Project Wedding Blog

This week’s real wedding of the week will sweep you off to coastal city, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal.  There, Sandra and Juan married in a sophisticated, dreamy celebration filled with shades of violet, plum, amethyst and deep pinks.  The couple entrusted their vision to the Portuguese dream team: Sofia and André of Branco Prata, who designed and captured the day with utter style! Sandra is a biomedical engineer; Juan is a super smart computer guy.  Both have self-proclaimed geek streaks, and they really wanted to celebrate that aspect of their connection amidst all the romance and sophistication.   During the ceremony at the beautiful Monastery Serra do Pilar, Juan offered Sandra a robot, and she offered him a small rooster symbolizing a  Portuguese folk story. They also opted to send not one, but two sets of invites: fancy ones for the family (pictured above) and computer-inspired ones for friends!

The reception at Real Companhia Velha, a restored wine warehouse, was a modern floral haven.  Incredible florals were absolutely everywhere!

The evening just wasn’t complete without a glam rhinestone-studded cake and geek-chic pacman cupcakes!

Read more from the bride below and see the full story {here}.

Photos by André Teixeira of Branco Prata

Flowers and Design by Sofia Ferreira of Branco Prata

Bridal Gown by Rosa Clará

Bridal Bouquet by Flores do Bolhão

Earrings and Headpiece by Glitzy Secrets

Bride’s Make up: Leonor Gonçalves, D’Ouro Clinica e Spa, Matosinhos

Bride’s Hair: Sónia – Inês Pereira Cabeleireiros, Porto

Invitations & Paper Goods by wise/up weddings and design com texto

Venue: Real Companhia Velha

Catering by Numiel

Cake Topper by better off wed

Music and Entertainment by Ensemble MinneSang  and Factor Música

From the Bride: In a flat, far away land, called The Netherlands, Juan and I met. At that time I, as a Biomedical Engineer, was building bone, and Juan (Computer Scientist) was building mobile applications. We met amongst friends after a dinner. We exchanged a few words, where I mentioned a geek movie line that caught Juan’s attention. The fact that our birthdays were only a day apart was instrumental to the start of our relationship. The first topic of conversation was trying to organize a common birthday party. The rest is history….

 Juan is a computer passionate person that believes that the planet can be fixed.  He enjoys philosophical discussions in the company of friends and good beer. I am very social, a multi-tasker by nature, enjoy planning a good party!  From the very beginning, we wanted to do something different, something that would reflect our connection but make the guests/family  feel included as well. Typical was not a word we wanted to be associated with our wedding.

  Juan and I are sci-fi fans and we were looking for a way to combine geek references with an elegant, romantic and contemporary wedding atmosphere. The fact that we had so many international guests, really raised the bar high…. And I am all about attention to detail!

For the religious ceremony, we selected the beautiful Monastery Serra do Pilar where the breathtaking views of Porto would certainly please all our guests.  As for the venue, we chose a beautiful old wine warehouse located nearby. We didn’t want the cliché of a wine themed wedding/decoration, so after an intensive research, I found the inspiration I needed. A bundle of used wine corks aligned in the shape of a heart, provided the starting point for everything!

We chose a color palette inspired by the shades seen on corks after they’ve been soaked in wine.  This meant salmon, coral, cherry, lilac, fuchsia pink, violet, plum and purple took center stage. 

 Then, it was time to include our personal touches! A binary wedding date, two different wedding invitations: a traditional one for the family and a computer inspired one for all of our friends, pac man cupcakes, Juan’s Star Trek cufflinks, our ‘Live Long and Prosper’ banner, glow in the dark bracelets, and a book of advices for the bride and groom were included in the day. Next, the most important thing were the services. We were super happy to rely on Sofia and André from Branco Prata! I was thrilled to know that the styling/color scheme I envisioned was going to be in Sofia’s extremely talented  hands and of course, André’s amazing moment-capturing skills would make witness to our day. The remaining suppliers were carefully chosen: from catering to music, everything was selected after an intensive search.

Well, my mother went to offer eggs to Saint Claire hoping  it wouldn’t rain, since we are talking about October….she must have a celestial uplink, because it was 33C! The day was sunny and warm, everyone was delighted with the views from the Monastery.

 Our ceremony was very special. We had the opportunity to exchange symbols that defined us.  In our case, Juan offered me a robot and I offered him a small rooster symbolizing a Portuguese folk legend. Since the Monastery has a different spatial display, the guests were arranged in a circle surrounding us. I believe everyone felt involved in our ceremony even if they couldn’t completely understand the language!

The reception went great, the styling that Sofia did was simply amazing! To avoid confusion, the seating plan was projected on the wall. We hired a Jazz/Bossa Nova band  and a DJ that specialized in songs from our youth.  Everyone (of all ages) had the chance to dance to their favorite genre! We performed two first dances (one with Jazz and another with Pop music) and prepared a funny video with our childhood photos. We had the opportunity to talk to our friends and family and offer them little bottles of a traditional Portuguese liquor and a small box of personalized M&Ms. Our friends and family danced and ate the night away, until the last guest standing left at 6 a.m.

We couldn’t feel more happy  and rewarded for the good memories we were able to offer to our family and friends.

Tags: Brancoprata, european, fuchsia, geek-chic, Portugal, purple, romantic, sophisticated, violet