Casamento na Pousada de Palmela: Wai Ming + Scott

Fechamos esta semana de primavera com um casamento na Pousada de Palmela.

É o mais bonito dos dias de Wai Ming + Scott, que escolheram o imponente Castelo de Palmela e toda a gloriosa vista circundante para celebrar. Este casal americano que vive na Suiça preparou uma festa intimista para receber a família e amigos que vinham de tão longe: acomodar tempo para falar com cada um, para estar de facto com todas as suas pessoas era para eles fundamental.

As words of advice de Wai Ming são certeiras: guardem tempo para relaxar e estar, absorver tudo o que aconteceu, e só depois, embarquem num avião para uma fantástica e apaixonada lua-de-mel.

O registo fotográfico é da dupla Menino conhece Menina.

Bom fim-de semana!

 

When the answer was “yes!”, how did you imagine your wedding day?

There was no doubt in my mind that we would have a destination wedding. My husband and I absolutely love traveling so nobody was surprised by this. We are Americans living in Switzerland that got registered in Denmark but had our wedding in Portugal! We initially had a few ideas for places (i.e. Napa Valley, Greece, Madeira, Hawaii, etc.). I envisioned a venue that was naturally stunning yet private and intimate. We didn’t want anything flashy, stereotypical or cookie-cutter.

 

Did you feel ready or this was a nerve-racking journey?

I felt very prepared overall but the slightly nerve-racking thing was I had never personally visited the venue. I saw the venue for the first time literally two days before the wedding.

 

At what point of the wedding planning did you feel, “this is for real”?

It started sinking in for us when our wedding guests started responding ‘yes’ to the wedding and booking their flights!

 

Does the end result match the original plan or is it very different? Did you have any help?

Fortunately, we had hired a local wedding planner who was familiar with the venue –- this was one of the wisest decisions we made in the wedding planning process. And yes, the result was true to the initial ideas. I was very very clear with what I wanted (and also what I did not want). My wedding planner went above and beyond though!

 

What was fundamental to you? And unimportant?

Apart from things like food, photography and music, we wanted to make sure that we actually had time to spend with our guests. We’ve been to countless weddings, where we barely got to speak to the bride and groom. 100% of our guests had to get on an airplane to attend our wedding so we really tried to make sure we got to speak and spend time with each of them. We arranged our wedding day schedule a bit differently from a typical American wedding so we could do so. We also wanted to help create experiences for our guests through personal touches and adding a twist to some typical wedding activities (i.e. medieval costumes for the photo booth area, putting their first names on Portuguese tile cookies, a Polaroid seating chart, tile painting, etc.).

Things that were not that important to us: table menus and linens, guestbook, wedding cake, type of flowers, etc.

 

What was easier? And more difficult?

Because I wanted simple décor, it was very easy to communicate what I wanted: lots of greenery with either white or deep red flowers. The venue (a castle!) was beautiful by itself and we did not feel a need to go crazy with décor.

Figuring out the table seating arrangements was definitely one of the more difficult tasks. We had assigned seating so trying to determine who would get along well with each other was an interesting process. And also, trying to figure out how to transport many things from the U.S.A. all the way to Portugal was challenging.

 

What was the sentimental peak of your day?

When we did “first looks” – apparently this is very unusual in Portugal but it’s when the bride and groom see each other privately before the ceremony. It was very special to have this intimate moment with my now-husband (and it helped calm our nerves for the ceremony). Some people think it takes away from the moment when the groom sees the bride for the first time at the actual ceremony but my husband still got choked up when I walked down the aisle. We also chose to do “first looks” because we knew we would not have very much time just by ourselves for the remainder of the day.

 

And the peak of fun?

The fireworks! We actually had no idea what to expect but they were incredible (our guests still talk about it even now!). It set the tone for the rest of the evening and everyone was ready to dance afterwards.

 

A special detail…

I lost my father to cancer back in 2013 so it was very important that his memory was still alive at our wedding. I had a bouquet photo charm specially made for my flowers. One side had a picture of my father; the other side was a photo from my parents’ wedding. In this way, he was still ‘walking’ me down the aisle. We made sure to mention him in our wedding programs as well. Lastly, I did the father-daughter dance with my dad’s best friend (i.e. my godfather) and that was very special.

 

Now that it has happened, would you change anything?

We had a little miscommunication about music but nobody seemed to notice. But overall, we wouldn’t change a thing! Scott and I have such fond memories from that day that we love re-watching our wedding video.

 

Some words of advice for upcoming brides…

Stay true to yourself and try not to get swept up by every wedding trend out there. Pinterest can be a great source of inspiration but it can also overwhelm you with choices. Stay within your budget because there really is no sense going into debt for a wedding.

But one of the best piece of advice we received was to NOT go on our honeymoon immediately after the wedding. You will be so utterly exhausted, both physically and emotionally, and the last thing you’ll want to do is get on an airplane to some far-flung destination. Instead, spend the day after the wedding with your guests doing something low-key and relaxing.

 

 

Os fornecedores envolvidos:

 

convites e materiais gráficos: convites Wedding Sundae Studio; welcome poster Indigo Bear Design, marcadores de mesa No Ordinary Emporium; programas SALTED Design Studio e plano de mesa com polaroids feito pela noiva;

espaço e catering: Pousada do Castelo de Palmela;

fato do noivo e acessórios: tuxedo My Suit, laço The Tie Bar e relógio Rolex;

vestido de noiva e acessórios: vestido de noiva Kenneth Wilson, vestido de festa Eddy K e sapatos Badgley Mishka;

maquilhagem: Vânia Oliveira;

cabelo: Carla Kuchembuch;

organização, bolo dos noivos, bouquet de noiva e decoração: Ivan Sarychev, Portugal Wedding;

ofertas aos convidados: biscoitos em forma de azulejo da T Bakes;

fotografia: Menino Conhece Menina;

video: Eliabe Campos, Overall Studio.

 

Se gostaram destas imagens da dupla Menino conhece Menina, vejam também estes casamentos.