Joia & Giovanni

Joia and Giovanni's Destination Wedding

Guys, today’s destination wedding feature would blow your mind. I mean, It’s not every day you get to see wedding guests arrive on a train! Oh yes, they did. Can you guess how the Black British Angolan couple made their way into the wedding reception? Well, you’d have to continue reading to find out.

The beautiful Angolan queen, Joia, and her Angolan husband, Giovanni sealed their union in Quinta Lago dos Cisnes, Portugal. #Meetthemoises was magical and perfect from the couple’s epic reception entrance to their first dance, being surrounded by fire, waterfalls, and cascades. The wedding was everything they ever dreamt of and more. The highlight of the ceremony was when the bride arrived on a horse, the groom on a boat, and the wedding guests on an old school train. Talk about a modern-day fairytale wedding!

Well, what do you expect when the beautiful Afro Caribbean couple had a romantic destination proposal at Santorini, Greece. Joia went to Santorini as a girlfriend but came back as a fiancée, Okurr! Giovanni picked up the ring from a drone and popped the question. We know you’d want to hear the full story on how they met, their proposal story, and how their wedding went down. Keep scrolling as the groom, Giovanni lets us in on all the gist. Their amazing proposal and wedding photos captured by MCM London will brighten up your day. When you’re done, catch up on more real weddings here. Oh, how could we almost forget to mention how stunning the bride’s dress was. Take a look and enjoy!

How We Met

We both met in 2009 in Angola, Joia was next-door neighbor and friends with my aunt where I stay when I go to Angola for holidays. I grew up in London and in the same church with Joia's family and Joia grew up in Angola as a next-door neighbor to my family. It was pure coincidence that we only found this out after a few months of dating. I was already known to Joia's family in London as so was Joia to my family in Angola and we both literally had no idea about this coincidence.

Our Proposal Story

I proposed to Joia in Santorini on 02.06.2017. It was our first holiday as a couple as we first dated as a long-distance relationship for the first few years, then Joia moved to the UK. I wanted the proposal to be special as it was our first holiday together so I took her to Santorini.

We stayed at a place called Dana Villas, Santorini. I would say the best place to stay in Santorini. I planned for a roof dinner by the sunset with live music which was all part of a Surprise I had for Joia. The place was the most romantic setting you could think of for a proposal. Romantic dinner with views of Santorini Island and Sunset, it just cannot get better than that for a proposal.

Our Wedding Story

We got married on 26.10.2019 at the most amazing wedding venue in Portugal called Quinta Lago dos Cisnes. This venue is the most perfect wedding venue. It is truly a dream wedding venue with very professional staff, wedding planners, and more.

Everything about our wedding was magical and perfect. At our wedding ceremony, I arrived on a boat and Joia arrived on a horse while our guests arrived on an old school train. The ceremony itself was magical from the very beginning. There was an open bar all day which means our guests had a chance to have cocktails whilst the pastor was reading our vows. Then the ceremony was followed by a photography session and a welcome drinks session with a DJ, live music before we moved to the main hall for dinner and our after party.

At midnight, we all went outside for our cutting of the cake and the first dance which was magical. The stage where we cut the cake was rounded by fire, waterfalls, and cascades. Our families surrounded the stage whilst we had a live performance by a very famous Portuguese singing artist, Johnny Ramos.

Love Note To Joia

Joia, you know that you are my world and the most amazing woman. I cannot see life without you, you are my soulmate for real and you know the reasons why. I cannot thank you enough for coming into my life, you are a true blessing and I love you more than you can imagine. I feel like I am living a dream, and if this is a dream then I do not want to wake up. Love you , Giovanni.

Honeymoon Destination

Ah, we haven't had a honeymoon yet because 2 weeks after our wedding it was one of our best friend's weddings and it was a destination wedding too. Due to that, we had to put our honeymoon on hold and now because of the current world pandemic situation, we have to hold it even further. But our plans were to go to Thailand Koh Samui island as well as revisiting Santorini to relive our engagement.

My Afro Caribbean Wedding and My Precious World team wish the couple a life filled with unconditional love. To find Afro Caribbean vendors to help with your wedding photography, videography, wedding planning, bridal makeup and more, kindly visit our Wedding Vendors page to contact them. Here are some great tips to help with the Wedding Planning dilemma.