COLOURFULWORLD

Wednesday 9 May 2018

Portugal - The wedding of the year - Day 11

No, it's not Meghan and Harry's wedding! 
The "wedding of the year" was the code name my niece Tania gave her wedding page on Facebook - T & B Wedding of the year 2018, which she set up in December 2017.

On this page invited guests were informed of various things related to the wedding as well as guests were able to post - eg: if anyone needed accommodation or transport arranged, various Youtube funny wedding videos, polls, photos, etc.


On Sunday 8th of April, we woke up to a sunny day, with a chance of rain later on in the day.

After a make up session, we put on our fancy clothes and were at my sister's house just down the road at 11.00am, so that we could nibble something and take  photos with the bride and the family.




The bridesmaids in Mint and Lilac dresses


Family before the wedding at my sister's place - my daughter in the middle and my other niece on the left were bridesmaids. (photo from the photographer)

















Photo session over, we drove about 15 minutes to Quinta da Barreta,  Alcabideche, the venue where Tania and Bruno's wedding would take place at midday. 


The wedding venue - Quinta da Barreta






When the bride arrived and joined the groom under the white canopy, the Master of ceremonies called upon some of the couple's friends and family members who gave speeches or sang their praise about the young couple's love story. 
Some of the speeches were quite emotional and a lot of people had tears in their eyes including the bride and groom.








              

   











 It was then time for Tania and Bruno to say their vows and exchange the wedding rings.
Just as the bride started speaking the rain drops started falling and most of the guests who didn't have umbrellas scattered to the undercover area just outside the reception hall.


Bride and Groom listening to speeches, Tania reading her vows, showing their rings



















The ceremony over, people congregated on the porch to take photos with the couple.

Our daughter, my husband, the bridal couple, me and Karina's partner (photo from the photographer)









Tania, who is a teacher in Angola is very artistic and was very involved with all decorations of the wedding venue. She used bottle corks which she had guests collect for her via a request on her "wedding of the year Facebook page"  and made the table numbers, the initials for their table, hearts and the very cute cake topper. She also put together game and art packs for the kids corner, printed cards with guests names for the tables, placards with funny sayings that some kids carried, scratchies for every guest, some of them with prizes - like a kiss from the bride, a dance with the bride or groom, a dinner with the couple.... All fabulous details that made the day special and intimate. 

Signs the bride made - "Keep calm girls, I'm still available" or "Uncle don't run away, 
my aunty is beautiful".
Bamboo poles with name cards where you could clip your instant camera photo, cork 
decorations, twigs with names of tables and guests, boab treet drawn by my husband's 13 year niece.
lapel flowers, table decoration, my husband and I with my sister and brother in law

After dinner, the first dance took place and later on at around 9pm the couple cut the cake and a slice was distributed to the guests and we toasted to their happiness with a glass of sparkling-wine.                                                                                     
   
The first dance

Toasting the bridal couple in front of the cake, the cake topper made by Tania



I have to praise Quinta da Barreta, the wedding venue for such wonderful work - the service was great, the desserts buffet was amazing,  the venue was beautiful inside and outside, the toilet facilities were modern, there was a kids room with cots, a kid's corner where they had Ipads and toys for them to play with. I didn't see the kitchen, but my sister said it was very clean and organized and that was one of the reasons they chose this venue to hold the ceremony. Five stars!!


The young crowd was still dancing away at 11pm when we decided to go home and realized that we hadn't taken a family photo where the groom was included. So I rounded the troops and one last photo was taken.

Family photo with the bridal couple (photos from the photographer) with the very last one being a fun photo :)

Wishing the wonderful couple all the happiness in the world!

34 comments:

  1. She looked great, he looked good, you looked lovely. What more can I say. Well, I can say more. I now understand after my nephew's wedding and your niece's wedding where the bar is set.

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    1. Thanks Andrew. That bad that you had to run to the bar? LOL.

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  2. That was a wonderful post to read, Sami!
    Everybody looks stunning and there is a lot of creativity! And fun, of course. And rain... luck :-)

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    1. Thanks Iris. Everyone always looks great for important functions I guess. After a make-up session (as I hardly ever use make-up) even I felt like a princess:)

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  3. A day that will stay in the family memory made even more special with the beautiful details!

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    1. Quite true Paula, I think all the small details that the bride took the time to make, were important to her, but also made us all feel special.

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  4. Wonderful shots! A radiant bride!

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  5. What a fantastic and beautiful wedding. Your niece is truly very creative. She looks so different from photos of the civil ceremony. She is definitely gorgeous.

    What a fun read and I was impressed by the entire event. So delighted you took photos to share, along with the official photographer's photos, too.

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    1. Thanks Elizabeth, it was a wonderful event.

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  6. Wonderful! congratulations

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  7. Ah! Que casamento maravilhoso!! Que os noivos sejam muito felizes! : )

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  8. looks like a nice wedding

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  9. What a great party and the bride looks wonderful, she is a real beauty in her wedding dress.

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    1. Thank you Marianne. I think all brides look amazing, they have a special glow :)

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  10. She is a dazzling bride and I loved the mint/lilac of the attendant dresses and that each was different, yet coordinated. The cake looked very elegant. I think it was INDEED the wedding of the year!

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    1. Thanks Jeanie. At least for the bridal couple it was for sure the wedding of the year, lol.
      The cake was made by the Quinta too.

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  11. Such a lovely selection of photographs here, weddings are so enjoyable.

    All the best Jan

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    1. Thanks Jan, this one was really nice for sure.

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  12. Your gorgeous niece and her handsome new husband look fabulouso together Sami, talk about beautiful bride oh la! Shame about the rain but it doesn't look as if it dampened spirits at all ☺ You looked pretty fabulous yourself! Happy weekend, enjoy your 'early' Mother's Day tomorrow ✨

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    1. Thanks Grace. I managed to get a dress online that actually fitted and was a good price. Have a lovely Mother's day too.

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  13. Come on Sami! All brides look amazing but this bride is simply the most gorgeous bride of all. She is my baby daughter. Beijinhos

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  14. Dearest Sami,
    That sounds really like having been a perfect wedding event; except those drops of rain at the wrong moment...
    Love the cork cake topper; very cleverly worked in.
    A pity that in the top family photo one person wears sunglasses. I hate it when people wear sunglasses in a photo, other than being a tourist in a sunny spot.
    Beautiful bride too; a very exotic family.
    Congrats to all.
    Hugs,
    Mariette

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  15. I really enjoyed this post about the wedding. What a beautiful family!

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  16. Everything was so beautiful, including the happy couple! Congratulations to them! Of course I have to disagree and say that the wedding of the year was mine ;)

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