“...live every day as if
I've deliberately come back
to this one day, to enjoy it,
as if it was the full final day
of my extraordinary,
ordinary life.” - About Time

After a 2020 pandemic-cancelation of our Portugal wedding and two attempts at rescheduling, we finally decided to go to Portugal just the two of us for an intimate ceremony and dinner. Not even a midwest blizzard on Halloween could stop us from flying to Portugal the next day!

Ceremony Venue: The cliffs outside of Quinta Albasol and Quinta da Albandeira in Porches, Portugal
Getting Ready and Dinner: Quinta da Albandeira
Chef: The Farm House Project (local)
Photographer: João at Visual Stories Co. (local)
Florist: Arte & Flores (local)
Makeup and Hair: Alexandra Castro Maquilhagem (local)
Dress: Laure de Sagazan (based in Paris; atelier in SoHo)
Rings: Heidi Gibson Designs and EB Horn in Boston
Vow Books: xoxoSugarplum on Etsy

In 2019, we chose Portugal as our wedding location because it was where we could find the biggest house rental near the water. We visited in October of 2019 to get our plans squared away for 2020, which included visiting the ceremony spot on the cliffs outside of Quinta Albasol (pictured below). While the pandemic put those plans on pause, we loved our time there and couldn’t wait to get back. We re-connected with Cecilia, the owner of Quinta Albasol, and she let us know the house right next door, Quinta da Albandeira, was available. The house had two rooftops, panoramic views, and a separate suite for getting ready. Cecilia ended up being an integral part of making our day so special.

The villa’s courtyard was the perfect first look spot. Caroline worked with the Laure de Sagazan atelier in SoHo to make her dress in 2019. In 2021, she had her final fitting, in anticipation of our second attempt at rescheduling. The Delta wave said “nope, not now,” and the dress sat in our closet for the next two years. This was the first time Riley saw the dress. The hair piece and the cardigan, shown later, is also from Laure de Sagazan.

Even in our original plans for a wedding with our family and friends, we intended to say some private words to each other. This trip to Portugal was the perfect way to share those words. While we drafted some special words to say, we couldn’t decide if we wanted an officiant or not. We were just so happy to finally be in Portugal doing something to commemorate our marriage that we admittedly weren’t fussed about details. The wonderful Cecilia offered to officiate and worked with a local celebrant, Lucy Fox, to write our ceremony using our draft. We are endlessly grateful to Cecilia and Lucy for making our ceremony even more special than we imagined. As much as we treasure the photos of us during the ceremony, it’s also touching to see Cecilia in them. It serves as a reminder of how someone who is nearly a stranger to us could be so caring and generous. She stepped in as our wedding coordinator, our venue host, our celebrant, and now - our friend. We highly recommend staying in her holiday home, Quinta Albasol, which you can book through Airbnb.

Right after the ceremony, a dog walked up to us and just stood still right next to us for a couple of minutes. The timing was so strange and we said it was our dog at home, Hollis, coming to visit us and say congrats 😊 The dog was following a few horseback riders along the trail, but no one knew which house on the cliff the dog belonged. We’re grateful the dog chose us to hang out with for a couple of minutes. That wasn’t the only strange, serendipitous thing to happen that day. In the last moments of the ceremony, the sun shone right on us, and while it was somewhat windy all day, the moment we sat down for dinner on the roof, the wind stopped. There was absolutely zero wind for the entirety of our dinner, even the candlesticks stayed lit.

We took another walk out to the cliffs for sunset - Caroline wore flats this time 😆 - as the sun peeked out of the clouds. Our photographer João from Visual Stories Co. made the day so fun and carefree. It was bittersweet to say goodbye, but now we can tell everyone we know to use João for your Portugal photography needs! He also does incredible landscape photography.

Our first dance was to the song “At Last” by Etta James. Seemed fitting given the three years we waited to have this moment 🥰

The dinner was perfect - we’re still in awe. The food, the weather, the music, and - most of all - the time to relax and soak in what a beautiful day we just had together. Francesco from The Farm House Project made: crostini with beetroot. Red sourdough with chorizo. Taralli from Italy that Francesca brought back from her recent trip. Croquettes with ahi tuna and marinated ricotta. Ceviche with incredibly fresh fish from the market - red mullet and burrata with marinated onions, charred limes, and fermented tomato water. Mushroom risotto with mushroom jus and the creamy mascarpone cheese. Pork belly sous vide 68 degrees celsius for 12 hours, finished in frying oil with yellow onions, apple gel, and scallion oil. A palette cleansing dessert of [missing this word, we need to email him to ask haha] with apple and white chocolate. And, for the main dessert, sticky toffee pudding.

Here are some more of our favorite photos ❤️