Bolivia situation guide
The reception is where the wedding's Spanish really happens
The ceremony is done, they said their yes, plain and simple ("dijeron que sí"), and the reception is where the celebration truly unfolds. This chapter teaches the warm, secular language of that night: greeting your guests, giving or receiving the first toast, thanking your padrinos publicly by name and role, joining the cake-cutting and the first dance, and shouting "¡que vivan los novios!" together with the room. None of this touches the ceremony's religious content, that stays firmly outside the app's scope. Thanking a padrino by name (like tío Marco, your padrino de anillos) is an expected, meaningful moment, not just etiquette, and joining the room's call-and-response cheer, even once, is full participation. The next day, a short, simple thank-you message to the guest group ("gracias por venir, significa muchísimo para nosotros") closes the celebration warmly.
Essential vocabulary
- el brindis: the toast The reception's first big shared moment, the whole room raises a glass together.
- brindar por: to toast to (someone) The verb behind "brindemos por los novios", the reception's classic opening line.
- el padrino / la madrina: the padrino / madrina The honorary role you thank publicly, by name, during the toast.
- acompañar: to accompany / be there for The verb for thanking guests and padrinos for being present on the day.
- la torta: the (wedding) cake The shared cake-cutting moment, one of the reception's expected rituals.
- bailar: to dance The first dance and the whole night of dancing that follows it.
- significar: to mean / to matter The key verb in thank-yous like "significa muchísimo para nosotros".
Bolivian Spanish terms
- los novios: the newlyweds (kept as "novios" all evening) Many receptions keep calling the couple "los novios" all night, even though they're technically married already, it's warmth, not a mistake.
- dale: okay / go ahead A common, all-purpose informal word, used to welcome a relative to speak or to say yes to one more song.
- nomás: just / only (softener) Softens an instruction warmly, as in "siéntense nomás", very Bolivian, very common at a party.
Useful phrases
- Brindemos por los novios.: Let's toast to the newlyweds. The classic opener for the reception's first toast.
- Gracias, tío Marco, por ser nuestro padrino de anillos.: Thank you, tío Marco, for being our padrino de anillos. Thanking a padrino publicly, by name and role, during the toast.
- ¡Que vivan los novios!: Long live the newlyweds! The room's call-and-response cheer, joining in reads as full participation.
- Esta noche la vamos a bailar toda.: Tonight we're dancing the whole night. Announcing or joining the first dance and the night of dancing that follows.
- Gracias por venir, significa muchísimo para nosotros.: Thanks for coming, it means so much to us. Thanking guests, whether in person as they leave or in the next-day message.
- Dijeron que sí.: They said yes. The complete, generic way to describe the ceremony without any religious detail.
Learn this in the app
Weddings, Padrinos and Compadrazgo in Bolivia, Spanish