After our urban black tie London wedding yesterday we’re sharing a totally different wedding with you today, giving you a taste of the Algarve via Hollie and Chris’s destination wedding in Portugal. Hello beautiful clear skies, sunshine, palm trees and the most stunning blue sea!
The Dress
Hollie chose to wear Jesus Peiro 5021 for her big day, which is a full skirted, structured ballgown style wedding dress in satin mikado, finished with a glittering belt accenting the nipped in waist for a touch of sparkle.
Hollie says;
“I was with My Mum (Angie) and my Godmother (Jas) when I found the dress. They welled up and couldn’t take their eyes off me. I randomly picked this dress up to try on as I thought it was beautiful – it was nothing like what I had been trying on. I had previously been looking more at lace and strapless dresses but this was so different and really elegant without being over the top. I will never forget that feeling of when it just clicked and I knew it was the one and the dress I wanted to marry Chris in.”
“My Godmother had always said she wanted to buy my wedding dress when I was a little girl so sharing this experience with her and my Mum was ultra special, we had such a wonderful time trying on dresses ( and especially enjoyed our coffees at the Nest Café next door reflecting on the dresses)”
“I wore some stunning Badgley Mishka strappy high heel sandals from Florida last year which were sparkly and made me feel just like a princess. I always wanted to wear a tiara so was not going to miss my opportunity – I found a gorgeous pearl and diamante one online which matched the dress beautifully. Jewellery wise I was extremely lucky and was given my Grandmother (Margaret’s) diamond drop earring to wear. She was given them many years ago by her husband (my Grandfather) Michael and they had been kept in a bank for many years and passed down to my Mum and now me – they are amazing and I will treasure them always, The final finishing touch was my gorgeous diamond bracelet which Chris got for me and I opened it up on the morning of our wedding day. He bought it in Naples, Florida last year especially for this day and it was PERFECT, it glistened away in the lovely sunshine all day.”
About the day
Portugal is a very special place for Hollie and Chris, who have holidayed there in the past and even got engaged there, so it made perfect sense to get married there and and was the perfect setting to celebrate their relationship surrounded by family and friends.
In Hollie’s own words;
“We were really keen on an outdoor wedding with an incredible view (ideally in the sunshine). The majority of our friends had already got married and taken many of the fabulous venues in the UK so we just wanted to do something a little different that was extra special to the two of us. By choosing Portugal we felt that most people would be able to come as it is only a short flight from the UK and guests could either come out just for a weekend or make a full holiday out of it.
We are summertime people and wanted to ensure our guests would all have an incredible day too – by having the wedding abroad this would give us the opportunity to let everyone get to know each other a day or two before the wedding and really get into the swing og things being in the holiday mode and all. We discovered Vila Vita Parc when holidaying in Carvoeiro (Algarve) so that week we got engaged we thought we would go and have a tour. A lovely Events coordinator (Helena) showed us around and we absolutely fell in love with the resort – it was more than we could have ever dreamed of and we rang my parents straight away to tell them all about it afterwards. We just knew that was where we wanted our big day, it really blew us away.”
“My favourite part of the day was the incredible warm feeling of love & support – knowing that everyone was there for us and that about 100 people had come all that way to celebrate our Wedding day. It was unbelievably touching and gave us the biggest high, the best word I can use to describe the feeling is MAGICAL.
Walking down the aisle with my Dad was such an exciting and overwhelming feeling – I was absolutely beaming with happiness”
Final words
Some words of wedding planning advice from Hollie;
“Enjoy every moment!!! You will only get to enjoy this special experience once (hopefully) so really treasure it and lap it up – the memories will last a lifetime.”
Suppliers
The Dress: Jesus Peiro 5021 at Miss Bush
Photography: Damien Demolder
Thank you so much Hollie and Chris for sharing their day – it looked so beautiful!
Leah x
