Laura & Conor’s 50s Retro Algarve Wedding By Ana Parker Photography

Todays wedding is a real thing of beauty! A big dash of Portuguese sunshine, a splash of colour and a gorgeous bride and groom.  Ana Parker Photography did me the honour of sending this gorgeous Algarve wedding and I’m so glad she did. The photography is beautiful and the wedding itself is just wonderful. Laura and Conor chose an intimate wedding of 22 and then really went to town on the destination and the little details. A 50s retro feel surrounds the whole day with accents of aqua and peach which really brings it to life. With some beautiful portrait shots on the beach, this wedding is a real beauty from beginning to end. Enjoy!

‘A Vibrant Vintage Algarve Wedding for Two Music Lovers, and their closest friends and family. It rocked!’

Laura & Conor were married on 28th May 2015 at Canico restaurant Tres Irmaos beach, near to Alvor in Portugal. ‘Our ceremony was on the cliff top, with reception drinks and speeches under the shade of the trees overlooking the Med. Then on to the open air restaurant nestled in the cliffs for dinner & dancing, with a chill-out area and late night dancing on the beach. Our wedding planners (Unique & Chic) even managed to fulfill our wish of cutting the cake in a cave on the beach. We love the natural beauty of the Algarve coast – like Cornwall but with decent weather. We had a total of 22 guests and it took 8 months to plan.’

How they met
Both London-dwellers, we met on a dating website for music lovers (called Tastebuds) in 2011. We are both music fanatics. For our wedding party back in London, where friends performed in various musical acts, Laura’s (bass guitar) band played, and Conor (guitar) joined on stage for a song or two.

The Proposal
Conor proposed to Laura at sunset in Galle, Sri Lanka, with a £10 ring from eBay. It was almost dark, as Laura had been meticulously taking photos of all angles of the Old Fort at sunset.

How did you allocate your budget
We knew that to host a similar wedding in the UK, would be at a momentous cost, and many many many more guests, so doing it abroad with a smaller intimate group (followed by a party later in London) made more sense.

Where did you splurge and where did you save
We splurged by having an open bar and beach chillout area set up with sofa, beanbags, rugs and seating. Came in very useful as dancing on sand for hours is very tiring. We think our wedding day in general was amazing value for the amazing day we and our guests had.

How did you choose your photographer
Ana came recommended by our planners, and we immediately loved Ana’s artistic / documentary style, from looking at her portfolio online. www.anaparkerphotography.com. We arranged an ‘engagement’ shoot, and she was very down to earth and relaxed so knew she was right for us.

The Dress
Dress by Laura & Emma at Fur Coat No Knickers in London. It was a customised version of their Martini Fizz vintage style dress. A fantastic experience and wonderful end result! The dress transported no problem on the flight, courtesy of BA. Shoes by Irregular Choice. Pearly Girl in White. Parasols & retro sunnies we sourced from various shops on eBay.

The Suit and Bridesmaids
Conor created his look from a tailored waistcoat from Gresham Blake in Brighton, and trousers from Daniel Hechter. All finished off with some coral converse! Bridesmaid dresses and flower hairclips from Vivien of Holloway, London.

Theme or Colour Scheme
The style was 50s retro in aqua, with dashes of coral and peach.

Flowers
Peonies, roses, gerberas and more. The florist dyed gerberas to a turquoise colour to be in-keeping with the colour scheme.

Decoration
Bunting, candles, coloured paper hearts on sticks, vintage suitcase for cards, customised guitar picks, a Vespa!

Food
Selection of fresh fish/seafood dishes from the Canico restaurante menu

Wedding Cake
A fantastic record/skull rock and roll creation from Vera at Amor as Fatias in Portimao. We cut it by candlelight in a cake on the beach. On the top, a Metallica-themed record made of icing, ‘For Whom the Wedding Bell Tolls’ :)

Entertainment
The restaurant supplied a DJ. The sound system onto the beach was incredible and we danced into the early hours. We planned all our music set lists meticulously, and Laura’s brother Richard played acoustic guitar during the ceremony. Ceremony music included Smashing Pumpkins, the Beatles, and Super Furry Animals.

Personal or Handmade Touches
Our wonderfully personal ceremony by Becky de Sancha, included our own vows. Lots of decor – placenames were mini photos of the guests inside a small photo frame. We had a box of flipflops so ladies could kick off their heels. We hand made fans with the program for the day on. Our artist friend Aoife created a stunning print of a tree for us, and the guests added their finger prints, as a memento of the day.

Special Moments
Too many to mention! Sending my bridesmaids down the steep hill to the aisle, Richard’s guitar playing during the ceremony, the speeches had us in tears of laughter, photos with the bridesmaids on the clifftop was lots of fun, cake cutting in cave, running into the sea with the wedding planners at the end of the day (and getting my dress wet! …only a bit) and the 5 hours of dancing (including System of a Down on the beach)!

Advice to other couples
Make lists of everything, and take some days afterwards to relax with your guests if you can.

Biggest surprise
For our parents, probably having a ‘wine ceremony’ as part of our ceremony surprised them. Or then again perhaps it didn’t… Our celebrant Becky suggested this, and included beautiful symbolic wording to accompany us toasting our marriage!

Supplier Shout Outs

• Wedding Planners – [email protected] – Cannot speak highly enough of these guys. They made our dreams come true!
• Photographer – [email protected] – incredible photos we will cherish for ever – she is amazing, and we plan to have photos taken by Ana in the future!
• Celebrant – www.portugalweddingceremonies.com
• Wedding Cake – [email protected]
• Wedding Dress – www.furcoatnoknickers.co.uk
• Canico Restaurant – www.canicorestaurante.com
• SquareTree Event – www.squaretree.pt
• Xeli Florist, Lagos – [email protected]
• Aoife Murphy – www.facebook.com/aoifemurphyart

For more information on Ana’s work please go to:

www.anaparkerphotography.com / FACEBOOK / PINTEREST / I: anavonp / @AnaParkerPhotog