Oh Sintra, Portugal, you most certainly are pretty. And today, we see why the savviest of brides & groom’s are flocking to this up-and-coming region thanks to this glamorous destination wedding.

Meeting in Australia, with family living around the world, our dapper couple chose this pastel-colored town in the Southwest of Portugal thanks to its natural beauty and excellent meeting point for all of their guests. Choosing a venue with impeccable beauty and plentiful outdoor space, and hiring an expert local planner, planning their wedding from afar seemed like a relative ‘piece of cake’ – after all, Passionate Photography‘s photos of the event are absolutely flawless.

But it was the bride’s modern wedding dress & glamorous beauty look that has all ‘heart eyes’. Wanting a gown designed in her beloved Australia that featured clean lines and pearls to pay homage to her Vietnamese heritage, Tonia instantly fell in love with Made With Love‘s Sienna – hitting all the marks.

Are you planning a wedding from afar? Bride Tonia was sweet enough to offer oodles of advice for destination (and local!) couples. We particularly appreciate her mention in how to make sure non-English speaking (or the language of the majority of guests) guests feel included on your wedding day.

Advice to Other Couples

Some tips about the actual wedding day planning: 1) For destination weddings we would recommend to keep it small (50-100 guests) and plan a get together before the wedding day for everyone to catch up. 2) Have a clean and organised Pinterest board – it will really help your wedding planner! 3) Start by adding things that are truly necessary as it can get really overwhelming with all the wedding ideas out there and plan around the theme and color. 4) We had an international wedding with some families not speaking English very well. We do advise to translate scripts where possible to ensure everyone feels included.

We also didn’t follow some traditional rules of the wedding day. 1) We did the cake cutting with a champagne tower right after the ceremony and it was definitely great advice from our wedding planner. Just a different kick off for the day! 2) We played a game to break up dinner time 3) It is worth having a wedding planner on the day so you can take as much time to enjoy your special day and each other.

Some tips on the emotional part: 1) Not everything will go as planned so just let it be. 2) Only you know what went wrong in terms of small details. Guests never notice small details. 3) Guests will notice if you are having fun or not – so just have fun!

Featured On Bridal Musings

Photography by Passionate
Wedding Venue: Quinta da Penalva
Event Planning, Styling, and Floral Design by My Fancy Wedding
Wedding Cake by Migalha Doce
Wedding Dress from Made with Love Bridal
Stationery by A Pajarita
Hair Styling and Makeup by Carla D’Oliveira