An Epic Wedding Day at Quinta De Sant'Ana, Portugal

JJMTPhotography

Sep 20, 20222 min read

Back in April of this year, we had the pleasure of photographing Sarah & Rowan's stunning wedding day in the beautiful family Vineyard of Quinta De Sant'Ana, Portugal. Keep reading to see why they chose Portugal as their wedding destination as well as some beautiful moments we captured on their big day.

Your Love Story.... Tell us where it all began.....

We met at university whilst we were on an athletics tour to America- we visited New York City, stayed at Harvard University, Rowan raced at Brown University and had his shorts pulled down (although the less said about that the better!) We stayed at Yale University and Cornell University, watched the Penn Relays (and Usain Bolt) in Philadelphia and stayed at the University of Pennsylvania.

When we got back to Birmingham after our trip, we started dating and the rest was history. Rowan moved down to London to work for Lehman brothers whilst I stayed in Birmingham to finish my degree. We stayed long-distance between London and Birmingham, being able to enjoy our friends' company and then quality time together as well.

Once I finished university, I moved to London to live with Rowan and we've been happy in Greenwich ever since!

When and where did you get engaged?

We got engaged in Sri Lanka in 2018. I had already taken Rowan to the jewellery shop to show him the type of ring I liked and then noticed that he wouldn't leave his coat alone in the airport and he was insistent that every hotel room had a safe.

After a day of sunbathing, Rowan suggested that we have an early shower and watch the sunset. Unfortunately, when we got to the beach, there was a man going for a wee at the entrance to the beach and the beach bar wasn't serving alcohol. Rowan then suggested we walked 5km to the next hotel (which I was not happy about!), we then took a tuk-tuk to the hotel to watch the sunset and almost missed it. I wasn't in a great mood and poor Rowan felt that he had no choice but to cheer me up and propose!

Tell us why you chose Portugal for your wedding day?

We wanted somewhere warm and an excuse for a holiday! The fact that the venue had a vineyard was an added bonus! We wanted to go somewhere a little different and Portugal was the perfect option!

What has been your biggest challenge with planning a destination wedding in Portugal?

Covid19

What are you most excited about for the big day?

Partying with our friends and family!

Share your top tips for planning a destination wedding in Portugal

You need a very organised planner and excellent people to work with (e.g. like Janine and Janice) to remind you of all the things you might not have realised to do or think about!