Monday, March 21, 2011

Brazilian wedding, part 2

If you have not read part I, you can read it here.

The new job (in Rio) and the distance made it hard to help out on the wedding planning. On the other hand I admit I was not picky and did not have (strong) opinions about decorations, etc. I really wanted something simple, just to mark the day. My mom on the other hand, had great views of what the day should be like, so decorations, color of napkins, centerpieces, etc became much more of a topic. And then there were several situations in which she'd ask me something and I'd ask back: "Is this necessary?". Her reply was always "Well, so-and-so had it at their wedding and it is considered appropriate." At the end the she did a great job!

Decor.

Getting ready.

The location was my mom's front yard, under a beautiful big tree and the time for the ceremony was 11:30am. The big day started off with the breakfast and shortly after the hairdresser coming over to do my makeup. Friends started arriving around 10:30 and it was nice to chat a bit while getting ready. A. also got ready (obviously much faster and was really worried... at least that's what everyone told me :o). The menu for the wedding was a big barbecue with lot's of salads and appetizers. We also had vegetarian options, but I promised A. I'd make some sambar, so I was running out of the dressing room to the kitchen every once in a while to check on it (it was a huge pot - about 5 liters or 1.2 gallons - so I was worried the bottom would burn).

A. waiting for me.


In Brazil instead of brides maids and best man each person in the couple chooses a couple as their godparents. These couples are usually good friends of the bride and/or groom or an older couple of family friends. I picked a favorite professor from my undergrad whom I always visit when I go to Brazil and A. picked a couple of friends of ours from the USA who were coming to our wedding. Since none of his family made it to Brazil it was very nice for him to have some fellow foreigners.

Sometime during the ceremony.

Finally at 11:30 the ceremony began. A. was standing by the altar as I walked in with my brothers. Overall it was a relatively quick service and soon the fun part started. The barbecue was great. It was amazing to see so many friends that I had not seen for such a long time.

Ring exchange.

The barbecue was a huge success. Also, following Brazilian aversion to having an ending time to parties we partied hard. At some point A. was thrown into the pool... and then suddenly all guys were thrown in one at a time...

A. in the crucial moment: not a tradition and not planned... spontaneity I guess.

As it got dark we made a campfire and the people that were still around sat and chatted. It was quite nice. At this point (somewhere around 8pm) people started getting hungry again (the catering left at 6pm) so I went inside and heated the huge pot of sambar that was left over and made some fresh rice. Sambar was a huge success this time despite being a bit spicy for most. I think I finally went o bed around midnight... not bad for a party that started more than 12 hours earlier!

2 comments:

  1. That was a very brazilian way of enjoying! Thanks again for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Brigada Dani! Realmente a festa foi ótima!

    ReplyDelete