Brazilian Weddings

Whoooo wee, do Brazilians know how to party. If any of you get a chance to go to one of these, go! Just make sure you spend the whole day before sleeping! Don't worry about the day after, you will sleep no matter what! At this wedding, the groom was an American and the bride Brazilian, although the American had spent some time down in Brazil and is perfectly fluent in Portuguese. In this wedding I was a padrinho, or groomsmen. Here is a summary of the night:

7:30 pm - Arrive early for the wedding which starts at 8:00 according to the invitation. Get the flower pinned on, meet the other people, tell them I don't speak a lot of Portuguese, try to talk anyway, etc., etc....

8:00 - Practically no guests have arrived. No worries, we are in Brazil. 8:00 is the time you tell people it starts so that it hopefully starts by 8:30...

8:45 pm - Wedding starts. Ceremony is relatively short, lengthened by the translation from Portuguese to English. Beautiful and all that mushy stuff.

9:15 pm - Dinner reception starts right next door to the room for the ceremony. Buffet style, lots of Brazilian food that was delicious.

10:15 pm - Docinhos. By far one of Brazil's greatest inventions. Basically these are little candy truffles that are typically ordered for important birthday parties and weddings. Specific types are chosen, although the staple one is called brigadeiro. The are hundreds of them, and once someone starts the process, it is a free for all. There was a cake too, but no one really cares. It's all about the docinhos.

10:45 pm- Let the dancing begin. Brazilians love to dance. From the traditional Samba, to the country forro (the double r is pronounced like an h...fo-ho), to just good (and bad) American classics like the Beatles Twist and Shout (or the YMCA).

12:00 am - Still dancing...need a water break.

2:00 am - Another water break...


4:00 am - Good God my legs are going to fall off...

5:00 am - We say goodbye to the family, friends, and people still dancing on the dance floor and head for home.

5:30 am - My nice soft, warm, wonderful zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz