Episodio 68: Wedding Tales (Cuentos de boda)

Duolingo English for Spanish Speakers Podcast

Durante años, Catherine Fiehn Lestrange trabajó como fotógrafa de bodas, generalmente en iglesias y salones de fiestas.

Pero en 2016, se enteró de que algunas personas se casaban en el Empire State Building, uno de los edificios más famosos de la ciudad de Nueva York: ¡un lugar en el que las parejas sueñan con celebrar su boda!

You can only get married on top of the Empire State Building on Valentine’s Day.

They don’t allow weddings at any other time.

A lot of people want to get married there, so they have a contest every year.

You have to write a short essay about your relationship, and they choose 14 couples to have weddings at the Empire State Building.

Catherine estaba intrigada.

¡No como fotógrafa, sino como novia! Ella y su novio de la universidad, Eric, se habían reencontrado después de casi treinta años.

Se acababan de comprometer y estaban empezando a planear su boda.

Eric and I both love New York City, so we thought getting married on top of the Empire State Building was an amazing opportunity! We also had an interesting love story, but I didn’t think we were going to win the contest.

I decided to try anyway, and a few months later, we got the news: We won the contest! But we only had a few weeks before the big day, and I was worried that I didn’t have time to plan everything.

I wondered if it was actually possible.

Welcome, les damos la bienvenida a “Relatos en inglés”, un podcast de Duolingo.

Soy Diana Gameros.

En cada episodio podrás practicar inglés a tu propio ritmo, escuchando historias reales y fascinantes, contadas por las personas que las vivieron.

Hoy tenemos dos historias de bodas en Estados Unidos a través de las personas que las hacen realidad: una fotógrafa de bodas que tuvo su propia boda inolvidable y un cantante que asegura que todos se divierten después de la ceremonia.

En cada boda, hay ciertos momentos que Catherine siempre captura con su cámara, como la primera mirada de los novios o el intercambio de votos.

Todas estas tradiciones se convierten en preciosas fotos que son colocadas en álbumes y compartidas a través de las generaciones.

When you take photos at a wedding, you have to pay attention to everything that’s happening because the important moments only happen once.

I’ve worked as a photographer at weddings for many years, and I know exactly when to take photos.

Every wedding in the US is different, but most of them have similar traditions.

Muy a menudo la noche antes de las bodas estadounidenses hay un ensayo, o rehearsal, para practicar la ceremonia.

Y en 1994, Catherine tuvo un ensayo así con toda su familia y con las damas y caballeros de honor, o bridesmaids and groomsmen.

My first husband and I decided to get married in a church.

On the night before the wedding, we had a rehearsal.

That was when we practiced the ceremony with our bridesmaids and groomsmen.

Then we all ate dinner together afterwards, and the next day was our wedding.

El día de su boda, después de la ceremonia, Catherine y su marido tuvieron una recepción por la noche, donde el padrino, o best man, brindó por los novios.

After the ceremony in the church, we had a big party with all of our friends and family.

There were around 100 guests! We had dinner together and there was a speech by the best man.

We also hired a DJ who sang songs by Elvis, and we danced all evening.

It was a beautiful wedding.

Pero, desafortunadamente, la relación no funcionó y en el año 2006 la pareja se divorció.

Unos años después, Catherine tuvo una segunda oportunidad en el amor.

En 2014, le envió un mensaje de feliz cumpleaños a Eric, su ex-novio de la universidad.

Él le respondió, decidieron ir a cenar y ponerse al día.

When we were saying goodbye, Eric touched my arm.

That’s when something changed! I suddenly remembered how I used to feel about him, and I realized he was the only person for me.

We started dating, and soon, Eric asked me to marry him.

We got engaged in September 2016 in New York City.

But, we decided to wait a few years to get married because we wanted to save money.

Tradicionalmente, en Estados Unidos, las bodas son grandes eventos.

Pueden ser costosas y generalmente las parejas se toman meses, incluso años, para planearlas.

Esto se debe a que lleva tiempo encontrar el salón, o venue, el florista y el banquete, o caterer.

You usually have to reserve things like a venue and a caterer a long time before your wedding.

And for big weddings, with more than 100 people, people usually hire a DJ or a band.

Making all these decisions can be really stressful.

Planning a wedding is a lot of work!

En su trabajo como fotógrafa de bodas, Catherine veía a menudo a las novias estresadas por la planificación de la boda y no quería esa presión o ansiedad para ella.

Ella sabía que esta segunda vez quería una boda muy especial, pero no tradicional.

Then I heard about the contest at the Empire State Building.

So, I decided to send them my story.

And they picked us! We couldn’t believe it! Eric and I talked about it a lot and finally decided that yes, we were going to have our wedding there! We live nearby, in the state of Connecticut, and we both love New York City.

But then, we realized that we only had a few weeks to plan everything! We decided we weren’t going to worry about small details.

We knew our wedding wasn’t going to be traditional, but that was OK.

Para Catherine, algo tradicional que no podía faltar era el vestido de novia.

Y quería incluir la historia de su familia en su vestido.

I always dreamed of wearing my grandmother’s wedding dress from 1929 because a bride wearing a family dress is a beautiful tradition in the United States.

But I didn’t have enough time to repair it.

So, I took some of the silk flowers off of my grandmother’s dress and wore them in my hair.

It was so special to have part of my family history in my wedding.

Luego tuvieron que decidir la lista de los invitados.

Catherine y Eric solo podían invitar a cuatro personas a su ceremonia porque había poco espacio.

Eric and I decided to invite only our close family, including our children and our grandson.

In the end, we were happy to have a small wedding because it was less stressful.

The rest of our family understood that it wasn’t a traditional wedding so they weren’t upset that we didn’t invite them.

Después de unas pocas semanas, por fin llegó el día de la boda.

When it was finally our turn, we rode the elevator to the 86th floor.

It was a cold but sunny February day, and it was really bright at the top.

There, they had a sign that was gold and it said “The Empire State Building”.

There was a red carpet in front of the altar.

That’s where our wedding ceremony was going to happen.

Eric and our children walked in front of me, and then someone opened the door for me, and I walked to the altar.

I was so happy to marry Eric.

He’s the perfect person for me.

Después de la ceremonia, Catherine y Eric se sentían literalmente en las nubes.

Para celebrar, en lugar de una recepción tradicional, fueron a un restaurante famoso en Manhattan para comer con sus invitados.

Después, tomaron un taxi a Times Square.

Había otra tradición nupcial que Catherine no quería perderse: el lanzamiento del ramo, o bouquet toss.

A common wedding tradition in the U.S.

is the bouquet toss.

It’s when the bride brings all of her single female family members together and then she throws her bouquet of flowers into the crowd.

People believe that the person who catches the flowers will get married next.

So, we went to Times Square, I turned around, and I threw my bouquet over my head.

And my daughter caught it! A lot of people on the street cheered and clapped.

It was a very special moment for me.

Al final, la boda de Catherine y Eric fue única, exactamente como Catherine deseaba.

Ella necesitaba una boda distinta y sin estrés, después de una carrera trabajando en el mismo ámbito.

I’ve worked at a lot of weddings, so I didn’t think that anything could surprise me on my own wedding day.

But marrying Eric on the 86th floor of the Empire State Building was so surprising.

The wedding was very unique, but that didn’t matter to us.

It was perfect, and it was exactly what we wanted.

Al igual que Catherine, Kenneth Holmes trabaja en bodas… ¡desde los catorce años! Pero él no es fotógrafo sino que es músico, aunque en los escenarios nadie le dice Kenneth: todos lo conocen como Kenney.

When I was in high school, my band was the most popular band at my school.

When some of my older classmates got married, they asked us to play at the wedding.

We had no idea what we were doing, but we had a great time.

It wasn’t until many years later that I became an expert on how to perform at weddings.

A finales de los años ochenta, Kenney tenía alrededor de treinta años y vivía en Washington D.C.

Durante el día alternaba su trabajo entre un negocio de limusinas y un estudio de sonido.

Por la noche tocaba la guitarra y cantaba.

During those years, I had a lot of different jobs.

I was self-employed and I owned my own businesses, I also had an active musical career.

Five nights a week, I performed at nightclubs and also wrote a lot of music during that time.

Una noche, después de uno de sus shows, dos hombres que estaban entre el público se acercaron y le hicieron una pregunta.

The two men asked how much money I made playing in nightclubs each week.

I was honest and I told them.

Then they asked me if I wanted to make that much money in just one night.

They explained that they had a company, and they were looking for a band to play at weddings and private events.

I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea, but I decided to say yes and see what happened.

That’s how I started playing music at weddings.

Este fue su primer trabajo como cantante profesional en una boda.

Y aunque sabía cómo entretener a la gente, rápidamente se dio cuenta de que tenía mucho que aprender sobre las bodas.

Para empezar, algunas comunidades tienen tradiciones y costumbres específicas, como las familias estadounidenses de tradición judía.

I was going to perform at a lot of Jewish weddings, so I asked if I needed to do anything differently for Jewish traditions.

They said that I didn’t need to change anything about my performance.

But I wanted to respect their culture, so I decided to learn everything I could about Jewish wedding traditions.

Entonces Kenney se puso a estudiar estas costumbres.

Buscó en el diccionario palabras como chuppah, que es un manto sostenido por cuatro palos que cubre a los novios durante la ceremonia.

I asked questions about things I wasn’t sure about, like how to pronounce the words chuppah and challah, which is the bread that the bride and groom share at the altar.

I learned how to sing in Yiddish, which is the language that some Jewish people speak.

I even knew how to play traditional Jewish songs.

Kenney se hizo experto en las tradiciones de esta cultura y gracias a esto, comenzó a tener mucho éxito.

My band became really popular, and suddenly, more than 50 couples a year wanted us to play at their weddings, mostly in the Jewish community.

Some of these couples were very important people.

They paid a lot of money for our services, and it could be a little stressful to perform because we wanted everything to be perfect.

Además de la banda, Kenney se perfeccionó en otro aspecto y se convirtió en un verdadero maestro de ceremonias.

Era el encargado de hacer todos los anuncios, o announcements, de lo que sucedía en la boda, como la entrada de los novios o el rezo antes de comer.

When I perform at a wedding, I’m really busy.

That’s because part of my job is to do all the announcements to let everybody at the wedding know what’s happening.

So, I have to talk to the wedding planner, the caterer, and the band to make sure that everything is organized.

A pesar de su esfuerzo, no todas las bodas salieron como esperaba.

Una vez en una boda al principio de su carrera, Kenney estaba actuando como presentador.

Vestido con su clásico ​​esmoquin negro, anunció por el micrófono que era el momento del baile entre los padres de la novia y fue a acompañarlos hasta la pista del baile.

I brought the parents of the bride to the dance floor and they started dancing with each other.

But at the end of the night, I found out they were getting divorced and they didn’t want to be anywhere near each other.

They definitely didn’t want to dance together.

No one told me, so I had no idea! I felt terrible for making them dance! I never wanted that to happen again!

Después de eso Kenney decidió crear un cuestionario, o questionnaire, para que todos los novios completaran antes de la boda y así evitar este tipo de problemas.

With my wedding questionnaire, I invited the couples to my home and we had dinner together while we talked about their plans for their wedding.

They told me about religious traditions and their favorite songs.

And I learned to always ask about family drama!

Cuando finalmente llegaba el día de la boda, Kenney y su banda solían ser los primeros en llegar a la recepción para montar el escenario.

Él quería que todo saliera perfecto.

In 2012, I performed at a wedding at the Cosmos Club, which is a very exclusive venue in Washington D.C.

The father of the bride had a very important job, and I was a little stressed about the wedding.

Everyone was very serious, but I knew that I needed to get them to dance!

Después de la cena y el corte del pastel, comenzó la música.

Kenney y su banda empezaron con unas canciones que animaron a la gente a salir a la pista a bailar.

After we started playing, only a few people were dancing.

I wanted the crowd to get excited, so I grabbed the microphone and walked onto the dance floor.

I started singing and got the audience to clap their hands.

I wanted everybody to pay attention to me and come to the dance floor.

And it worked! Soon, everyone was dancing!

Ya con todo el mundo bailando, Kenney y su banda mantuvieron la energía alta, tocando canciones conocidas por todos.

Ellos no pararon hasta que terminó la fiesta y tuvieron que decirles a los invitados que se fueran a su casa.

Everyone was having such a good time, and nobody wanted to go home! My band ended up staying very late at the wedding.

But I didn’t mind.

I loved making people happy on one of the most important days of their lives.

A lo largo de los años, Kenney tuvo muy buenas relaciones con sus clientes, como el caso de una familia que disfrutó tanto de su música que lo contrataron para tocar en las bodas de sus tres hijos.

Todavía tiene contacto con algunas parejas con las que tocó en sus bodas.

Sometimes couples contact me on social media and say, “you played at my wedding 24 years ago!” And they remember me! That is the best feeling.

I was the guy who helped them relax and have fun on their big day.

And I’m so proud of that.

Kenneth Holmes es un empresario y cantante de bodas que vive en el estado de Maryland, cerca de Washington D.C.

Tiene 69 años y todavía sigue tocando música en conciertos, clubes, eventos y bodas.

En nuestra primera historia escuchamos a Catherine Fiehn LeStrange, quien es una fotógrafa especializada en bodas, modelos y concursos de belleza.

Catherine y Eric viven en Connecticut y celebraron su sexto aniversario en Febrero 2023.

Este episodio fue producido por Gabriela Saldivia, una periodista y profesora en Sevilla, España.

Este es el último episodio de esta temporada, pero volveremos pronto con más historias reales.

Los productores han sido Samia Bouzid, Maya Kroth, Gabriela Saldivia, Laura Tillman, Sam Walker, Stephanie Wolf y Caro Rolando, quien es también nuestra asistente de producción.

El diseño sonoro y la edición de audio estuvo a cargo de Iván Cabrera, Mauricio Mendoza y Daniel Murcia.

Supervisor de Diseño de Sonido, Mezcla y Masterización: David De Luca.

Nuestros editores han sido Grant Fuller y Laura Isensee.

Nuestro gerente de producción es Román Frontini y el coordinador de producción es Nicolás Sosa.

El gerente editorial es David Alandete y la directora ejecutiva es Martina Castro.

Yo soy Diana Gameros.

Thank you for listening!