What are las arras in a wedding?

All wedding traditions

Las arras are thirteen coins the groom gives the bride during a Mexican, Spanish or Latin American wedding ceremony, usually just after the vows. He pours them from his hands into hers, and often she pours them back, and the exchange is a promise about how the two of them will handle everything they own from that day on.

What the thirteen coins mean

The most common reading is that the thirteen coins stand for Christ and the twelve apostles, which is where the number comes from in the Catholic tradition the ceremony grew out of. Another reading, just as widely held, is that they represent the twelve months of the year plus one to give away - a reminder that a household should always have something left over for someone who has less.

What the coins are not is a payment. The older interpretation, in which a groom demonstrated he could provide, has largely given way to a mutual one: the coins pass both ways, because both people are responsible for what they build. Many couples now make the return pour explicit for exactly that reason.

How the exchange happens

The arras are usually carried in a small chest or box, often by a child in the wedding party, and blessed by the officiant before the exchange. The groom takes the box, pours the coins into the bride's cupped hands, and in most modern ceremonies she pours them back into his. Some officiants say a line over each handful; others let the gesture carry it.

It takes perhaps a minute, and it happens close in - two pairs of hands and a lot of small falling coins. That physical detail matters more than it sounds like it should, because it is the part that photographs well and the part that goes wrong if nobody planned for it.

Whose arras they are

The set is frequently a gift from the padrinos de arras, a couple chosen for the honour, and it is common for the coins to be kept afterwards and passed to the next couple in the family. Sets that have been through three or four marriages are ordinary rather than remarkable.

If you are buying new, arras sets are sold as a coin set with a box, and range from simple to elaborate. Some couples use family coins, coins from countries that matter to them, or coins minted in the year they met.

Planning it properly

A tradition only goes well if the people running your day know it is coming. These are the things to say out loud, and who to say them to.

Tell your officiant early: Las arras has to be written into the order of service, and it sits in a specific place - after the rings, usually before or alongside the lazo. An officiant who has not done one before needs the script.
Tell your photographer it is coming: It is a close, downward, hands-and-coins moment lasting under a minute. A photographer who knows it is next will be in position; one who does not will be shooting it from the back of the aisle.
Decide who holds the box: Someone has to carry the arras up and hand it over at the right moment. This is usually a child, and children need a rehearsal more than adults do.
Count them before the day: Thirteen. Coins go missing in transit, and nobody wants to discover that during the ceremony.

Common questions

What do the 13 coins in a wedding mean?

Las arras, the thirteen coins, are most often said to represent Christ and the twelve apostles. A second common interpretation is the twelve months of the year plus one to give to those in need. In both readings the exchange is a promise about how the couple will handle their resources together.

Who gives las arras?

The groom gives them to the bride during the ceremony, and in most modern versions she pours them back to him to mark that the responsibility is shared. The coin set itself is frequently a gift from the padrinos de arras, a couple chosen for that honour.

When in the ceremony does the arras exchange happen?

Usually after the vows and rings, often just before or alongside the lazo ceremony and the veil. Your officiant places it in the order of service, so tell them early if you want it included.