The Wedding
The wedding of Princess Kalina of Bulgaria and Kitín Muñoz was called the wedding of the year in Bulgaria. The family decided Borovets was the most suitable place for a garden party in the event of good weather as well as for the 400 guest indoor reception. The couple previously considered three different sites where Saxe-Coburg recovered inherited real estate after coming back from his Spanish exile. The Tsarska Bistritsa residence in Borovets was only given back to the royal family one week before the wedding and was constructed by King Ferdinand of Bulgaria, Kalina's great-grandfather, in 1914. The wedding also was first scheduled for the end of September in Sofia but this coincided with the wedding of Spanish Prime Minister Aznar's daughter in Spain. October 26 is celebrated by Orthodox christians as the day of Saint Dimitur. The young couple chose Bulgaria as the place for their wedding ceremony, because both of them love our country and thus greater advertisement could be made to attract more tourists.
Princess Kalina and Kitín Muñoz arrived in Bulgaria several days before the wedding and stayed at the Vrana residence. Most guests from Spain arrived with a charter flight on Friday, October 25th. Some 200 guests in total came from abroad and were accomodated at the Rila Hotel and some other hotels in the winter resort of Borovets.
To avoid the paparazzi and journalistic interest the religious ceremony was held at the residence itself. As early as 10 o’clock, the guests of the wedding started to come. Former King Simeon, now Prime Minister of Bulgaria, in person came out in front of the entrance of the royal residence of Tsarska Bistritsa to greet the Samokov choir, which welcomed the wedding guests with traditional Bulgarian songs. About 10 pavillions, representing Bulgarian culture with authentic souvenirs (arts, crafts, carpet-weaving, pottery and jewelry) were at the guests’ disposal. The guests were able to buy souvenirs. The religious ceremony itself began at noon in a marquee, provided by a friend of the bride and groom, in the yard of the Tsarska Bistritsa residence and lasted half an hour.
As Princess Kalina and Kitín Muñoz both are Roman Catholic, the wedding was conducted by Monsignor Georgi Yovchev, Bishop of the Plovdiv-Sofia diocese. Ten people witnessed the wedding, including Kalina's uncle Don Jose Luis Gomez Acebo Marques de Valcabro. King Simeon II took his daughter Kalina to the altar in the tent richly decorated with flowers and candles. The bride wore a cream-coloured two-piece wedding dress with jacket with embroiders and bands and white sandals and a belt that was similar to that which normally adorns the Bulgarian national dress, as well as a dropped veil. The dress was of Bulgarian design and made by local tailors and was inspired by Bulgarian folk costumes. Kalina and Kitín swore an oath of eternal faithfulness with 'Si' (yes). The ritual included prayers and congratulations read in Bulgarian and the Choir of the St Ludwig Catholic Cathedral in Plovdiv sang. The Bishop's assistant fainted from the high temperature in the marquee. Both Kalina and her parents shed some tears during the ceremony. After the exchanging of the wedding rings and the unveiling of the heavily veiled bride - with help of King Simeon II, bride and groom were able to touch each other for the first time on their wedding day.
Afterwards bride and groom, family and guests, headed for the Blagovestenie (or Preobrazhenie?) Gospodne Church (Holy Transfiguration Eastern Orthodox Church) where three Orthodox priests blessed the newly-wed couple. According to the Bulgarian tradition bride and groom were welcomed with bread and salt. Citizens were freely admitted to this part of the wedding. Princess Kalina gave her bouquet, flower by flower, to the many people in front of the church who sang Bulgarian folk songs.
In the second marquee in the yard of the Tsarska Bistritsa residence the official lunch took place. The menu opened with a snifter of rayika/rakia (Bulgarian schnapps), followed by Shopska salad and moussaka with Samokov potatoes as main course, and finished with Kalina and Kitín's favourite blueberry pancakes. Danail Danailov, chef and owner of the Plovdiv-based Kambana restaurant, took care of the menu. Princess Kalina even decided to give up the wedding cake for her favourite pancakes. The guests drank white and red Bulgarian wines. During the lunch King Simeon II said: "I’m happy to be back in Bulgaria." In Spanish, English and other languages he expressed his admiration of Bulgaria’s beauty. He was loudly applauded by the guests. Folklore bands and performers from various regions of the country as well as a gypsy orchestra were invited to play during the wedding lunch. During the lunch the Bulgarian government presented bride and groom with a more than one-meter high icon-holder, decorated in Jerusalem. After the lunch the foreign guests told journalists that they liked the food a lot. On their way out, all foreign guests received traditional Bulgarian souvenirs as presents by the young family.
After lunch the official pictures with family and guests were taken. For about fifteen minutes they posed before the photographers and bride and groom, with the bride's parens gave interviews to the journalists. After the official pictures were taken the guests left to prepare for the evening reception, which took place in the Rila hotel in Borovets. On the day after the wedding, all guests were able to see the royal residence in Tsarska Bistritsa and its surroundings and were able to get acquainted with Bulgaria as a tourist destination.