Saludos!
You’ve probably already taken down your Christmas ornaments and hauled off or packed up your tree (no judgment if you haven’t!). But Navidad is still going strong in Puerto Rico!
Did you know that Puerto Rico boasts the longest Christmas season in the world? Navidad isn’t just a holiday, it’s truly a season. Decorations start in early October and stay up until Valentine’s Day. November excitement leads to parties and celebrations all December. And Three Kings’ Day in January is traditionally when gifts are left; kids leave out grass for the camels (and sometimes some rum-based moonshine for the kings!). Towns and villages open their streets and homes to festivals, music, and parties, and old and young alike fill the streets and town plazas. For more than three months, our island and her people are all about the celebration.
Our extended holiday season is a source of pride here on the island. No matter where life has you this January, we wanted to share a bit from the extended holiday season here in Puerto Rico.
We are fortunate to have fantastic team members and a supportive community. A few times a year (and always during Navidad), we invite our team and community to enjoy the beautiful space at Hacienda222 as our guests. These are a few of the photos they captured.
There’s a tradition in Puerto Rico that during Navidad, anyone can show up at a home and they’ll be welcomed with delicious food. Year-round, our weddings and events feature authentic Puerto Rican cuisine like slow-roasted pernil (pork shoulder) and arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas). For our own community Navidad party, we celebrated with a delicious paella, plenty of our signature artisanal passionfruit rum punch, and, for entertainment, an amazing duo playing traditional Puerto Rican Christmas songs.
One of Puerto Rico’s most vibrant and longest-standing holiday traditions is the parranda (pronounced pah-rrahn-dah). Puerto Rico’s answer to Christmas caroling, parrandas gather neighbors and friends together with traditional instruments like the guiro (a hollowed-out gourd played with a fork) for a night of singing and dancing. Traditionally, parranda groups traveled from house to house all during the night, finishing with freshly stewed asapao (Puerto Rico’s national soup) enjoyed by all in the wee hours of the morning.
And of course, we can’t send a version of The Latest without sharing a little bit from our recent weddings. We were fortunate to end 2023 and begin 2024 with happy couples renewing their vows.
Korey & Philip, pictured with their lovely kids, celebrated 20 years together and thirteen years of marriage in a sweet vow renewal ceremony at The Ruins of Aguadilla. A group of local musicians happened to be visiting The Ruins that day, and the singers surprised the couple with an impromptu serenade for their first dance. Puerto Rico is filled with many such magic moments during Navidad, usually involving music and dancing.
“I’m so thankful that we were able to do this and your service was perfect…Thank you again for the amazing experience! Our family will remember this forever.”
-Korey & Philip
Jaquetta & Kodjo were married ten years ago in the only tropical rainforest in the US national forest system, El Yunque, located in Eastern Puerto Rico. They chose to renew their vows on the west side of the island at the stunning Puerto Hermina beach. It was a gorgeous ceremony and a wonderful way to kick off 2024!
We look forward to many more beautiful weddings and vow renewals in 2024. If you’d like help with your own event planning, please get in touch with us. We’d love to help!
Best,
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PR Destination Weddings was amazing to work with! After cancelling 3 times due to the pandemic, we decided to celebrate with a destination elopement instead. Their team made planning super easy and was available via text & email, which was super convenient. They helped take care of all the necessary paperwork and made the process super easy and stress free- which was much needed and appreciated during this crazy time! The ceremony written for us was stunning, and written as if they had known us for years. Our photos are breathtaking and I am so happy we added the videography package to relive our day for years to come. We highly recommend PR Destination Weddings!
Nicole & Mitchell