Like every bride-to-be during the pandemic, former Univision San Antonio anchor Mariana Veraza had her dream wedding postponed.
An engagement in May 2019 was supposed to end with a wedding on October 17, 2020 in Queretaro, Mexico. Then the pandemic hit.
“It was around June of last year when we realized that having our wedding in October would probably not be the best idea since COVID cases kept rising and things were looking very bad. We then decided to move it to June 12, 2021,” she tells MySA. “We were able to travel to Queretaro during Spring Break of this year to look at our venue, do our food tasting, and check out details. It was then when we realized that our June 12 wedding would have to get postponed again due to the limitations that were set at the Hacienda. COVID cases in Mexico kept rising and it did not seem likely that a vaccine would be available to everyone by then.”
They decided to move the wedding in Mexico to March 12, 2022.
The new date would be more than two years after their original date. Although the couple knew it was for the best, they were still sad about the delay. But there would soon be light at the end of the tunnel.
They spoke with a friend who suggested asking Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller for a special blessing this summer so they could at least be officially married.
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The Archbishop agreed and the couple wed on June 19.
“We were lucky that amid all the frustration and roller coaster of emotions that came with having to change plans so many times we were able to find great joy in being able to have this special ceremony,” she said.
The couple planned everything in less than a month with the help of family and friends.
But for Veraza, now a public information officer for Harlandale Independent School District, the most significant part of the wedding was what she was wearing.
Mariana, her husband and grandmother.
Courtesy Mariana Veraza
“I was able to wear my grandmother’s wedding dress which was also worn by mom on her wedding day. This was extremely special to me because my grandmother passed away about a week before Gerardo and I got engaged back in 2019,” she said. “My grandma was my everything! She was and still is one of the most positive influences I have ever had.”
Veraza said back in March of 2019 when her grandmother started to get pretty sick and they knew she wouldn’t be around much longer, Veraza’s fiancee Gerardo knew how important it was for her that my grandmother be present at their wedding. Although they weren’t engaged yet, Gerado knew he was going to marry her, so he made a small intimate blessing possible which included her grandmother.
“He took me to see my grandmother at the nursing home she was staying at in Mexico City and he planned a small intimate blessing just between us and her so that she could be present since we didn’t know if she would be alive for our big day. I have to say that it was one of the most special days of my life and I will forever be grateful and thankful to Gerardo for planning such a special intimate ceremony. I am so glad he did because she passed away less than 2 months later.”
“I knew that it would be the most amazing wedding because I was certain that she would be right there with me,” she said.
Veraza says Grace from Gautier dresses helped alter the 80-year-old dress, that required extra care.
On the morning of her wedding, Veraza noticed a white heart stitched inside her dress.
“It said “Siempre Contigo Pelancha” (that was my grandmothers name) stitched with blue letters,” she said. “It was a very special moment and I can’t thank Grace and her team enough for making the dress even more special.”
She says she felt her grandmother’s presence the entire day.
“Having lived that ceremony and wearing her wedding dress this past weekend I know that she was present every second of the day. Gerardo and I even danced the same song that her and my grandpa danced on their wedding day,” she says.
The couple became friends when they were children in Mexico City, but they lost touch when Veraza moved to the U.S. with her parents when she was 10 years old. They reconnected as teenagers.
A throwback photo of the couple.
Courtesy Mariana Veraza
“I like to say it was love at first sight…we talked a lot that day and we exchanged MSN messenger names on a paper plate,” she said.
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After dating briefly in high school, the couple went their separate ways after Veraza graduated high school and moved to Miami for a semester.
“We went our separate ways for more than nine years. We both grew up, matured and are thankful for the journeys that we both lived while we were apart,” she said. “We both truly believe that we had to live those separate journeys, meet the people that we met whom we will forever be grateful to in order to be where we are at now.”The couple began dating again the summer of 2018 and were engaged a year later.
“We are firm believers that we were each other’s destiny and that what is meant to be will always find a way.”
Mariana and her husband Gerado made a stop at Costco after their wedding.
Mariana Veraza
And they found a way to enjoy their favorite slice on their big day.
Gerardo, a huge Costco fan, always makes it a point to stop at the wholesale giant, whenever they travel. Selfies are a must. Veraza even planned a surprise birthday party for him once inside the UTSA Costco food court for his 31st birthday.
So after saying “I do,” the couple stopped by Costco and had a pepperoni pizza (Veraza’s favorite) and took a few pictures, of course.
“We even had a few people ask us to take selfies with them.”
Mariana and her husband with Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller.
Courtesy Mariana Veraza
