Atelier Pronovias Glamour and Valentino Rockstuds for a Palatial Black Tie Wedding

Happy Saturday readers.  Do you have anything nice planned for today?  I’m going to be helping my husband at a Christmas market which is always good fun.  Whatever you’re doing today, please make time to read about today’s gorgeous wedding, set in sunny Portugal and featuring the most beautiful gown and the most glamorous of celebrations.

Meet Kiki and Anders, who married on the 24th of September 2016 in Kiki’s home town of Lisbon, in a beautiful ceremony at Basilica dos Martires, followed by a fabulous reception at the Palace of the Marquises of Fronteira.  Kiki’s stunning lace gown was by Atelier Pronovias and purchased at the flagship store in Madrid.  I absolutely adore the fabric and the long sleeves- such an incredibly elegant look.

“I felt the happiest bride in my custom dress, tailored in lace, chantilly and tulle.  I wanted a classic and simple wedding look and I knew the gown had to include lace.  The staff at Serrano Madrid were so sweet and made the process really enjoyable.”

Photography by Catarina Zimbarra

The day was planned by Vanda and Francisca of Tudo é festa and captured on camera by the talented Catarina Zimbarra.

“I wanted everything to be whimsical and had a ton of ideas and Vanda and Francisca made everything possible. Since we had so many guests flying from all over the world to our wedding we really wanted to show them the highlights of Portugal: culture, Fado, gastronomy and wines, history and above all the hospitality of the Portuguese people.  We were also looking for a venue that was timeless, that we knew would still be standing in a hundred years time, filled with history, meaning and symbolism.”

For the ceremony, Kiki wore a beautiful cathedral length, lace edged veil, also from Pronovias, which worked so well with the amazingly opulent venue.  On her feet she wore studded heels by Valentino while for jewellery she kept things simple so as not to distract from the gown.

“I don’t know if every bride has that epic moment when you know you’ve absolutely found ‘The One’, but I had.  I felt that I didn’t need anything else, I wanted to look exactly like during the fittings with natural loose hair.”

“I kept my jewellery very simple, wearing only my mother’s diamond earrings, Cartier love bracelet and my engagement ring.”

Kiki’s sister was her maid of honour (I adore the photos taken before the ceremony of the two of them together) and also wore a beautiful custom dress by Atelier Pronovias as Kiki really wanted her to wear white too.  The bridesmaids meanwhile, also looked lovely in Needle & Thread dresses in shades of pink and blush.

“My work took me to Denmark and Anders and I met in Copenhagen. We just had this genuine and very rare mental connection and you just can’t beat that. I am very very lucky.  I know now that after we had celebrated Christmas in Lisbon with my family, Anders went on a secret walk with my father to ask his permission to ask me to marry him.  After Christmas we left for Thailand to meet some friends for New Year celebrations and Anders proposed during our stay.  Time stopped as he dropped on his knees and revealed the ring.”

Kiki was accompanied down the aisle by her father, to ‘Nessum Dorma’, which must have sounded spectacular in that huge space.

“I don’t know that I have ever been as happy as I was walking down that aisle and seeing Anders crying waiting for me.”

To cement their vows, the couple exchanged rings from Cartier before leaving the church to a crowd of guests and passers by, wishing to add their congratulations.

“We left the ceremony towards the Palace on an open top wedding bus together with all my bridesmaids and best men.”

Catarina Zimbarra is the award winning talent behind today’s beautiful photographs.  I just love her light-filled images.

“Thank you to Catarina Zimbarra, my talented wedding photographer. I love the pictures and the memories.”

“Both the church, Basilica dos Martires, and the Frontera palace are already so beautiful that they didn’t need much décor, just enough to accentuate the natural beauty.  The palace garden is adorned with Portuguese tiles with pictures that represent the different arts as well as mythological figures and the garden hedges are cut in order to represent the different year seasons.”

“It’s beautiful – They have built an infrastructure on top of the garden where we had the dinner and the wedding party.  We kept some trees and the statues inside and tons of flowers on the tables so you could really feel like you were in the garden.  I really wanted it to look and feel like a big garden full of flowers.”

“Anders´ speech was super emotional and memorable to everyone. We were speechless the moment he just started speaking Portuguese to me and my family (he is Danish).  I think he spent months working on his words.”

“He kept a folder in his phone, and whenever he thought of something, he’d add it.  He really captured the magic of the moment in his words and I was so proud and happy.”

“I was just so happy all day, and a very calm bride.  The ceremony was by far my favourite moment of the whole wedding; it included a lot of crying by me, Anders and all the guests.  It was the most romantic, surreal experience of my life.”

Words of Wedded Wisdom

“Not everything is going to go perfectly, but no one is going to know. Your family and friends are there to have fun with you. The trick is champagne!”

Huge thanks to Kiki and Anders for sharing this gorgeous day.  I keep going back for another look at Kiki’s amazing gown, do you?  Take a peek here for more dresses by Atelier Pronovias and here for more weddings in beautiful Portugal.

Have a fabulous weekend,

Love Shona x