A woman left her home to fly 4,000 miles to au pair in the US - and has no plans to return after meeting and marrying her husband in eight months.

Giovana Edwards, signed up for an au pair program in Nashville, Tennesse after her father, Eduardo, 48, suggested she was "too young to settle". "

She left Sau Paulo, Brazil in August 2023 and matched with a host family.

In March 2024 she met her now-husband Connor Edwards, 26, on her day off and the pair hit it off straight away.

Connor proposed seven months later and the couple tied the knot on November 29, 2024 - and Giovana only met her husband's family a week before the do.

Giovana, a co-partner of a marketing agency, now living in Little Elm, Texas, US, said: "My dad said I was too young to settle at 23 and not travel the world. "

"He suggested to me to become an au pair. "

"It was an amazing experience. "

"I met my husband on March 5 2024. "

"I was in a restaurant sitting at a bar and he told me how my eyes were pretty. "

"He told me he knew he would marry me the first time he saw me. "

"We married the week of Thanksgiving. "

"We've been so happy". "

Giovana was "settled" at her home in Brazil when dad Eduardo suggested she try au pairing. "

After matching with a family in Tennessee, she moved in in August 2023 to begin working for them.

She said: "It was great, I was having the whole American culture and them preparing me food. "

"After work one day me and my friend Vicky decide to go for food, and I met my husband. "

"He hit me up in Portuguese saying my eyes were so pretty. "

"I was really impressed. "

"Our first date was a few days after seeing each other. "

"After that first date we actually never stopped seeing each other". "

The pair dated, with Connor wooing Giovana with cinema trips and meals out.

Giovana told her host family she was planning on moving in with Connor in March 2025, and with family deciding "to find an au pair as soon as possible", the pair decided to fast-track their plans, and Giovana moved in with Connor just 20 days before they were wed. "

She said: "He told his family and he called my dad and asked for my hand. "

"He proposed to me at a winery 20 minutes from Nashville on October 26 2024". "

The pair were married just a month later, using Giovana's 30-day grace period after leaving the au pair program to apply for her green card and have the big day.

Giovana said: "Connor's mom Stacey, 50, and step-mom Tammy, 50, planned the whole wedding in his dad's back garden. "

"I did an Instagram live of the wedding so my whole family could watch. "

"I felt like a stranger, I met everyone a week before our wedding. "

"We married the week of Thanksgiving, everyone was in town. "

"We could have parties, dinners and get to know everyone"."

Since the wedding, the pair are settling into married life.

Giovana said: "It's been great. "

"The culture is different, it's something you don't think is going to be but it is. "

"In Brazil we celebrate big birthdays but here people don't care about it. "

"It's not a struggle but it's a challenge. "

"Otherwise it's been great. "

"His family lives 10 minutes away and have been amazing, they've opened their arms like I'm their daughter. "

"My family were very excited, they trust my gut on Connor. "

"Of course they thought it was quick, and it was, but they were never against it. "

"They said it's your decision, we love you and think it's great, but if you change your mind it's ok. "

"Everyone was really good about it. "

"They met through FaceTime. "

"The who experience [au pairing] was really great. "

"I made so many friends, of course Connor was the jackpot, but I met so many people through this journey. "

"I thought it was important to know myself, I had never gone to a restaurant by myself in Brazil. "

"Overall it was great for my self-knowledge"."