Your West Midlands Wedding- April/May 2021 (Issue 73)

M atthew and Luzio met on a beach in Rio de Janeiro. “Matthew was advising someone about his allergies, but the person didn’t speak English,” says Luzio. “I stepped in to translate, and we got talking. We had our first date later that evening and were instantly attracted to each other.” Luzio was in for a surprise when Matthew proposed during a helicopter tour. “We flew around Rio de Janeiro and then hovered in front of Christ the Redeemer,” shares Luzio. “I was looking at the statue when Matthew called my name. I turned around, and he was holding the ring and asked me to marry him. We had champagne in the sky as we continued our flight. There was a photographer, but I was told he was there taking pictures of the flight for his website, but it turns out he was really there to capture our engagement. It was a truly unforgettable moment.” SETTING THE SCENE “With the country dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, our wedding numbers were drastically reduced,” explains Luzio. “We wanted to make sure that even with a smaller guest list, we could still have a beautiful wedding which would not reflect or leave memories of the pandemic. Coombe Abbey is a breathtaking venue with exterior landscaping, a lake and a historic interior. From the moment we arrived, we fell in love with the property and liked that there were so many places to take photographs.” For their favours, the couple chose personalised chocolates decorated with purple bows. “Our tables had a mixture of English and Brazilian guests, each with a direct view of the head table,” says Luzio. “We found a lady on Etsy who made hexagon shaped glass cut-outs which we used as our place names. We wrote each person’s name in beautiful gold and placed them on white napkins.” The happy couple chose gorgeous centrepieces from Fairytale Flowers. “These included a selection of fresh blooms in dusky pink placed in large black and silver oval vases,” shares Luzio. “We requested to have lots of vases ranging in size and shape placed around the venue to create a floral smell. We also had a flower arch at the front of the ceremony and trees with lights in the corner.” “The cake was the hardest part of the wedding,” Luzio adds. “We knew what we wanted but couldn’t find anything like it online. We chose more than 20 pictures where we liked an aspect of the cake’s design and did some terrible drawings. From these, Cakes 4 U By Julz created a design that was exactly what we wanted. Julz was incredibly patient with us, and it looked perfect.” Luzio and Matthew chose a neon light-up sign that they placed behind the cake. “It said ’crazy in love’, which is a reference to the early part of our relationship before we said I love you to each other we would say I am Beyoncé referring to the song Crazy in Love ,” explains Luzio. “To  REAL WEDDINGS 39