as a garden or an estate, it is the local Ordinary who may permit it (canon 1118, paragraph 2).
• If one party is Catholic and the other is not baptised, the marriage may be held in a church or in another suitable place (paragraph 3).

The local Ordinary is, in practice, the authority of the diocese where the place stands (the bishop and those he designates). If this route interests you, tell the estate in the very first conversation, because the permission depends on the diocese and not on the venue.

The file, with months in hand

The Archdiocese of Madrid recommends leaving a margin of at least three months before the wedding for the pre-marriage course, the documents and the details of the ceremony. According to its information page, it asks for, among other documents, the baptism certificate (valid for six months), the pre-marriage course certificate and two witnesses. Each diocese has its own procedure: ask the one the estate belongs to.

And if the ceremony is civil

The civil route requires a prior file, with an appointment at the Civil Registry or with a notary, attended by both partners and two adult witnesses. The birth certificate must be less than a year old, and residence documents expire after three months. The wedding can be held at any Registry, town hall or notary's office, at the couple's choice. If the ceremony is officiated at the estate, ask who officiates and whether the town council allows it.

Accommodation

Monteviejo has no accommodation of its own. If guests must stay overnight, consider estates that do offer it.

The estate in brief

• Where: El Molar, Madrid, about 40 km along the A-1.
• Spaces: Salón de las Flores, Carpa del Sauce, the bride's room and 10,000 m² of gardens.