Guide
El lazo, las arras, the padrinos and the tornaboda. What happens at a traditional Mexican wedding and what a photographer needs to be ready for.
- Last updated
- July 21, 2026
- Written by
- VowDeLune, Los Angeles
Short answer
A traditional Mexican wedding ceremony includes el lazo, a loop of rosary or cord placed around the couple in a figure eight to symbolize their union, and las arras, thirteen coins the groom gives the bride representing provision and trust. Padrinos, chosen sponsors, fund and present each element. The reception often runs past midnight and ends with a tornaboda, a late second gathering.
El lazo is a large rosary, cord or flower rope laid around both of the couple's shoulders in a figure eight after the vows. It stays on for a good portion of the ceremony, so it changes every frame that follows. Get a clean shot of it going on.
Las arras are thirteen gold coins, usually in a decorative box, passed from the groom to the bride. It is a small, close, quiet gesture in the middle of a large ceremony, and it needs a longer lens and a photographer who knows it is coming.
Padrinos and madrinas are chosen sponsors who each take responsibility for one element of the wedding: the lazo, the arras, the cake, the music. They are honoured during the ceremony and they are family, not vendors.
Ask for the padrino list before the day. They will want portraits with the couple and they are frequently forgotten in the formal shot list.
Many receptions include a late surge, sometimes with masks, hats and props handed out to guests. It is chaotic on purpose and it produces the best reception photographs of the night.
The tornaboda is a smaller second gathering after the main reception ends, often at a family home. If you are booked to a hard stop, you will miss it, so agree in advance whether it is covered.
El lazo is a rosary or cord placed around the couple's shoulders in a figure eight after their vows, symbolizing that they are bound together. It is usually placed by padrinos chosen by the family.
The thirteen coins, las arras, are given by the groom to the bride as a symbol of provision and mutual trust. They are commonly said to represent Christ and the twelve apostles.
The ceremony runs about an hour, but the celebration frequently continues past midnight and can be followed by a tornaboda, a smaller late gathering, the same night or the next day.
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