A traditional wedding celebration was never part of my vision for my own wedding. My inspiration has always been more so a Pamela Anderson-style wedding aka a white bikini, no shoes, and just having fun with the people we love.
When we started to plan our wedding, I knew I wanted to be on the beach and more importantly, the beach in my hometown of Ubatuba on the coast of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Growing up in Ubatuba, my local beach had a stunning white mansion that was always the backdrop of all my childhood photos, and that’s exactly where I wanted to celebrate and finally be able to experience that view in reverse. We invited 35 of our friends to spend four nights at the beachfront property; most of our friends had never even been to Brazil, so we were able to give them a niche experience of being in my surf capital hometown, instead of Rio De Janeiro.
Elle JohnsonMy bridal wardrobe followed suit. I wanted sheer, crochet, lace pieces, all as skimpy and relaxed as possible with my only goal being to wear as many pieces from Latina-owned brands as possible, with the exception of a few small Black-owned brands and some vintage pieces. To kick off our celebration, I chose a simple crochet mini dress from Puerto Rican brand, Collective Request and paired it with vintage secondhand Burberry mules from The Real Real and chunky pearl hoops from Brazilian and Cuban-owned brand Eliou.
Elle JohnsonFor the ceremony itself, my dream was to wear Mirror Palais and represent a Brazilian-American designer on the day. I chose their Plunging Back Cowl Dress and I opted to be barefoot, and paired the dress with the same Eliou hoops as well as bangles from the Colombian brand, My Perlitas. My cousin-in-law braided my ponytail with lace fabric and pearls for an extra touch, and for my “something blue,” on our last night, I wore a Paradise Blue open-back maxi dress from Brazilian brand Makai with Eliou’s Tripla gold hoops. And because no celebration of ours would be complete without some friendly competition, we had custom green and yellow pinny jerseys made by our cousin and iconic streetwear brand Mingo for an Ireland vs. Brazil game day.
Elle JohnsonAll in all, my favorite part of our intimate celebration was our community coming together to love, support and make this week the best of our lives. We had friends from Ireland, London, New York and different parts of Brazil all show up for us and connect in such a special way. Everyone found themselves contributing in countless different ways, some on the decks, some creating content, my best friends doing my makeup and making my bouquet, my family cooking dinner for everyone and my aunt hand-crocheting my most coveted pieces. Every detail felt like an act of love, and that naturally extended to each item I wore. Each piece was either made by someone who has championed us or a brand that I felt a deep cultural connection to, which made me feel even more beautiful and loved.
