As we continue our autumnal tour of Europe (we've been in Spain, Italy, France and the Netherlands with our real weddings over the last few weeks), today we're off to the Algarve for Ana & Tiago's beautiful wedding in Portugal.
This sweet couple (and their super cute pooch Suki!) tied the knot with a sugar-laden celebration at Monte Amarelo in the very south of the country.
Their special day was captured beautifully by their friends, Passionate Wedding Photography and planned by the team at My Fancy Wedding.
With Ana's favourite flower (and one of ours!), protea, as their main inspiration, the couple created a bohemian style outdoor ceremony and intimate marquee reception.
With twinkling lights all around, long tables adorned in florals, greenery and candlesticks, their day had a luxe, yet relaxed feel with rich tones and plenty of texture.
With thoughtful gestures throughout their day, Ana & Tiago gifted their guests with personalised Polaroids, and had blankets and ice-cream on stand-by throughout the evening.
And that's before we mention the glamorous couple themselves, Ana was effortlessly stunning in her Pronovias wedding dress, while Tiago was perfectly suave in black tie.
Scroll down to be inspired by this entirely stylish Portuguese wedding.
Our Love Story
We met through my best friend (and maid of honor – Ana Luisa), I think she thought that our ways of being so different would complement.
And she was right!
We felt in love for each other, and after two years…last Christmas, with all family present, Tiago popped the question!
We married on May 29 this year.
The Inspiration
Our theme was Bohemian Chic. The colour palette was Mint Green, Pink Quartz, Gold, Black, White.
Our wedding in three words? Different, relaxed, classy.
The Ceremony
The soundtrack to the ceremony was played by musician friends of ours.
The ring bearer was our dog.
The Photography
The photographers chosen for our special day were long time friends, whose work we had already fallen in love with, and were undoubtedly the perfect people to capture our day.
The Music
Bride's Entrance: Hallellujah by Jeff Buckley played by live band
Entrance in the Dining Room: A Thousand Years by Christina Perri (Piano/Cello Cover) The Piano Guys
First dance with the bride's father: Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran. In the middle of the music, the bride's father handed the bride to the groom.
Opening of the dancefloor: My Baby by The Ronnettes “My Baby”;
Cake Cutting: All of Me by John Legend.
The Venue
We chose the venue because it was an outdoor place with green space and without physical barriers.
The possibility to create what we had in mind, including long tables, tent, lights hanging and the dance floor outside.
The friendliness of Sara, the owner of the venue, who allowed Suki (our four-legged daughter) to deliver the wedding rings.
And it had amazing food!
Favourite Moments
For the Bride: All the candies! (Ice cream van, candy bar, dessert table, cupcakes and three different wedding cakes)
For the Groom: A relaxed mood surrounded only by the most intimate people.
The Decor & Details
As Proteas were the bride’s favourite flower, they were core to the decorations.
We had yellow lights that mimicked fireflies, and plenty of flowers on the tables and at the ceremony.
The Refreshments
We served mixed canapés: Mini Meat Croquettes, Mini Shrimp Patties, Mini Codfish Cakes, Mini Samosas, Muslitos, Breaded Squid Strips, Dates with Bacon, Mini Pizzas, Roasted Chouriça, Mini Varied Toasts, Mini Tartlets and Mini Vol au Vent with Tuna Paste and Crab Paste (Delícias do mar).
We had a formal sit-down meal with pumpkin cream soup with mint and laminated almonds, roasted cod served with sweet potato and vegetables, stuffed chicken drumsticks with figs, accompanied with Basmati rice with pine nuts and vegetables.
Dessert was lemon ice-cream
We also had a candy buffet with fruit and cheese and three different wedding cakes one was covered with colored merengue cream, the second was a naked cake with with dripped frosting, and the third was a green watercolour cake with flowers on top.
The Budget
We splashed out on an ice-cream van and blankets for the guests.
We saved on favours for the guests, (we gave a Polaroid picture), we also didn't have a videographer.
The Honeymoon
We went to Malasia (Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi) for ten days… It was amazing.
After all, we needed time for each other and to recover from all the commotion, excitement and tiredness of the last days.
It’s a great place to relax, eat, get in touch with nature!
But choose carefully were you go… a stressed/busy honeymoon can turn out to be not what you needed.
All those cakes and candy! I just love Ana's wedding day look (the split in her dress makes it so modern and cool, don't you think?) and the reception decor was just fabulous.
Thanks so much to Passionate Wedding Photography, My Fancy Wedding and of course, Ana & Tiago for sharing their beautiful Algarve wedding with us.
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