Natasha and William's 'Formal Bohemian' Sun Filled Wedding in Portugal by Portugal Wedding Photographer

It’s probably fair to say that not many of us have seen any sunshine for a while here in the UK, with holidays abroad off the menu for most of this year, and winter upon us. I don’t know about you but I am desperate for some summer sunshine! So today’s wedding could be just the thing you need for some virtual vitamin D. Natasha and William LOVE Portugal, so when it came to choosing where they should get married Portugal was the obvious choice. Their day was FULL of sunniness, warm air and some ‘Formal Bohemian’ decoration and flowers. A gorgeous day, captured beautifully by Anastasia from Portugal Wedding Photographer.

A weekend filled with sun, amazing food, lots of drink, lots of love, friends and family and, now, some of our most cherished memories.

Natasha and William were married on 13^th July 2019 at Sintra, Portugal. ‘We love Portugal and Tasha’s parents have a house there, so we decided to check out a few places out and instantly loved The Quinta where we ended up getting married. The weather and the views certainly helped! We had circa 120 guests and it took around a year to plan.’

How they met
We met at university. We have been together for 8 years.

The proposal
I proposed to Tasha in Sligo, Ireland on a beach that she used to visit as a child with her family.

How did you allocate your budget?
A lot of our budget was spent on the venue which included all food and drink. Other than that, the main bulk of our other money was spent on Tasha’s dress, Bridesmaid dresses, my suit and Groom’s party suits.

Where did you splurge and where did you save?
We splurged on the venue, but this in itself was a bit of a save because we were able to pay for a 2 day celebration in Portugal with great food and unlimited booze compared to what a 1 day celebration would have worked out to be in the UK. As well as the wedding day and accommodation for close family, the quinta also hosted a BBQ/pool party the following day for our hungover guests.

How did you choose your photographer?
We were advised on a couple of different options by our venue but chose Anastasia and her team and then met up a couple of months before the wedding to discuss everything in relation to the day, ensuring that everything we wanted was going to be OK. We had looked at the work of the various different options and thought her photos and videos were in keeping with what we had in mind. She even accommodated our hair brained idea to let of smoke bombs during one of the photos that we thought would look amazing…it didn’t and we had to stage a quick evacuation!

The dress
Rime Arodaky, Valentino shoes, Amaroq crown, Fraser Hart earrings

The suit and bridesmaids
Moss Bros custom made jacket with M & S trousers and Reiss shoes. Bridesmaids from TFNC London

Theme or colour scheme?
I wouldn’t say that we had a theme as such, but you could kind of describe it as ‘formal bohemian’.

Flowers
Roses, Lisianthus, Pampas grass, eucalyptus leaves

Decoration
Flower arrangements in the middle of each table, gold chairs, gold place settings

Food
Starter:pea and coriander soup and gazpacho. Fish: monkfish with sautéed clams and prawns. Main: minted lamb with crispy sweet potato and vegetables. Dessert: emulsion of passion fruit with chocolate

Wedding cake
Red velvet cake

Entertainment
‘Little Mess Duo’ played an acoustic style set during the cocktail reception and then an Irish band ‘Magmell’ played a short set (mainly because we overran) followed by a DJ in the evening. We had an Ice Cream cart during the cocktail reception along with various lawn games for our guests to play.

Who supplied the stationery?
Most was supplied by the venue, however we did have our own small touches.

Where did you go on your honeymoon
We had a ‘minimoon’ in Portugal for a few days at Penha Longa Golf and Spa resort, and then travelled around Japan later in the year whilst the Rugby World Cup was on where we managed to watch England -Australia, the ¾ play off between New Zealand and Wales and the final between England and South Africa. We also had a short stopover in Hong Kong, including an all night trip to Macau!

Personal touches
We provided a polaroid camera and loads of polaroid films for our guests to use throughout the day and evening. We asked people to take one for themselves and leave one for us as a keepsake and then there were various places to either hang the photos up or leave in jars for us to collect afterwards. We also had an ‘Instagram’ filter made that people could poke their heads through with a variety of different props. We also had some hanging circles from a couple of different trees in the cocktail area which had photos of various family members (and a pet) who had passed away and couldn’t therefore be with us on the day.

Special moments
Bill – I don’t have anything specific as the whole day was amazing. Being there with so many of our family and friends with the sun shining and a beautiful wife was all I needed. A slightly drunken first dance and the speeches will always stick in my mind though. England winning the Cricket World Cup the day after our wedding was also a great moment to watch with all our friends.
Tasha – Walking down the aisle was a pretty surreal moment. It really hit me that this was really happening after all the planning, seeing all the people dressed up and looking their best just waiting for us and then seeing my handsome husband at the end of the aisle. The speeches were hilarious and the food was spectacular.

Advice for other couples
Do what you want to do, and don’t worry about what other people have done before you. It’s your day so make sure you do what you want and let it reflect your personalities. Also, things may not end up exactly as you planned them originally, but it doesn’t make the day any less perfect. Mainly, just enjoy yourself!

What was your biggest surprise of the day?
How well the first dance went considering the lack of practise and the amount of alcohol consumed beforehand!