Sleeves From Grandma's Pillow: Lupe Married in Seville in a Wedding Dress Her Sister Designed From Old Family Fabrics

Hardly a house in the Balkans lacks a grandmother with a wardrobe full of embroidered pillows and bedspreads that nobody is allowed to use. Lupe, Guadalupe Herreros de Tejada from Seville, took them out of the wardrobe. Her wedding dress was designed by her older sister Ana Herreros de Tejada, founder of AHT Studio - from the fabrics of their late grandmother: an old bedspread and an embroidered pillow of silk organza, from which the sleeves were made.

The dress had long sleeves, an A-line silhouette, a square neckline, a light, almost airy skirt and a fitted bustier-style bodice, with a detachable four-metre silk train. Lupe says she gave her sister complete creative trust. A week before the wedding Ana joked that there might not be enough fabric for the train - at that moment it was stressful, the bride admits, but the result was excellent.

The dress was practical too. For the party Ana removed the sleeves and the overskirt, leaving Lupe in a crepe skirt, free to dance. The tiara was made from their grandmother's bracelet, mounted on a base - a tiara her sister had also worn at her own wedding. The earrings were her mother's, the veil was silk organza, and the shoes - white heels from Zara, from that season.

The bouquet, lush, in burgundy and green tones, with mini pomegranates, was made by the florist El Recreo Flores - the pomegranates were the idea of florist Api, who also did the table centrepieces and the decoration at the entrance. The make-up was natural, with burgundy lips, and the hair - a low bun with a centre parting, so the tiara could be seen.

Lupe and Sergio García Menéndez, originally from Pamplona, met four years ago in London, where they were both working, through a group of Spanish friends. After almost three years together, he proposed on December 28, 2024, at the Beret car park in the Baqueira ski resort. The wedding took place on November 29, 2025 in Seville: the ceremony in the chapel of Nuestra Señora del Rosario, and the lunch in the bullring of the Real Maestranza de Caballería. The party continued at La Galería ABC. They organised everything remotely, from Madrid, with help from her mother and sister.

The invitations, menus, seating plan and guest book, with hand-drawn illustrations, were a gift from their friend Nora. Among the moments Lupe singles out are the dance with her father, the bouquet she handed to the mothers and her sister, and her nine-year-old nephew Patricio, who did the first reading. The horse-drawn carriage ride, she admits candidly, felt a bit touristy.

Her advice for future brides is level-headed: trust the people you hire, say out loud what you don't like, and don't weigh yourself down with little things the guests won't even notice. At a time when weddings are measured by the number of guests and the price of the venue, this dress is a reminder that the most precious thing at a wedding is sometimes what's sitting in grandma's wardrobe.