Made with Love in Belfast - Andrea and Paulo's Wedding by Campbell Photography

We have the sweetest of love stories to share with you today from Brazil to Northern Ireland. Andrea and Paulo met by chance while Andrea was on holidays and they haven't looked back. Juggling work, family and friends to be together. Paulo - or PM as he is affectionately known proposed in August 2010 and the couple celebrated their wedding in the very cool Made In Belfast.

If you're a laid back city slicker (or are a sucker for Carrie and Big's City Hall wedding in SATC) then you're going to love today's real wedding. Andrea and Paulo's sweet city wedding in Belfast is the culmination of one of the sweetest love stories taking the couple from Brazil to Northern Ireland. Andrea and Paulo met by chance while Andrea was on holidays and they haven't looked back. Paulo (or PM as he is affectionately known) proposed in August 2010 and the couple celebrated their wedding in the very cool Made In Belfast which is a particular favourite, full of up-cycled furniture, vintage finds and contemporary art pieces - the perfect spot for this multi-cultural laid back pair. We're delighted to share this sweet and chic story with you courtesy of  Campbell Photography ...

Brazil to Northern Ireland isn't exactly a road well travelled (well given there's an ocean between them, that would make sense! - Ed) we were curious about how this couple found each other? Andrea filled us in "PM and I met in a place called Praia da Pipa, near Natal, in North-east Brazil.  I was backpacking on my summer holiday from teaching and he was on a surfing weekend away with his friends.  He is originally from Fortaleza in Ceará, Brazil, where we now live and I am originally from Northern Ireland so it proved quite serendipitous that we were both out on that particular evening! Neither of us is a big drinker, we had been dragged out to socialise with friends and I caught PM's eye.  He plucked up the courage to come and ask me my name.  We started to talk, and something changed for both of us, we just clicked!  Between us we spoke enough Portuguese and English to find one another curiously interesting and since then we have never looked back.  We spent four years travelling back and forward between the UK and Brazil to spend time together, juggling work, study and family commitments along the way."

With a 'love at first sight' start like that, it was a given that a proposal was soon to follow... "PM proposed to me on my summer holiday in August 2010, he got down on one knee at sunset on the balcony of our apartment, it was so romantic! I was leaving to go back to the UK that night so it was very emotional too, I couldn't stop crying because I didn't want to leave." Two years later, the tears are far behind as the couple prepared to tie the knot in Andrea's home town of Belfast...

"The City Hall in Belfast is such a beautiful building and the staff there made the whole legal side of getting married so straightforward, an important factor for us in the midst of sorting out visa and immigration paperwork!  I loved the idea of photos on the marble staircase and in the halls, with the added advantage of minimal cost in terms of the venue." 

Isn't this what weddings are all about? They look soooooo happy!

Belfast City Hall is an epic architectural space, perfect for some romantic moments as newlyweds (aka a few sneaky kisses - Ed).

So we just have to talk about Andrea's super cool 60s inspired mini-dress, it's just gorgeous... "My dress was amazing!  One of my best friends, Christina, gave me a wedding magazine about nine months before the big day, I think she was trying to give me a hint that I needed to start organising some of the details!   When we were flicking through it over lunch I saw a picture of a dress which was short, with a high neck, and I loved it because it was so different.  I took the picture to LilyAn and we had many conversations and fittings until we figured out how to make the dress look the way I wanted it to.  My mum and I bought the Chantilly lace and silk satin from Craftswoman Fabrics & Products in Ballylumford and LilyAn worked her magic to make the dress into what I wanted.  She was wonderful, and out of all the dreams that I'd had in my head for the wedding, she really made that one come true.

In keeping with their too-cool-for-school wedding style, Andrea and Paulo chose Made In Belfast to have their reception and I'm thrilled to be talking about this venue again! A brilliantly eclectic venue, it's perfect for a super stylish reception with a chilled out vibe (maybe the best in the country, maybe the world). Right in the heart of Belfast, decorated with a mis-match of up-cycled furniture, restored vintage pieces and contemporary art, and that's not even mentioning the food which is AMAZ-ING! (Lucy is a fan, you may have noticed - Ed)

We are both pretty soulful individuals and like to do things differently, in our own way.  Neither of us wanted to get sucked into the commercial wedding business and conforming to the wedding packages on offer in most conventional venues.  The most important things to us were simply getting married, eating good food and sharing a relaxed, fun day with family and friends.

Made In Belfast was a dream venue for the reception.  Claire, the manager who dealt with all the pre-wedding organisation was fantastic and their chef Stephen was really accommodating in terms of the menu that we wanted.  All of our guests commented on the delicious food and the excellent service.  We were delighted with them and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone thinking of a vintage-style wedding.

Choosing a venue with a clearly defined aesthetic and plenty of visual interest makes wedding decor a whole lot easier, but there's always room for some little additions to add that personal touch "Made In Belfast is such a quirky, vintage-styled restaurant it really appealed to both of us in terms of decor.  We didn't decorate anything in the restaurant except for some table confetti and the placecards.  Everything was kept as simple as possible.  I printed my own Order of Service and Menus, and handwrote the placecards.  We bought the table confetti and placecards from notonthehighstreet.com - a great website for anyone looking for some very pretty and quirky decorations!"

So tell us, what was your favourite part  about your wedding? "Walking down the aisle and saying our vows to each other was so special.  Neither of us could stop smiling and we were both so nervous but exploding with happiness that our big day was actually happening!  PM's family couldn't be there because of the distance so we will be celebrating our big day in Brazil as well.  For me, the Belfast wedding was wonderful in that all of my very best friends were finally all in the same room together and it was lovely that they met my family as well.

So there you have it - SATC meets Brazil in Belfast - isn't that every girl's dream? Huge Congratulations and much love to Andrea and Paulo (PM) - hope you're living it up! And a big Thank You to Campbell Photography for sharing this super wedding with One Fab Day. To see more of Campbell Photography's work pop on over to www.campbellphotography.co.uk.

The Wedding Details

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