Conor Kennedy, the son of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and the Brazilian pop star Giulia Be celebrated their marriage on Saturday in Rio de Janeiro, bringing the Kennedy family to Brazil amid political tensions.
The couple, who reportedly had an intimate civil ceremony in Los Angeles in March, hosted a three-day wedding celebration that began on Thursday and culminated on Saturday night with a lavish reception for several hundred guests at the Instituto Brando Barbosa, an ornate colonial mansion near Rio’s famed botanical gardens.
The exact guest list has been a secret, but it included Secretary Kennedy, who attended with his wife, the actress Cheryl Hines, as well as numerous A-list Brazilian artists, influencers and designers.
The celebration comes just two weeks before Brazilian voters return to the polls to select a president, a runoff election that pits the nation’s leftist incumbent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known as Lula, against Flávio Bolsonaro, a right-wing leader and the son of the disgraced former president Jair Bolsonaro.
The elder Bolsonaro has been a close ally of President Trump, who tapped Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to join his cabinet, upsetting many Kennedy family members, stalwart Democrats who have been dismayed by Kennedy’s embrace of the anti-vaccine movement and his own policies as health secretary.
Conor Kennedy, 32, is the son of Robert and Mary Richardson Kennedy, who died by suicide in 2012. The couple became engaged in August 2024 — Be called it the “easiest yes of all time” — after dating for several years.
On Friday evening, the couple received a blessing during a ceremony at Christ the Redeemer, atop Corcovado Mountain. A religious ceremony followed on Saturday at Igreja Nossa Senhora do Carmo da Antiga Sé, a gilded church in downtown Rio dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Once Brazil’s royal cathedral, the church has been the site of several coronations.
Vogue reported on Saturday that the bride wore a backless Calvin Klein slip dress with long gloves to the blessing ceremony — a look and a label that were perhaps a nod to Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, the wife of John F. Kennedy Jr. (The couple died in a plane crash in 1999.)
On Saturday morning, a collection of Madagascar almond trees, orchids and white calla lilies was brought into the church, while a canopy with long drapes had been set up at the entrance to hide the arrivals. Onlookers still caught a glimpse of Conor Kennedy and his groomsmen in matching navy blue suits and ties, including his brother William Finbar Kennedy — who goes by Finn — and Kyra Kennedy, Conor’s sister, who reportedly introduced the couple, was also in attendance.
Across the street, in the Praça XV de Novembro, Rio’s traditional Saturday flea market was bustling, with locals and tourists browsing dozens of stalls with antiques, records and clothing. Around 2 p.m., the bride arrived with her father, the Brazilian businessman Paulo Marinho. Security guards pulled the curtains around Be’s car door like a cocoon to conceal her entrance.
The crowds also turned to look when a motorcade suddenly blocked traffic, bringing Kennedy Jr. and Hines into the ceremony, surrounded by Brazilian Federal Police agents and a security detail.
Before the ceremony began, drivers stuck outside in the sluggish traffic offered a few opinions.
“Will you look at that?” one man said, “A Kennedy!”
The festivities had kicked off on Thursday with a party at the Mansão do Alto, a popular wedding venue nestled in the forested hills of Rio’s Alto da Boa Vista neighborhood.
Preparations for Saturday’s reception at the Instituto Brando Barbosa began a month earlier, with workers assembling a large structure in the mansion’s garden. After the church ceremony, guests arrived along a small cobblestone road inside the property as music played, with lights illuminating the garden’s soaring trees and bamboo.
The bride shared details about the festivities with Brazilian media, including about a statue of the Virgin Mary that she had ordered for the celebration. She noted that it had to be taller than the groom, who stands more than six feet tall. She also said she planned to showcase Brazilian wedding traditions, including giving guests customized flip-flops at the end of the party so they could dance.
“This was one of the first things I said to him, ‘My love, I love you, but I’m not getting married in Massachusetts,’” ” rel=”noopener noreferrer” target=”_blank”>Be told one local outlet. “It’s the only chance to bring all of his friends and all of his family to Brazil and I wanted to show them a good time.”
The ceremony is far from the Kennedy family’s first trip to Brazil. In 1941, John F. Kennedy visited Rio with his mother, Rose, and his sister Eunice, with photos showing the beaming family in front of Sugarloaf Mountain. Shortly after President Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, the city named a neighborhood in his honor: Vila Kennedy.
Giulia Be, 27, whose legal name is Giulia Bourguignon Marinho, is the daughter of Paulo Marinho and Adriana Marinho. Her family has been active in Brazilian politics, with ties, at different times, to both of the nation’s presidential candidates.
Her father once supported Jair Bolsonaro joining his son Flávio’s ticket to run for the Brazilian Senate, but he later became disenchanted after Flávio Bolsonaro faced graft charges. Be’s brother, Andre, a comedian and television presenter, has also run for office and has found a measure of fame for his impersonations of Jair Bolsonaro.
For their part, the newlyweds met and offered their support for Lula as he was campaigning against Jair Bolsonaro in 2022, not long after the couple began dating. Kennedy told the leftist candidate — with his girlfriend translating — that he reminded him of his grandfather, Robert F. Kennedy, because of “the way you stand up for the poor and the working class.”
On Friday, the groom’s father was spotted around Rio taking group shots with guests, while the couple relaxed, played volleyball and enjoyed the sun at Ipanema Beach. Kennedy Jr. was even photographed after taking a dip in the ocean.
And while the Kennedys had not caused much of a stir in a nation riveted by a hard-fought presidential campaign, bikini vendors on Ipanema were happy to see them — and any other tourists — on a packed beach on a sunny Friday, during what has been a rainy early spring in Rio.
“I love it when people from abroad come to Rio,” said Euzi da Silva, a beach vendor surrounded by throngs of skimpy swimsuits hanging from beach umbrellas.
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