By Candlelight and Quartet: Solomon & Rufaro's Portugal Wedding
It began with a trail of candles and the whole family hiding in the dark — and ended in a Portuguese garden, a quartet playing them in. This is Solomon & Rufaro.
A Trail of Candles
For their second anniversary, Solomon planned something quietly enormous. He teamed up with Rufaro's sister, who gathered the family and helped fill the house with candles while a photographer slipped into place. They went to dinner; Rufaro suspected nothing — she even fell asleep on the drive home while Solomon rehearsed his speech at every red light. When she opened the front door, a soft trail of candles led toward the kitchen, and there stood her mum, her grandmother and her sisters. From there, the moment unfolded exactly the way he'd hoped.
A Garden in Portugal
They married at Quinta Lagos dos Cisnes in Prozelo, Portugal — stone and greenery, hanging gardens and a light that only the Douro seems to make. Rufaro Chibanda and Solomon Akinniyi, far from home and surrounded by it all the same.
The Traditional
Before the white, there was colour — warm orange and coral, family and heritage, two cultures meeting in one celebration. The kind of joy that doesn't need translating.
The Procession
Every personal touch was theirs: a quartet playing them through the procession, and Rufaro making her grand entrance down the staircase — a moment the whole garden held its breath for. Vows beneath the leaves, and then, as they walked back down the aisle during the recession, the picture they'd planned all along.
The Celebration
A vintage car, a garden glowing into evening, family who'd crossed oceans to be there — the celebration was everything a destination wedding promises and rarely fully delivers. This one did.
Far From Home, Fully at Home
From a candlelit hallway to a Portuguese garden, Solomon and Rufaro built a day that felt like both an adventure and a homecoming. Favour, planning and a great deal of love — you could see all three.
