Inside the Andalusian Wedding Where a Bullfighting Arena and Dancing Horses Made for a Weekend-Long Party

“I fully hate weddings,” says Laila Gohar, playing the lighthearted contrarian, “but I love a good party.” That impulse to skirt convention in favor of an eye-opening experience comes as little surprise to anyone familiar with the Cairo native’s work, which puts her at the intersection of chef, artist, and high-concept event designer. Spending time with her interactive installations might involve trimming off ribbons of handmade fruit leather (Mini at Salone del Mobile), snacking on pastrami at a facsimile Katz’s Deli (Art Basel Miami Beach), or discovering that the granite slab on the table is in fact charcoal-infused butter (Comme des Garçons). So when she and Omar Sosa, the Barcelona-born graphic designer and art director of Apartamento magazine, brainstormed wedding particulars, the conversation quickly took on an air of fantasy-made-real. The setting would be the south of Spain in high summer, and Omar half-proposed renting a bullfighting ring before dismissing the idea as a lark. “I was like, ‘What? Watch me,’” Laila recalls over breakfast at the couple’s cozy apartment in Manhattan. Within days, she’d tracked down a savvy local producer, laid out the vision, and voilà, the second-oldest arena in Spain was theirs. For a song. And that was just the welcome dinner.