As interpreters, our ability to adapt is extremely high. It is true that our usual working environment is a soundproof booth at a congress, but sometimes we leave that booth to do other types of assignments, which are as rewarding or even more so than the conferences we are used to.
A few months ago, at Código Lingua we had the opportunity to interpret at a wedding in Valencia where the bride was Spanish and the groom was American. Both were clear that they wanted to have a professional interpreter at their big day so that the guests would not miss a word of the speeches, vows and interventions, as well as being able to communicate with other guests who did not speak their language.
We planned the wedding day months in advance, determining how the ceremony was going to be, the order of intervention of each participant and all the technical details so that nothing would go wrong (position of the interpreter in the ceremony, sound equipment…).
It was a beautiful ceremony, where the officiator, the groom’s best friend, addressed some words full of feeling to both of them. Then it was the turn of the bride and groom to read their vows. For the whole ceremony, we agreed that we would use consecutive interpretation, making interventions of one or two sentences at a time. The truth is that the result was excellent. Everything worked dynamically and fluently and all the attendees were able to understand absolutely everything that was said.
During the cocktail, the interpretation was in liaison mode for those guests who wished to meet the other family, in a more relaxed atmosphere.
Later, during the lunch, there were several speeches that were also interpreted in consecutive mode.
Conclusion? It was a wonderful assignment and several guests came up to thank the interpreter for facilitating communication on such an important day for the couple and their families.
The key to success was that the bride and groom understood that, on a day when you don’t want anything to go wrong, it is crucial to hire a professional interpreter, who will know how to convey not only the message, but also the tone, the intention and the feeling behind each word.