I still hadn't recovered from my jet lag when I attended my first Brazilian wedding. Delirious with heat, up, down and round the bend from excessive sleeping pill usage to get through the flight, then excessive alcohol usage to celebrate arriving, I placed these babies on my feet and inserted myself into my dress to attend my dear friend Daniela's sister's wedding in a little town called Bauru, a few hours north of Sao Paulo.
I had no idea what to expect and I find it very difficult to explain what ended up happening. Brazilians are like no other culture I have ever encountered - life is fun without hang ups, plain and simple - I adore them!
The wedding started at 9pm. The bride, Aline, was lovely in crisp white and obviously in that slightly delirious happy state you'd hope her to be in. The ceremony was all in Portuguese but that didn't take away from the loveliness of the occasion for the English only speakers in the congregation. A part of the service I especially enjoyed was the procession of couples who joined Aline and her groom on the podium. I counted more than 10 couples all standing in support of the about to be married couple. It conjured a sense of community, kindness and relaxation that can be sorely lacking in our sometimes painfully Euro-stiff ways of doing things.
Right after the ceremony all of the guests drove to the reception, were plied with drinks and offered an array of South American dishes. The bride and groom arrived as my eyes grew wide at my first sip of the sweetest wine I have ever tasted and could never have imagined prior to tasting. All pretty normal so far. The only peculiarities I might have pointed out at this point would have been the beyond sweet wine and that the kids and the old people were up a bit late. It was 10:30pm by this time.
By 10:34pm I was enjoying a pretty good conversation in broken English with Daniela's friends and just relaxing into the occasion. I really don't know how to properly describe what happened next because my head just about exploded with surprise.
Elvis arrived. He came with smoke, rhinestones, a lot of sequins and a very loud singing voice. If that wasn't enough, the entire seated area immediately emptied - young, elderly, crippled and healthy lurched for the dance floor, grabbing at the feather boas, sequined glasses, pom pom headbands and strings of beads being thrown into the air. All of a sudden this demure and polite dinner had turned into an absolutely enormous mass of colour, dancing, laughing, silliness and fun.
My mind felt like it was about to go "boom". I LOVED IT! I still feel that way. I can't even think about the whole experience without holding my breath. I loved the celebration of the ridiculous, the lack of ceremony, the lack of "proper conduct", I loved that everyone just embraced one another, embraced Aline and her new husband, embraced the fun of the night with absolutely no rules, and embraced these silly foreigners standing around with their jaws on the ground. It was insane in the best possible way. Aline had wanted to capture a Carnaval theme. She more than succeeded.
I barely understood a word of what was going on the entire time but had the time of my life. These shoes carried me through the entire night with sparkle and a smile. The crowds didn't start departing until well after 4am, I think we ended up getting home just as the sun was coming up. I was on such a natural high that I didn't sleep for a full 36 hours. Why sleep when there is that much fun to be had?
x
I had no idea what to expect and I find it very difficult to explain what ended up happening. Brazilians are like no other culture I have ever encountered - life is fun without hang ups, plain and simple - I adore them!
The wedding started at 9pm. The bride, Aline, was lovely in crisp white and obviously in that slightly delirious happy state you'd hope her to be in. The ceremony was all in Portuguese but that didn't take away from the loveliness of the occasion for the English only speakers in the congregation. A part of the service I especially enjoyed was the procession of couples who joined Aline and her groom on the podium. I counted more than 10 couples all standing in support of the about to be married couple. It conjured a sense of community, kindness and relaxation that can be sorely lacking in our sometimes painfully Euro-stiff ways of doing things.
Right after the ceremony all of the guests drove to the reception, were plied with drinks and offered an array of South American dishes. The bride and groom arrived as my eyes grew wide at my first sip of the sweetest wine I have ever tasted and could never have imagined prior to tasting. All pretty normal so far. The only peculiarities I might have pointed out at this point would have been the beyond sweet wine and that the kids and the old people were up a bit late. It was 10:30pm by this time.
By 10:34pm I was enjoying a pretty good conversation in broken English with Daniela's friends and just relaxing into the occasion. I really don't know how to properly describe what happened next because my head just about exploded with surprise.
Elvis arrived. He came with smoke, rhinestones, a lot of sequins and a very loud singing voice. If that wasn't enough, the entire seated area immediately emptied - young, elderly, crippled and healthy lurched for the dance floor, grabbing at the feather boas, sequined glasses, pom pom headbands and strings of beads being thrown into the air. All of a sudden this demure and polite dinner had turned into an absolutely enormous mass of colour, dancing, laughing, silliness and fun.
My mind felt like it was about to go "boom". I LOVED IT! I still feel that way. I can't even think about the whole experience without holding my breath. I loved the celebration of the ridiculous, the lack of ceremony, the lack of "proper conduct", I loved that everyone just embraced one another, embraced Aline and her new husband, embraced the fun of the night with absolutely no rules, and embraced these silly foreigners standing around with their jaws on the ground. It was insane in the best possible way. Aline had wanted to capture a Carnaval theme. She more than succeeded.
I barely understood a word of what was going on the entire time but had the time of my life. These shoes carried me through the entire night with sparkle and a smile. The crowds didn't start departing until well after 4am, I think we ended up getting home just as the sun was coming up. I was on such a natural high that I didn't sleep for a full 36 hours. Why sleep when there is that much fun to be had?
x
