This year, I had my first wedding at Quinta dos Machados, which is located close to Mafra, Portugal. My first visit was in early 2019, to spend a weekend there with my family. At the time I suspected it could be a beautiful place for a wedding. Now I’m absolutely sure it is!
I met Inês and João in 2020. Their wedding was scheduled for the same year, but a little something called Covid-19 made them change the date to 2021! I’m glad the risked changing the date, because we now know it was the right decision.
Bur first things first: here’s a little preview in black and white, just the way I like it!
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João proposed to Inês on the beach of Ponta Preta (Cape Verde), where he used to spend his summers as a child. He gave her his great-grandmother’s engagement ring, inside a seashell he found on that very beach.
Back in Portugal, they had the help of a wedding planner to take some pressure off their hands. But event still, not everything was easy! Besides changing the date, they were forced to reduce the number of guests and have the dinner on the outside. The good news is that everything turned out to be better than they had idealized!
Here’s how the day went, now in colour!
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I asked them recently if they would change anything on their wedding day if they had the chance. Their reply was “everything was perfect but the day went really fast – if only we could stretch time!”
Time is a rare commodity on the wedding day, so they chose my photography for its documentary style: “we wanted to relive the day, remember the good times and even see things we hadn’t witnessed on the day.”
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João and Inês were going to have their honeymoon at the Maldives. I made them an offer they couldn’t refuse: I would be their photographer the whole time, for free! They just had to pay for the trip and stay. … but they somehow refused! 😉
They recently told me it’s really worth spending a few days on Meeru Island, to sunbathe, enjoy the good food and swim with ray fish and (little) sharks.
This is one of those weddings I wish I could relive. I got along with so many guests that I had to cut the conversations short, otherwise I wouldn’t do my work properly. I felt like a guest and it that helped me take more natural photographs, because I could get so close to people.
WEDDING VENDORS
Venue: Quinta dos Machados
Bride’s Shoes: Zilian
Groom’s suit: iLon Fraques
Wedding rings – Mirabela
Wedding Planner – Outlux Weddings and Events
Catering – Encontrus
Makeup artist – Elisa Reis
Videographer – Choose Love
