After thirteen years of being happily married and with two beautiful children, my friend decided to have the wedding of her dreams in Brasilia, Brazil, our hometown. See, she wasn’t able to have her fantasy wedding because let’s face it, weddings are extremely expensive. She put it off until they had money but more important things always came up. She pushed it off. Until one day, after eating at a local eatery, she got sick. She got really sick and she ended up spending three days in the ICU. Fighting for her life, all she could think about was the fact she had not gotten married in church. She promised herself that if she got out ok she would have the wedding of her dreams. And more than that, she wanted to have her 90 year old dad with Alzheimer’s walk her down the aisle. And that’s where the story of my dear Brazilian friend starts.
After getting out of the hospital alive and feeling like a new life had started, Sandra started planning her wedding. She went to the church she grew up in without telling her husband and scheduled her wedding: September 5th. She got home and told Renato, “honey, we are getting married and I already booked the church”. Surprised all he could say was a hesitant yet happy, “ok.” From that day on Sandra started planning her wedding. Mind you, she decided to do it all by herself. Really, this was a DIY (Do It Yourself) wedding. She knew she wanted something unique that reflected her personality but more than that, she wanted something that had meaning to her and her husband. She meticulously planned every aspect of one of the most beautiful and elegant weddings I have ever seen.
Sandra has always been a bit of a hippie in a sense that she loves everything that comes from nature, crystals, the outdoors and anything that is in touch with God. Her wedding had to reflect that. Aside from that, she met her husband during a weekend getaway at Chapada dos Veadeiros, a very beautiful and esoteric place. So, of course, Sandra wanted her dream wedding to have hints from the beginning of her relationship. With all that in mind, she decided to have the reception in her backyard to save money and for ease of preparation since she was doing everything herself. She also wanted the special people in her life to be present not only physically but also in the decoration. She literally gathered personal belongings she always admired from her friends’ houses so she could have it all incorporated into the reception. She created a “to do” list of everything she needed done and by when. She sketched out everything, including the smallest details. She even grew a plant she wanted all over the reception because that particular plant was not only expensive but also hard to find. Trust me, I was surprised when she told me that. Talk about commitment!
The wedding dress is, of course, one of the most important details of a wedding and my friend designed the dress she wanted. She found someone to make it, bought all the materials and couldn’t wait to see the end result. To her dismay, the lady making her dress did not really create what she was looking for… Disappointed yet determined she found someone else and the new lady was able to materialize the dress she had only seen in her dreams. One less thing to worry about.
Fast forward to the day of the weeding, September 5th, 2015. Sandra, her husband and her kids all got ready at the comfort of their own home. She didn’t want to deal with the stress of going somewhere to get ready. This was one of the most special days of her life and she wanted to be home and with her family. They all helped each other and they all saw each other. The one tradition she wanted to maintain was that her husband did not see her with the wedding dress. And so it was. When time came to get dressed she couldn’t stop thinking that she always wanted to get married barefoot. But how if she was not getting married on the beach or outdoors? Her mom’s dream was to have gotten married barefoot so with this thought, right before Sandra walked into church, she decided to take her shoes off. She wanted to feel that moment she longed for and she wanted to be in touch with God. To walk into a church barefoot would be weird, right? She didn’t care. She stepped out of the car, took her shoes off and when the doors opened, the guests were clearly surprised. Her mom more than surprised could not believe her eyes. Her daughter had made her dream come true! A very bold move that wasn’t intended to surprise but something my friend wanted to experience and be able to do for her mom and for herself. And was she a beautiful barefoot bride?!
You must be logged in to post a comment.