WOW. There really is no other way to start this blog post. My first ever destination wedding... was in BRAZIL!
Okay, I love travel of any kind and I'm more than happy to go anywhere to shoot amazing weddings, but Brazil would have most certainly been top of my list. In fact it was! So when a little email dropped in my inbox with the subject line 'Brazil?' I couldn't have screamed any louder. In fact to this day I can't even believe Juliana put a question mark after it! Before I read any of the details I was almost emailing her straight back screaming YEEEEEEES!
For the months building up to the wedding Juliana, Roberto and I emailed back and forth, Skype'd back in forth (with my daughter making the odd appearance in the background) and chatted regularly about everything wedding related and more.
Not only was it a fabulous wedding in a beautiful country they were an amazing couple....and totally my kind of people. It was all just too easy.
So on the 12th July me and my little family packed our bags and headed for Brazil. Trips to Rio and Sao Paulo were sneaked in either side of our weekend in Londrina, the city where the wedding was being held. It was of course winter in Brazil, so despite the 27degree heat we ended up with a weekend of rain, fog and thunder storms, but I'm from Scotland... I've shot in worse conditions!
Traditionally in Brazil you don't get married until early evening, so a 5pm ceremony meant we left the church in darkness. Juliana & Roberto had opted for a couple shoot in a local restaurant. It was fab, full of quirky ornaments and old framed prints on the wall. We then went on to the reception in a large hall in town. This had been transformed for all 350 guests to eat, drink and be merry... and the Brazilian's can do 'merry' brilliantly! It seriously was a party like no other.
Roberto & Juliana are in a band (check out one of their music videos here) so sang the beginning of their first dance together (God Only Know's by the Beach Boys). They then went on to play one of their own songs as well as a cover of The Strokes mid-way through the evening. A Bride on stage with a bass guitar is most certainly a first for me.
Add to that probably the best 'wedding band' in the world ever... The Zoom Beatles (an amazing Beatles cover band). All the guys are brazilian but have got each band member down to a tee, even Paul McCartney's head nodding/shaking movement whilst he plays. These guys played what seemed like the entire Beatles back catalogue until the party ended at 3am!
The wedding was beautiful, Juliana, Roberto and all their friends and family were amazing and the country is immense. Need I say anymore.