NOT the bride and groom

Making a rare visit to São Paulo for a wedding. For me, it was first sight of the downtown airport, Santos Dumont, since it was expanded (not very recently). Greatly improved since I was last there, light, airy and spacious and I loved watching the children’s reactions to an interactive screen, with the World Cup mascot striking poses for them to copy. They were having a whale of a time.

Using airbnb for the first time, we're staying with a friendly young couple, in their squeaky clean flat, in a nice area. They directed us to a Japanese restaurant, where we tried dishes that were new to us and extremely tasty – and discovered that the waiter, who said he had only been there a month and didn't know much about the food yet, was actually the owner. Furthermore, he lives in London and owns other restaurants and businesses there and in Brazil.

Back at the flat, we watched the Argentina/Belgium game with our hostess before donning our glad rags and heading off to find the Anglican cathedral - really beautiful inside, with clean, modern architecture, superbly shaped arches and lovely stained glass windows. The massed flower arrangements were superb, too. We were told that after the ceremony, they are collected and split up into smaller bouquets to take to hospitals, the old and the sick.

HH wasn't too sure about wearing his kilt, and it was the only one in the church, but after dropping by his house to feed the dogs, the friend who gave us a lift to the reception changed into his too - arm just slightly twisted by his wife and HH. However, both men were happy with their choice by the end of the evening, as the ladies were queuing up to pose with them.

A beautiful bride, a handsome groom and contented families - it was a lovely, happy occasion, as all weddings should be, and we felt privileged to be there. The parents are among our oldest friends in Brazil and the family has played a huge part in our lives here, even though we don't see them so often.

Just as we were leaving, the samba band arrived - with three or four statuesque, shapely and scantily dressed dancers and the porta-estandarte (standard bearer) and her escort, the mestre-sala. So of course we stayed, just a little bit longer...