As the young couple were married in 1901, the priest in the Galician church did not think anything was amiss.
But unbeknownst to the church leader, both the bride and groom were female – and were married in the only same sex ceremony to ever take place in the Spanish Catholic Church.
Marcela Gracia Ibeas and Elisa Sánchez Loriga – who played the part of Mario for their wedding day – spent the rest of their lives dodging punishment from the authorities.
Marcela Gracia Ibeas (left) and Elisa Sánchez Loriga (right) were wed in the Spanish Catholic Church’s only same sex marriage ceremony in 1901
Elisa played the part of Mario for the wedding day, but after their nuptials the pair were forced to go on the run after their plan was outed by a Spanish newspaper
The infatuated couple met during teacher training in A Coruña, but Marcela’s mother sent her daughter to Madrid due to fears over the women’s relationship.
Despite their initial separation, Marcela and Elisa eventually began working at schools located close together, according to historian Narciso de Gabriel.
As part of their elaborate plan, Marcela announced she would be marrying her cousin, Mario, who was from London (to be played by Elisa). Mario was baptized, and then wed Marcela.
Veronica kisses Tiana in front of the municipal councellor Jorge Vergara (L) during their wedding, at Mollet del Valles near Barcelona, 22 July 2005. The couple is the first lesbian one to marry since the new legislation went into effect
The fishing port of A Coruña, where the two women completed their teacher training before their wedding in 1901
Their cunning plan was outed by a Galician newspaper, who printed their wedding photo and exposed their lie, forcing the women to move to Porto.
They then continued onto Buenos Aires, after they feared extradition from Portugal.
Marcela was reportedly pregnant by an unknown man when she was married, and gave birth to a daughter before they left Porto.
The story of the lesbian couple is set to be told by Isabel Coixet, who told the BBC: ‘When I think about these two women and the courage it took for one of them to pretend to be a man, it was unbelievably brave
‘I was fascinated the first time I heard about the story, which almost raised more questions than it has answers.
‘We don’t know what happened to them in the end, and how did they think they would get away with it?’