Oaxaca. Just as some books write, the main reasons for visiting and being enveloped by the oaxaqueño world are its culture and the warmth of its people.
Alejandra, a photographer of Spanish descent, and Dario, from Argentina (a mix of origins, as for Paulina and Federico and their wedding in Barcelona), peeping out some Instagram profiles, remain intrigued by one of my shots and, so, I receive the first email. When I began to be aware that Dario and Alejandra really wanted me, I started to study the place and traditions of those people. Thank you very much to the detailed guide of National Geographic, also full of history of that ancient country, I never want to be unprepared on what I would find.
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It’s the “big day“!
After a little city tour, Alejandra gets pampered by her hairdresser.
At the Quinta Real, Dario was waiting for me. A suit of earth-colored linen and some shots of a ‘real Mexican’, before going to peek at the preparation of Alejandra.
While her mother helps Alejandra to wear her dress, her friends prepare the bouquet, a present as a symbol of good luck for the couple.
Dario and Alejandra are ready, now is the moment of the first look, and it is immediately an explosion of colors!
All the guests are waiting for the newlyweds, with their smartphones in hand, to show live what was happening on their social networks!
A spiritual ceremony, which is difficult to explain in words.
The shaman made the atmosphere and the speeches of friends even more magical.
And the talam, a small maize roll, a sacred element in pre-Columbian civilizations, which the spouses ate during the ceremony as a good omen.
After the launch of the petals we were literally overwhelmed by the party, the Mexican calenda. Just outside the place of the ceremony a band of wind instruments, symphonies of trombones and clarinets called all the people to join the party. The dancers with the colored putles, the traditional clothes of Mexican women, smile proudly carrying with them baskets full of flowers while the Monos de Calenda, huge puppets of crepe paper that imitated the newlyweds, led the whole tail of friends and relatives.
A location in full Mexican style, with the colors that have distinguished this marriage, the laughter of the people that characterize the city of Oaxaca and the union of all the souls in celebration for the big day.
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An experience, the Mexican one, that will be difficult to forget. An experience, overseas, like the Brazilian wedding of Henrique and Heloise who acted as a springboard for my photographic style, upwards, just like I have told in the story of Ugo and Maria and their marriage tattooed in the heart, both the subject of criticism and good words at the convention of the Album of the year ANFM, the national association of wedding photographers, organizes every year, in which the project is awarded best.
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