Via US Weekly:
Before his whirlwind, three-day wedding extravaganza, cold feet weren't an issue for Matthew McConaughey.
At the laid-back Friday night rehearsal dinner -- held, like the rest of the weekend's events, at McConaughey's Austin, Texas home -- a pal joked to the Lincoln Lawyer star that he "still had time to run." McConaughey, 42, wouldn't hear of it. "He [said] he was dedicated to marrying Camila," a wedding guest tells Us Weekly. "He definitely wanted this to happen."
Indeed, when it came to making it official, the couple very recently changed their tunes about marriage. Initially, Alves and McConaughey -- who met at a Los Angeles bar in 2006, and have two children together, son Levi, 3, and daughter Vida, 2 -- saw no need to rush down the aisle because they already felt married, as Alves explained earlier this year.
"We've been living a married life for over six years now," the Brazilian-born beauty, 30, told ET Canada in March. "We have homes together, we have family together, we have kids, we've built a life together. So we've been living a married life this whole time." Once the pair decided to go for it, their road to matrimony was a quick one. (McConaughey proposed this past Christmas Day, and as late as this spring, Alves confessed to Us she still hadn't begun the planning process.)
For their big day, McConaughey and Alves decided to stick close to home, setting up a makeshift, high-end campground for wedding guests to stay the weekend on their Texas property -- complete with air conditioned tents, gourmet goodies, and plenty of entertainment.
A-list attendees included Woody Harrelson, Reese Witherspoon, Jim Toth, John Cougar Mellencamp and Meg Ryan. During the emotionally-charged ceremony, Mellencamp sang a song for the bride and groom based on a bible verse. "He made it into a melody," a witness says. After sharing a long, passionate kiss with his new bride, McConaughey thanked everyone for coming -- officially kicking off the post-wedding celebration.
Guests moved into a massive party tent for the reception, where they noshed on rotisserie-style Brazilian meats and danced to a live band playing American pop and Brazilian rock hits. McConaughey and Alves skipped the wedding cake -- instead offering their partygoers a variety of sweets -- as well as the traditional first dance.
But the Shear Genius host and her new husband still boogied the night away. When they were dancing, "You could definitely tell [Matthew] was in love," an eyewitness says, adding that "It was a great night for everyone." So great, in fact, that some of the attendees kept the party going all night -- and well into the next day.
By Sunday afternoon, "some haven't even gone to bed yet!" one insider tells Us. The rest of the day Sunday, guests not too tuckered out from the revelry were treated to food prepared by celeb chef Guy Fieri. On the menu? "Crawfish, brisket and fried okra," a source raves of the hearty Southern menu.
One of the weekend's most meaningful moments occurred during the couple's sweet vow exchange. Instead of reading pre-written vows aloud to one another, McConaughey and Alves whispered them into each other's ears. "No one knows what they said, but you could tell it was emotional because she was teary-eyed," a pal tells Us. "Matthew loves her, there's no doubt about that."Side Note: Awwww.... Sounds like such a fabulous wedding! Gotta luv it. Congrats to the happy couple.
