Pepa Ortega holds a degree in law and business administration and management, she studied part of her degree in New York and Munich, and once finished, she went to work in Dubai for three years, in the commercial sector.
Shortly after returning to her native Gran Canaria, they contacted her to be manager of one of the main shopping centers in Lanzarote, where she worked for eight years until she decided to start her own business.
It has just launched Magic Chapel, a project for couples who want to celebrate their love, among which stand out “ceremonies for renewing vows and LGTBI weddings, in an intimate and special way, but without large economic outlays. In the same space, the ceremony and the celebration are held.”
“When I was a girl, in my family we were many cousins and we had two weddings per year. They were incredible parties, so that type of event has always been inside me”, shares Ortega.
He was inspired by an initiative he discovered through networks in Australia: “I told myself, wow, this can work outside of Las Vegas” and at the same time he discovers the hermitage of Marina Rubicón, which was conceived as part of an ideal reproduction of a fishing village in the Canary Islands, “so it was never consecrated, it used to be an art gallery”.
Ceremonies for all pockets: between 2,000 and 25,000 euros
Ortega, who has contracted with Marina Rubicón for the exclusivity of the hermitage for the next five years, adapts to each client and depending on the number of guests, the food, whether or not it includes an open bar, and other elements, the celebrations can range between 2,000 and 25,000 euros.
The Gran Canaria entrepreneur has designed four guiding packs ‘Burning love’, Every sheep with its partner, The Festival of Love and The Great Yes.
The first includes “the ceremony, the master of ceremonies and the commemorative certificate with up to 90 guests”, while the second, includes “an open bar of hot dogs and beer for up to 30 people and between three and four hours in duration”.
‘The Love Party’ provides “a catering from Primario Gastrobar, our official supplier, which is next to the hermitage, with fingerfood (canapés), six hours, open bar and dj” and ‘The Great Yes’ is with “banquet, seated, up to a maximum of fifty people and a maximum of eight hours”.
Ortega clarifies that the ceremonies at Magic Chapel are symbolic celebrations where love is celebrated, but if the contracting parties want to formalize the marriage they have to make the official registration.
Elvis, Rapel, pet dress and vintage cake
Additionally there are five very special extras. Two of them have to do with the master of ceremonies: “The Elvis Presley extra is with an impersonator who sings some songs and marries you”, shares Ortega.
The extra of Rapel “is with the authentic Rapel, I contacted him and it was wonderful, I proposed that he do a love ritual and he was delighted”.
The third of the extras that Pepa Ortega has designed has to do with pets. “We can dress your dog, who is also part of the family”.
“Another very American extra is personalizing the car, where the bride and groom come and put just married, with cans and ribbons”. You can also order “a retro cake, which we would manage through Sol Vega's bakery, who is the best”.
Celebrate people in their farewell
The Canarian entrepreneur also organizes funerals, from which she also learned a lot in her childhood, in collaboration with Funeraria Arroyo.
“When my grandmother died, we held her wake at her house, telling anecdotes, with all the children running around the house, a proper farewell, they stopped traffic in Santa Brígida and my cousins and aunts carried my grandmother in procession to the cemetery”.
“When I grow up, goodbyes are in gray and impersonal funeral homes, which was also a motivation to create an intimate and special space in Magic Chapel,” shares Ortega, who exemplifies: “You can hire a ham carver, a parranda, a gospel, etc”.
“The idea is that people can say goodbye, remembering that person and toasting to that person because as some Eastern spiritualities say, when a person dies, the soul is close for three days and they say that if you cry for that person, you are trapping that soul on earth, so the ideal is to celebrate them so that they go to the next dimension, I love that theory”.
An aesthetic cared for in every detail
Ortega has carefully attended to every aesthetic detail in the hermitage. The construction, that is, “the structures, the painting, the swan and so on, are by the set designer Ángel Marvera”.
The interior design project is by Adrián Suárez, winner in 2024, of the Lola Gaos award as best art director for the film ‘Valenciana’.
“The mural, which is a fresco of clouds with a sun and an angel, is the work of Edward Scott Winser and the choice of the furniture, by Pablo Baldi”, completes Ortega.