Discover an open-air church wedding in Brazil

Discover an open-air church wedding in Brazil

Discover an open-air church wedding in Brazil


“One of our biggest worries was that being so small, it wouldn’t be a fun wedding. But the fact that we only had 30 of our closest meant that everyone who was there was family – and thrilled of us. The day had the best energy and we danced the night away”

Rodrigo and I always said we wanted to have an outdoors wedding that felt like a big family lunch. We also wanted a catholic wedding, but nothing too traditional, so our venue was a perfect choice: it is a farm called Fazenda Jagoara Velha, very close to my hometown (Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais), where you can find these beautiful ruins of a church by Aleijadinho, the biggest sculptor and architect from the Brazilian Baroque movement. It was an open-air church in the middle of the woods, so perfect!

We initially had planned a wedding for 250 people but when COVID-19 hit we decided we didn’t want to postpone it, so we downsized it drastically. It was the best decision we ever made. We ended up having 30 people over for a big lunch. The thing about having such an intimate wedding is that you can actually think thoroughly about every moment of our guest’s experience. We both work in movies (I’m a screenwriter and Rodrigo is a producer) so we knew we wanted the wedding to look and feel like a movie! We wanted it to be cosy, like having a family meal at home, and to have the beautiful simplicity a farm asks for, but at the same time, we wanted it to be sophisticated.

The dress

About the dress… I had always been a fan of Yolancris’ designs, so Casamarela was the first place I set an appointment with. That thing about how the dress chooses the bride, and not the other way around, was absolutely true in my case. I always thought I would get married in a much slimmer, nightgown-like dress with barely any details, so I was a bit hesitant to try out this piece, even though I loved it.

When I finally tried it on, it fitted like a glove. It was perfect and just felt right. So I cancelled every other appointment I had set up and I bought it immediately! I had the Casamarela people change the lining to nude, which I thought was the perfect choice because it enhanced the lace and matched with the church’s colours in a way that it all felt like a great mise-en-scene. Later on, as it got colder, I paired it with a Zara jacket that I had embroidered with pearls with a ‘Mrs.’ which gave a little rock’n’roll twist to my romantic look.