Whimsical Destination Wedding at Quinta Da Penalva in Sintra, Portugal

Lauren Megerdichian
July 27, 2022
Categories: Real Weddings, The Blog, Whimsical

From pops of color at their floral-focused ceremony to endless strings of twinkle lights at their al fresco reception, today’s wedding in Portugal is the definition of whimsical. After visiting the groom’s family home in Sintra, this adorable couple knew it was the perfect place to host their destination wedding weekend! Planned by Sofia Nascimento Studios and captured by Diane Sotero Photography, the full gallery is chockfull of details you don’t want to miss.

From Diane Sotero Photography… Nestled among gentle hills and a majestic pine forest, Anastasia & Sebastian gathered friend and family in the whimsical town of Sintra, Portugal to host their destination wedding. Anastasia from Russia and Sebastian from the U.K, hosted family & friends from Russia, Ukraine, U.K and many other corners of the world, to celebrate their love.

What did you envision your wedding would be like prior to planning?

From the Bride… I envisioned it being magical and whimsical, we wanted it to be an event that people would always remember and for it to be a celebration of not only us but our families as well. We wanted our guests to feel like they were on holiday.

Why did you choose your destination wedding location?

I fell in love with Sintra when first visiting Sebastian’s parents home. They have a summer home in Portugal and the architecture and greenery perfectly fit our wedding theme requirements.

What was your favorite moment?

My favourite moment was just before I was due to walk down the aisle. Standing at the back with my father, having this moment with him, this moment of pride and joy before walking down the aisle, to my husband, with one of our favourite songs and everyone we loved being there with us to share this moment.

Tell us about the flowers, your favors, cake, etc.

We went through a bit of a change cycle with flowers, first we wanted everything to be in pastel tones, but then re-assessing the landscape we decided to add more pops of colour, and it worked perfectly.

About the gown:

I was one of the covid-brides. When we got engaged most of the shops were closed, so I didn’t start my gown shopping until very late, and then everything was so delayed as there was such a backlog. I found the gown shopping so hard, but one thing is true when you find the one you will know it right away! I was going for practical and simple vibes, as I wanted to be able to freely move and dance in my dress.

We were really keen to incorporate beautiful Portuguese culture into the wedding, so we had lots of blue colour, Portuguese food, Dulce de leche cake, Douro wine and of course favours.

We wanted favours to be timeless, without any references of our wedding, one of these “if you know, you know” things. So we’ve gone for cork coasters with a date and place, and some beautiful tile biscuits, all packaged in the custom made boxes matching our invitations.

What is one piece of advice that you could give to brides-to-be?

My piece of advice for future brides would be to get a wedding planner and not to try to do it on your own and also delegate as much as possible to your bridesmaids.