Hey, crew-someone in the jet set at a palace in Portugal this morning for a wedding in lemon Grove?
Filled with citrus decor, our two newlyweds bathed in the glory that is the endless sun of Portugal. The funny thing is that the wedding of Andrew and Clay did not even take place during the lemon season! Thanks to their excellent planning team, the lemon trees decorated themselves with lemons (we got caught!) match all the fun citrus decor.
Apart from the lemons, the Palaciooli Palacio de Seteias was the true stellar piece of decoration that gave the most beautiful and grandiose setting to all the ceremonial and reception photos. We love that the couple was able to enjoy the view outside until after at night thanks to the very chic greenhouse tent on the lawn, a nice alternative to the typical party tent.
The destination and the place
For the ceremony at the Palaciooli Palacio de Seteias, we opted for an open-air service with our wildflower-lined aisles leading to a wedding arch with wisteria and other hanging flowers. While the field itself was a lemon tree, they weren’t really seasonal, so lemons were (a bit comically) decorated with all the trees.
A multi-storey glass tent was erected for the reception, so that the beautiful facade of the palace could serve as a backdrop. A large hanging platform hung on the tent, decorated with a living garden and many chandeliers that brought color and magic to the room.
habit
Clay and Andrew both wore custom-made costumes by Samuelsohn, about a relationship Andrew’s father had with a tailor. Clay had chosen a deep sapphire for his suit to complement his sapphire eyes, and Andrew had chosen a light gray to accentuate his darker features.
Favorite moments
For Clay, some of the highlights included her vows, which he said had the right amount of heart and humor and were lovingly personal. The service was officiated by Clay’s sister Melissa, who could not hold back her tears during the ceremony, comically asking the newlyweds for a peck just moments after their first peck as a husband.
Clay also liked that his friends do not waste a second to go out on the dance floor. It’s a group that likes to party, and the glass tent immediately wobbled under the weight of the crowd. It was a party that lasted until sunrise, which led to Clay’s last favorite moment of the evening. Clay and Andrew sipped champagne while watching the sunrise, overlooking the hedge maze of the palace and the beautiful hills below. It was magical.
For Andrew, one of his favorite moments during a break during the festivities was when he and Clay apologized for going to one of the balconies of the palace above the reception. Andrew and Clay were able to take a moment to reflect on how special the gathering was and how lucky they were to have these friends and families and this love.
Personal Data
In the grand arch of the palace we had huge, standing air conditioning lights that could be seen from all parts of the reception, as the tent was made of glass. The only two DIY elements were probably the gift wrappers of the Palacio de Seteias and a DIY vodka bar that the newlyweds set up on a cliff-top balcony, where guests could choose from a range of toppings and local flavors to make their own cocktails.
Flowers & Decor
While the flowers were beautiful during the festivities, neither Clay nor Andrew know the flowers enough to talk to them. Our wedding planners at Silhouette Weddings have made almost every choice. Clay and Andrew chose lemons for business card holders since they were married in a lemon garden, and wildflowers for the ceremony aisle, but that was it.
Advice For other couples
Since the first and biggest decisions (event rooms, groups, food) are more fun than the following thoroughness, try to turn each work cycle into an event or something funny. For us, we were waiting to choose plonk almost to the end, so that we could taste a range of local Portuguese flavors while making smaller choices and choices, such as cushions for the after-party and chairs for the veneer for the rehearsal dinner.
Special family traditions
The two married people are twins, Clay has an identical twin brother (David) and Andrew has a fraternal twin sister (Lauren), and the two married people had small meetings with some of their closest siblings and friends immediately before the ceremony and helped them prepare for the upcoming events. The bride and groom were each walked down the aisle by their parents, so it was a real family affair. Clay’s parents have been married for over 50 years, and Andrew is over 35 years old.
Moon
We went on a safari, including three camps in Kenya, planned for us by our old friend, the incomparable Paolo Parazzi from Africa Born Safaris, followed by a week on a private island off the coast of Mozambique – Azura Azalea.
