Relaxed Forest Wedding with American-Portuguese Roots

classic forest wedding with floral crescent wedding ceremony backdrop

What do you get when you combine relaxed forest wedding vibes with classic organic blooms and colorful accents inspired by Portuguese tiles? This inspiring real wedding that honors the heritage of two families and boasts beauty at every turn! Sabrina and Frank are as sweet as can be, she in a floral applique wedding dress with sleek spaghetti straps and he in debonair blue linen suit. With The Wedding Wonderland behind the planning clipboard, this destination wedding was a total hit from start to finish, as evident from the happy smiles all around + the dreamy decor too – lookin’ at you Flor de Laranjeira! Hitch a ride on the daydream train with us as we admire these images from I Heart You Photography below!

From the wedding planner, The Wedding Wonderland: Sabrina and Frank met at a Pajama themed party through mutual friends at college. He was wearing a fuzzy robe and got her attention! Sabrina always figured they would have a regular American style wedding until Frank had the idea of getting married in Portugal. At first she was against the idea, and then she realized for the same money they could get an amazing unique experience that her Portuguese family could also be a part of.

Once they decided they were getting married in Portugal, they came here to look at wedding venues. They were immediately inspired by the Portuguese architecture and traditional colors. All the whites, blues, mustard yellows looked so beautiful against the greens of the forest and farms, and this scenery definitely inspired them. After our first Skype meeting I immediately understood their vision and felt very honored to have to chance to make their dream come true.

I instantly felt inspired by Sabrina and Frank’s love story and started to think about designing a wedding that celebrated their cultural traditions and heritage. My goal was to do so in a way that it reflected their different backgrounds and to honor their roots and all the traditions that the joining of their families represents. Their guests were traveling a long way to be there for them and I definitely wanted them to get the full Portuguese experience.

Sabrina’s wedding dress played a major role while creating the wedding concept. Her Emmy Mae gown was sexy, while also being ethereal, sophisticated and classy. It just fit her like a glove and it really helped me to define all the wedding mood. That dress definitely deserved an organic unstructured all white bouquet. And that’s where all the fun began. With all the inspiration established, I started creating a wedding that valued the luxury of the details over the look of the over-the-top and the over-done. Their wedding is as unique as their story and I strived to share this story through my design and imagery.

We used white as the main backdrop to create an elegant and sophisticated mood. Our goal was to allow the Portuguese atmosphere to breathe freely in a timeless décor. We’ve used a neutral color palette with white flowers only and greenery complemented with tile patterns, blue tones and dashes of gold. Our centerpieces were a mix of long garlands filled with lush, white flowers and high centerpieces of white mix flowers and intertwined with greenery. Finishing off the tables we used candles.

Since the ceremony was held right in the woods we created a semi-circle structure on the floor with white flowers and greenery. To bring a little contrast and sophistication to the woods atmosphere, we hung a vintage crystal chandelier above the ceremony structure.

Destination Wedding in Ireland at Mount Juliet

The jazz and blues live band helped our guests to relax and feel the love that was about to be celebrated.
One special touch that really surprised everyone at the ball room was a beautiful vintage piano displaying pictures of their passed away loved ones. Sabrina and Frank’s family were really committed to making their wedding as personal as possible, and they really help us bring all these little details back from home.

It all came together seamlessly and truly represented the best of both worlds and Cláudia, our lovely photographer captured it all sublimely.