A two day intimate wedding celebration in Algarve, Portugal. A garden reception at a private villa, and an adventure exploring the west coast.

Liz & Dana, a destination wedding vacation in Algarve Portugal

“We actually got legally married at the courthouse in Chicago, but still wanted to do a reception to celebrate with our closest circle of friends and family. We had the idea to do a vacation with everyone, and knew we wanted somewhere in Europe that was warm with beautiful beaches. Neither of us had been to Portugal, and it was on both of our bucket lists, so we decided on the Algarve! We absolutely loved staying there, and were blown away by the amazing villa we stayed at with our whole “wedding party”. We loved that we had a space that could host everyone, individual casitas on the property to give everyone their own space, but then the outdoor kitchen and pool area where everyone could gather to hang out. The villa was also the perfect spot to host our dinner party, which is when we wore the white dresses and really celebrated and got to enjoy an intimate evening with our best friends and our family. 

We knew we wanted a private chef for our dinner party, so that’s how we initially found Private Chef Algarve online, but then it turned out that they had a full business to help with so many other details: welcome baskets for our guests, the cocktail hour, all the food and wine, the beautiful table settings, and the whole flow of the evening. And on top of all that, they had a bunch of other recommendations for what we should do the rest of our week in the Algarve, and hosted us for a welcome dinner at their restaurant, Rolha Winebar. Planning not only a destination wedding, but a week long vacation for 28, was an intimidating endeavour, but Private Chef Algarve made it fun and easy.

We worked closely with Matthew to come up with our table design. We had some inspo pictures but really put our trust in Matthew and Joe. We absolutely LOVED our table, it was perfect. We wanted blue plates and lemon accents. Our flowers were hydrangeas which are both of our favourites! Dana made the menus and drew the Porto inspired design on the front of the menu. She also hand painted each oyster name card.

On the day, walking out to our song and seeing all our guests dressed up was such a special moment. It felt full of love and perfectly intimate. It kicked off such a special evening and was a moment I will never forget.

The next day, following the wedding reception, we drove to the west coast of the Algarve for an epic portrait session with our photographers Matt + Lena. It was the most magical beach and we all had such a great time!”

Wedding Venue & Location: Villa Vale De Pena, Carvoeiro, Portugal & Vila Do Bispo Beach, Algarve | Wedding Dress Elizabeth: Prescott by Madi Lane | Wedding Dress Dana: Jenny by Jenny Yoo Brynn  | Caterers: Private Chef Algarve