Pretty, Pastel Hued Wedding In Portugal

When asked to describe their big day in three words, Maria and Giovanni simply said…

BEST DAY EVER!

Yep, their wedding in Portugal was filled with their favourite things – good food, fine wine, hearts, birds and, in Maria's case, mice. (Note her paw print ink and cute, mouse faced flats!) A soft colour palette of pale blue, pink and silver ran throughout the day and the pretty, illustrated stationery.

Maria looked beautiful in her delicate, lace wedding dress teamed with a sparkly sash and ‘something blue' Prada heels. She carried a pink and white bouquet wrapped in vintage lace, adorned with a sentimental photo of her mother and her as a child.

Thanks to Branco Prata for sharing these romantic, timeless photos with us today.

The Flowers

I had a simple bouquet made out of big white “Cravos”, very Portuguese flowers, tied with a vintage (more than 50 years old) lace, called “renda de bilros”, made my grandmother. I also had a Brooch Pin with my mother picture, this way she was with me during all ceremony.

The Ceremony

Readings were all done by my “sister” and two big friends!

The Photography

First time we saw Branco Prata blog, we decided we had to have them! André is an amazing photographer and Sofia idealized the perfect paper goods! With them we meet Fabio (Amazing Rabbit), and what can I say? We couldn’t have asked for anything better!

The Venue

Finding the venue was easy. When we first visited Taylor’s we feel in love with the beautiful view, the food and, of course, the wine!

Decor & Details

Decoration was very simple, but extremely romantic. We choose white table cloths, light pink roses adorning each table and some wood letter decorations. Our table had some vintage bird cases and three silver birds offered by a special “French” friend.

For favors we wanted something unique and special to our guests that would reflect our two cultures! So we decided to offer: mini bottles of Oporto wine and “Bèrtulas”, a traditional Sardinian shepherd bag.

The Refreshments

Food is very important in both of our cultures and we couldn’t disappoint our guests! I think we had almost everything: Oporto wine tasting, Portuguese appetizers, sit-down meal (hot appetizer, fish (bacalhau) and meat dishes, sweet), cheese and cakes buffet, wedding cake, open bar, and a mid-night snack (Francesinhas and caldo verde).

The Music

Apart from the celestial voice of Sofia Guedes from “Musica na Igreja” during the religious ceremony, there was a special moment during the cake opening…we choose a medley of these songs: “Quelqu'un m'a dit” from Carla Bruni, “Ponte entre nos” from Pedro Abrunhosa and “Nuvole bianche” from Ludovico Einaudi.

Unique / Special Details or Moments

My favourite part of the wedding, other than saying yes to the person I love…the special kiss my husband gave me after cutting the cake and, of course, see all our friends and family make the trip all the way to Oporto. It was very special to have them all with us!