Continued from parts 1 (how we met), 2 (the real beginning), and 3 (visa stuff....and waiting)
Our first plan was actually to
get married in the States. But when we started looking into the fiancé
visa, we gave up on that idea. There was no way we could afford all that.
So we decided to get married in Brazil, where I wouldn't have to get a
new visa. I could get married on my tourist visa (totally legally, no
questions asked), and then change my visa to a permanent one after the
wedding.
The Paperwork
In the end of 2013, we looking
into all the paperwork necessary for that. I would need a ton of
paperwork, documents, etc, all authenticated by the Brazilian Consulate in the
States and then translated by an official translator here in Brazil. It
was a lot of work, but still WAY less than it would have been had we gotten
married in the USA. So I got all my paperwork together. My parents
helped me, since I was still off in Utah finishing up school (I wouldn't finish
until mid-June, and then I had a ticket to move to Brazil for July 4), and I
was working through the Boston Consulate. Over Christmas break I was able
to get a bunch of it done, running around the state like a crazy person.
Anyway, a few months before the wedding, we sent it all down to Best Friend, so that he'd have
plenty of time to get it translated and then start the process to get a
marriage license. I even wrote a letter authorizing his mom to stand in
and sign for me to start the process. Well, the first batch got to him.
The second one never made it...
When I got back to my parents'
house for a couple weeks after finishing college, I ran around like a crazy
person again to get the half of the paperwork (AGAIN) that hadn't made it down
to Best Friend yet.
I would just bring it with me and we'd start the marriage license process
as soon as I got here. He had already gotten a translator for the other
half of the paperwork, and fortunately she was very willing to work with us.
She had me scan and email her the rest of the paperwork, and she
translated it. When we picked it up, we just showed her the originals so
she could sign off on it. We should have known that this was the beginning
of an INSANE month before our wedding!
Our wedding date was set for July
24. About a month before that, Best Friend signed a contract to rent our house, where I'd live by
myself before our wedding. He had ordered some of our furniture; the rest
we'd buy together when I got there. I left the States on July 4 (Happy Independence Day!), arriving
here the next day. It was a Saturday when I got here, so there wasn't
much we could do for the paperwork until Monday. On the way back from the
airport, though, we stopped at the party planner's house and just went over all
the details. It was all fine by me....like I said before, we are simple
people and didn't want a lot of extravagance. It was going to be a
relatively small wedding. I moved into our house...we had a bed, a
wardrobe, a stove, kitchen cabinets, and a kitchen table and chairs. That's it!
Over the next couple weeks we got the rest of what we needed...couch,
fridge, food, cleaning supplies, etc. We also moved Best Friend's stuff
from his parents' house to ours over the next few weeks.
Monday we picked up our
translated paperwork, and Tuesday (July 8) we went to city hall to get the
marriage license. That ended up being an all-day process. Best Friend had a very good
boss at the time and was willing to work with him coming and going all day,
because he had to sign different parts. I still had no idea what was
going on, as I'd never really dealt with any of this type of stuff in Brazil.
I didn't realize it would be so complicated. Anyway, there was one
major complication: It would take AT LEAST 30 days to get our marriage license.
We had two weeks. We told the ladies at city hall (who were
EXTREMELY helpful, so much so that we still go see them just to say hi!) that
our wedding was planned for the 24th, and we'd be leaving town the next day and
couldn't change the wedding date. They offered several suggestions, none
of which would be conducive to our standards, which we also explained.
They were very understanding and in the end told us that if we knew
someone who knew someone who knew someone, we could probably get the license in
15 days.
I didn't know ANYONE, of course,
being new in town. Fortunately for us, Best Friend's mom knows everyone!
While Best Friend went back to work for a bit, she and I went across town to
visit a lawyer friend. We explained the situation to him, and he was more
than willing to help. He even knew the right person, and said he'd talk
to him the next day! So the next few days were kind of crazy. We
found an error on the announcement and had to return to city hall to fix that
(it had my father as being Brazilian!). Our lawyer friend talked to his
connections and got everything squared away so that we'd get the license in
time. But that doesn't mean we weren't still worried about it!
Over the next couple weeks
leading up to the wedding, we scrambled to deliver invitations, get our house
in order and Best Friend's stuff moved in. My mom was able to come down for the
wedding, which was awesome! She got here two days beforehand, so we were
able to show her around town a little bit, but mostly she ended up being the
seamstress to fix all the dress problems that a few family members had!
She didn't mind, though; my mom is awesome.
The Wedding
July 24, 2014 was a crazy
awesome day. Best Friend's mother picked up our
marriage license just a couple hours before the wedding. His dad picked
up one of his best friends from the airport just a few hours before the
wedding. Mom and I were mostly just at home finishing up some sewing
details. And I didn't really have much to do. So I just hung out.
And packed for Recife and Fortaleza.
Before continuing, let me
explain something. In our Church, we believe that marriages and
families can be forever....we don't believe that the limit is "til death
do us part". In order for a marriage to be eternal, it must be
realized in one of our Temples, by someone who has authority from God to do so.
In the USA, this Temple marriage is counted as the civil marriage.
In Brazil, the civil marriage is separate, so we had to get married
civilly before we could be married (sealed) in the Temple the next day.
I was scheduled to get my hair
and makeup done at 4pm, to be ready for our wedding at 7pm. I am
a punctual person, and had made it very clear that I didn't want to be
late to my own wedding, even if that was the "tradition".
Things don't always go according to plan, though..........
When I arrived at 4pm, there were
still a few people ahead of me to be done. So I had to wait.
Fortunately for everybody, myself included, I was NOT anxious or nervous
or anything of the sort. I just wanted to be on time, and I saw that
slipping away, so I was annoyed for a moment....until I just let it go.
Just go with it, right?
In the end, I arrived at
the venue just before 9pm. !!!!!!!!!!!!! Our wedding began just a few minutes later. I found out
later that Best Friend had arrived just a few minutes before me, so that's a
relief. He was apparently a nervous wreck, too. ;)
The ceremony was wonderful,
magical, unforgettable. It was better than I had always dreamed.
Because my dad couldn't be there, my wonderful mom walked me down the
aisle, which is something special that I will never forget.
The wedding was beautiful.
It was in the same place we had our reception, so as soon as the ceremony
was over, we got to talk to everyone, dance, eat, eat cake, and just enjoy
being together and with everyone who was there. We had about 75 people
present, and it was perfect. Oh, and WE GOT MARRIED!!
Everything finally wrapped up around 1am. Our wedding
planner did everything, so we had no worries there. We just helped with
cleanup and then headed back to our house.
The
Wedding Night (don't worry, it's G-rated)
We got back to our house with my
mom around 1:30am or so. Mom hung out on the couch and snoozed, and we
hung out on the living room floor and opened presents. It was pointless
to sleep; we'd be going to the airport in less than 2 hours. HUSBAND (!!!!!!) went back to his parents' house to finish packing
up a couple things, during which time I took a shower and washed out the gallon
of hairspray from my hair. There was so much hairspray, I'm pretty sure I
could've gone weeks without washing my hair and no one would notice, because it
would be exactly the same as it was at the wedding. Anyway, the taxi came
to get us around 3am, and Mom and Husband and I headed to the airport.
Mom had a flight to Recife earlier than ours. Husband's
parents got there a couple hours later, and we were all on the same flight to
Recife. We found Mom there, perfectly content in the airport, waiting for
us. Turns out, she'd bumped into a few American missionaries there, so
she had people to talk to while she waited!
The Sealing
We all left for the Temple and
had most of the day to rest or do whatever we wanted. Our sealing
ceremony wasn't until 7pm. I tried to sleep, and even though I was exhausted
(it was now Friday, and I hadn't slept since Wednesday night), I couldn't get
to sleep. I was too excited. Husband and I walked around the
gardens a bit, just talking and enjoying our time together.
The sealing was wonderful.
I can't even put it into words. If the civil ceremony the day
before was amazing, the sealing was 100 times better. It is an
indescribably good feeling knowing that we were going to be together FOREVER,
not just for this life on earth. This truly was the beginning of a wonderful
journey together.
The next day, we walked around
and took some pictures in the garden. Husband's parents had to
head back home, so we spent the rest of the day with Mom and some friends
around Recife, before Husband and I left for our honeymoon in Fortaleza.
We got to spend a week in Fortaleza, which we learned is an
absolutely beautiful city! We chose Fortaleza for our honeymoon because
it was a city neither of us had been to, and it just sounded like fun! So
why not?? We got to see some of the beautiful beaches, enjoy the
boardwalk each evening, dodge time-share-package-vendors by telling them (in
English) that we didn't speak Portuguese, go sailing on a schooner, and just
relax before starting our life together in the real world. We definitely
want to go back some day!
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The end of the beginning...
And that, my friends, is the beginning of the Greatest Love Story I've Ever Heard. I a still living this greatest love story. These first three years of marriage have been absolutely amazing, more wonderful than I could have ever imagined or dreamed. In telling this story, I have realized that I lack the words and creativity to truly express everything we have been through and everything I think and feel, but there will be future posts to expound on some parts (the long-distance part, and the visa stuff, specifically) of this story that I had to leave out for now. Stay tuned for more!
Oh, and a funny note. Remember that lost paperwork? We got it finally when we returned fro our honeymoon!
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