Jodi and Chad had their elopement in Monserrate, Sintra. They chose the ruins of the chapel in Monserrate, which is probably my favourite place for elopements in Portugal.
This year I’ve been having more and more couples coming from the United States and Canada to get married in Portugal. I was fortunate to photograph Jodi and Chad’s beautiful elopement in the grounds of Monserrate, which located in Sintra, Portugal.
History of Monserrate
The history of Monserrate dates to the beginning of Portugal. It is said that the first Portuguese king, Afonso Henriques, built a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary in 1093. Four centuries later another chapel was built on top of the ruins of the old chapel, dedicated to Our Lady of Monserrate. That was destroyed by the 1755 Lisbon earthquake and in the late 18th century and English merchant, namerd Gerard de Visme, rented the farm and built a neo-Gothic house over the ruins of the chapel. Over the coming century a landscaped garden was built and the estate would be bought by Francis Cook. The first two pictures show the palace and a detail of the neo-Gothic interior.
The Sintra Hills, including the Park of Monserrate, were defined as World Heritage Cultural Landscape by UNESCO in 1995.
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Jodi and Chad live in Mackinac Island, USA. Chad told me there’s something very particular about that island: there are no cars in it! That peaked my interest so I had to learn more about it. As a result I’m now starting to plan a trip there!
It was a pleasure to get to know Jodi and Chad. We were very lucky that the weather on their wedding day was great, with sun and mild temperatures. It had been raining the days before and after.
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If you liked this post and would like to see more, feel free to have a look at my other wedding work.
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