After searching all afternoon at the shopping mall, Stepan and I found a nice shirt and tie for him to wear to the wedding (he forgot to pack his) and a beautiful earring and necklace set for me to wear with my dress (the same dress I've worn to the last 4 weddings I've attended). The wedding was held at an ancient fort called Forte de Cinco Pointes (or something like that). The wedding went off without a hitch. It was an Episcapalian ceremony held on the roof of the fort with another old church and the sun setting in the background. It was one of the only nights since we've been here that it didn't rain. The reading was done in English and Portuguese. Doug's vows were said in English and Luciana's in Portuguese - everything else was in Portuguese...it's amazing how long the wedding ceremony seams when you can't understand a word the officiant is saying. During the ceremony, there were photographers and videographers all over the place. We later found out that some of the photographers were from the media because this was a High Society Wedding - Luciana's father is a well-respected doctor. In fact, the Vice-President of Brazil was in attendance at the wedding....in additional fact, he was at the time consided the acting President since the president is currently out of the country. I found out kinda late in the ceremony that he was there....by the time I had resolved to ask him to dance he wasn't anywhere to be found. There were about 500 people at the reception and as you can imagine from our descriptions of Carnival - these Brazilian know how to party. This is pretty obviously a country with relatively lax labor laws - the band played pretty much nonstop from 8pm-1:30am. While they started with a waltz for the bride and groom's first dance, it was a vienese waltz and never once played a slow song. Obviously a lot of songs they played were Brazilian songs with great drums beats, but they also played a number of popular American songs - some were sung in English and some were sung in Portuguese. Thoughout the reception, the wait staff was circulating with all kinds of bevereages and appetizers to suppliment the buffet table - regrettably I wasn't able to sample everything. I did get a piece of the bride's cake which was amazingly bad - pretty much the worst I've ever tasted (if you're reading this Luciana, I'm sorry to be so blunt, but I'm fairly certain it isn't anything you haven't already heard from Doug). The cake itself was very dense and reminded me of a fruit cake. The icing was pure sugar, but sweeter than anything I've ever had before. It did have a slight lemony tang that almost redeemed it, but even that didn't make it palatable. Thankfully, Doug managed to convince them that there is a faily strong tradition in the states to also provide a groom's cake that was very tasty. Of course they also provided a sweets table and a chocolate table so there was plenty of edible confections to temp my sweet tooth (you know - the absessed one :-) All in all it was a truely memorable wedding and we were pleased and priveleged to be able to be here to witness Doug's marriage and very happy to stay up with him and Luciana until 2am in celebration of their nuptials.
Posted by jfer at February 17, 2002 2:55 PMHi, I was just wondering what aspects of Brazilian weddings and proposals are different than American. I would appreciate it if you could let me know. Thanks.
Posted by: Adam on January 27, 2003 2:42 PMHi, in response to the previous comment:
I've been also wrecking my brain to figure this out, as I left Brazil very young, and do not remember much of Brazilian weddings, but would like to incorporate some customs into mine. I've only found useful websites in Portuguese. If you speak Portuguese, you can check them out:
http://www.pmresende.rj.gov.br/noivosenoivasdani.htm
http://intermega.com.br/casamento/
But my 2 cents is: the most different custom is that we do not have best man or maid of honour, instead we have a godfather and godmother (I believe it's one couple for the groom and one for the bride,) and these and the parents of the bride and groom stand at the altar with them.
Hope it helps!
Mariana
I am american and my fiance is Brazilian. I am trying to find out what if any different customs they have in comparison to ours. If anyone could help me with this it would be great. Thanks.
Posted by: Deborah on August 24, 2003 5:15 PMMost of the time, in Brazil, the groom has to wrestle a donkey in order to get permission from the girl's father to marry her.
Posted by: Marie on January 8, 2004 10:44 AManybody knows where I can get a Portuguese wedding gown or a picture of one?
Posted by: duarte on February 24, 2004 7:44 PMI am getting married in Rio De Janiero, Brazil. I want a high society wedding. Is this possible?
Posted by: Tiffany on July 31, 2004 4:26 PMMy son is marrying a Brazilian girl in Sept. 2005. The bride's mother is wearing a red dress for the wedding. Is there a certain color expected for me, the mother-of-the-GROOM? Does it need to blend with her red dress? Thank you for any other advice.
Posted by: Carole on April 6, 2005 3:51 PMMy whole family has been invited to a Brazilian Wedding (which we are unable to attend). Please tell me what the traditional gift giving is. ie money, goods, is it normal to have a gift register in Brazil and if so how does one discretely enquire about its existence. Hope to hear from you soon. Kind regards.
Posted by: Remmi Gittoes on June 23, 2006 3:37 AMI'm looking for information about having some of our culture in our wedding. I am part Portuguese & my fiance is Puerto-Rican. I'm looking for a portuguese style wedding gown for me (hopefully a champaing color or ivory) a beautiful veil, and an idea of favors & I don't know what for him. Please give me some websites to go to & anywhere else to go . I live in California. Thank you.
Posted by: Tonnette on July 21, 2008 8:12 AMhi my brother is getting married to a barazilian girl in march. My mother has been told she has to walk my brother down the ailse. Does anyone know what sort of drees style or colour she should wear as she has no idea. any help would be greatly appreciated thanks.
Posted by: caroline on January 17, 2009 11:20 AMMy son is marrying a Brazilian girl in Nov. and me, my husband and daughter are going to the wedding. I have been told not to wear black - can anyone tell me the answer to any or all of the following questions: What is appropriate for the mom of the groom to wear? (I know that it will be very hot - they live in Recife which is practically on the Equator) How about my husband? Also, we are spending tons of money just to get there, but what might be expected in terms of gift-giving to the family of the bride as they may have us for some meals, etc. (we are not staying with them - but should we offer to pay for some things????)HELP!
Posted by: Karen Mitchell on October 1, 2009 9:27 PMKaren, I'll forward your email to the couple whose wedding I attended. I'll bet the bride can answer a few of these questions.
Posted by: Me on October 1, 2009 10:27 PMI need songs for my father and i to dance to at my wedding.. i need a few to pick from.... in portuguese..
Posted by: Dara on March 20, 2010 1:36 PM