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My Wedding in Portugal

I recently came back from my dream wedding in Portugal. I first got engaged in May 2018. We wanted to have a long engagement so I didn’t really start looking at a wedding until 2020. In early 2020, I had landed on a wedding in Portugal - specifically in Sintra (a genuine fairy tale of a place)! I researched wedding planners and found Olivia with Nulyweds. She is an incredible wedding planner and I would highly recommend her, though last I checked with her, she’s planning on exiting the business for other exciting endeavors.

Before the Wedding in Portugal

We had set a date for June 2021 and of course everything changed when COVID hit and I lost my job. After we realized that it would be 4 years until I could get married, Jordan and I decided to have a mini-COVID wedding in 2020 to at least make our marriage legal before waiting another two years for the wedding in Portugal.

In hindsight, I’m extremely glad that we had this Dallas wedding. I rented the penthouse suite in The Westin Dallas Downtown for the weekend.

We got married in a private ceremony in the penthouse with just our immediate family present. We followed the ceremony with a family dinner catered to our suite. It was safe in terms of COVID, but it was also very intimate and special. I’m glad that we had this opportunity for the family to witness our nuptials because my parents were not prepared to travel to Portugal and it would have been very difficult for Jordan’s grandparents to travel across the ocean to another country.

We considered just leaving the wedding at that, but I couldn’t let go of my dream to have a wedding in Portugal. Additionally, after the mini-wedding, I realized quite a few things that I wanted to do differently. Luckily, a wedding in Portugal gave me the opportunity to have a re-do moment on some of the things I would have changed. For example, I wore a beautiful white modern dress for my mini-wedding by Halson Heritage. Though it was a chic and sophisticated dress that I love, I realized that I didn’t quite feel bridal in it. I realized that I wanted a moment in a dress that had a flowing train behind it. And boy did I find it!!

The Gown for my Wedding in Portugal

I fell in love with a stunning, simplistic off the shoulder wedding gown by Jenny Yoo. The luxe chiffon fabric made the dress feel romantic and I loved the details of the dress like a square neckline, a structured bodice, and a line of buttons down the back. I paired it with a gold floral belt and a gold teardrop halo from Cécile Boccara, in lieu of a veil.

The tailoring made the dress quite form fitting - more than I’m used to - but I loved the silhouette that it gave me. I wouldn’t want to walk around in this dress all day every day (at least not after the alterations) but I truly felt like a queen bride, as I had always envisioned!

So let’s jump ahead to my wedding in Portugal! We originally planned to have an elopement with just the two of us however I’m extremely happy that we were accompanied by two dear couples that could help us celebrate the special day. Two of our married friends joined us from Switzerland - they were present for our engagement, so it was very fitting that they could join. The other couple joined from Texas and celebrated our wedding in addition to their own anniversary.

Custom travel planning with brittany

The Ceremony Venue for my Wedding in Portugal

The ceremony was held at the site of Monserrate Palace, an absolute dreamy 17th century Moorish-style palatial villa in Sintra that was a summer resort of the Portuguese court.

Legend says that the villa lies where an old chapel used to sit within the Lunae Mons (Mountains of the Moon). It’s said that the area symbolizes a mythological hiding place for the goddess of the hunt, nature, and the moon - Diana. In Roman times, she was known as Cynthia, which has come to be known as present-day “Sintra”. I love the mysticism associated with this destination - it really does feel like you’ve entered into a fairy tale enchanted forest!

The villa lies inside of a large park with a lake, several springs and fountains, grottoes, and lush greenery. Within this forestry, lies some chapel ruins. This was the site of our ceremony. It was left in ruins by the 1755 Great Lisbon Earthquake, which in my opinion made the site even more enchanting. The ruins are literally a part of the surrounding nature with plans and roots growing in and around the structure.

Y’all know how much I love palaces, royal residences, and ruins, so this was an absolute dream come true.

Our officiant, Joanna, did a wonderful job as officiant. We both managed to get through the ceremony and our vows without any mistakes or too many tears of joy. I tried to stay as present as possible so that I could to brand the moments into my memory forever.

On another note, our photographers (Atmosphere) and videographer (We Love Film) were dynamite. I could not be more pleased with how both our photos and our videos turned out. It was a genuine pleasure working with them!!

wedding in portugal - monserrate palace, sintra

The Reception Venue for my Wedding in Portugal

Following the ceremony and some picture taking, we headed to our hotel, Casa Holstein (aka Quinta Sao Sebastiao), where our reception would take place.

Quinta Sao Sebastiao is conveniently located in Sintra, just 700 meters from Quinta da Regaleira in the city center. The main house is a beautiful pastel pistachio hue - this house is private and inaccessible by guests. The majority of the 13 guest rooms are located just next to the house and are decorated with antiques. There’s a swimming pool onsite as well as a yoga studio.

As you proceed down the hill of the property, you will reach a 2-bedroom private villa, known as the Garden Villa. This is where our reception was. I loved this spot because it was very private - there was no issue of noise restraints or time limits. It felt as though we just had our own little private party in the cottage surrounded by nature. Next to this villa was a beautiful opening for a former garden, which was perfect for our dinner table, dance area, cake area, and 3-piece band.

We were greeted by glasses of champagne as we arrived down the hill to the Garden Villa. I loved the creative work of Olivia and the florist, Happy Day Eventos.

We choose soft hues of blue with gold accents. The table setting was refined and romantic. Hand-painted place cards and menus took the tablescape to the next level - they were done by Michela of The Dandelion Art out of London. Her calligraphy skills are incredible.

wedding in portugal table setting, the dandelion art

Three members from the 24 Robbers Swing Band played music while we enjoyed cocktail hour and dinner. The vintage jazz music was simply perfect. The main singer’s voice is silky smooth; I could have listened to them play for hours.

24 robbers swing band at wedding in portugal

After our first dance, we all sat down for a delicious 3-course dinner from Fora de Casa. Here were our courses:

Asparagus and ham quiche with lettuce and rocket salad
Choice of:
- Stuffed chicken breast fill with “alheira de caça” (smoked sausage), served with stuffed potato filled with bacon and chives
- Roasted pork tenderloin with sauteed mushrooms and zucchini
Petit gateaux with vanilla ice cream and fresh raspberries

The catering was also delicious and our servers were incredibly attentive the entire evening. Our favorite course had to be the dessert - it was this decadent chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream. I’m not sure how they made it so unique, but we all agreed that it was insanely good.

As the sun began to set, the candlelight shone and created a magical setting. Since we had an incredible dessert as part of our three-course meal, we instead opted for a literal cheese cake! The cake was made up of three tiers of savory cheeses. I adore a good cheese paired with some port so it was only fitting that we had this versus a traditional wedding cake.

After dinner ended, we all sat and enjoyed each other’s company, listening to music and drinking wine. Midnight treats came out before we called it a night (which was perfect cool weather by the way).

Watch the Video of our Wedding in Portugal

I truly couldn’t have asked for a better day and evening. Though it was a long time coming, I finally had my dream wedding in Portugal! I am so grateful for the vendors who made this day possible. And I’m thrilled that we were able to celebrate with a very small group of close friends.