enniskillenguy wrote:I am going to Portugal in April to look at a wedding for the foolowing april/may and was wondering if anyone could give me any ideas for a wedding venue. As many as possible as going to go around them all. Any other ideas for bands flowers etc greatly appreciated.
hiya!
I'm getting married in the Algarve in September. Been over twice and visited a load of different locations. I'd def recommend meeting with a couple of different wedding planners and get them to take you around to a few locations. They'll charge you about €50 to cover petrol etc for the day, but there's no obligation to stay with them and you'll get loads of info.
Although, if you've done your homework before you go and just want to visit hotels, they nearly all have their own in-house wedding co-ordinators so it's not necessarily worth getting a wedding planner to bring you out there (unless you dont want to hire your own car or are a bit worried about finding your way around).
Great hotels we visisted were some of the ones that always crop up (although rightly so!), The Sheraton, The Grand Real Santa Euliaia - both great and you can see immediately why they are so popular. One hotel that we went to ourselves was the Villa Sol which didnt seem to come up on the wedding planners radars but it's gorgeous and we felt some of the views were a good rival for the Sheraton. Villa Sol also has a wicked bar area which looks out over the sea, it was a great space. You can have a blessing on the cliffs too if you choose, similar to the Sheraton. The Tivoli in Portimao was also pretty cool, the meal area looks out over the estuary and then there's a beach and old tower built on the other side so it's a nice view - the bar and restaurant area is done well and has quite a modern/chilled feel. The Lake Resort in Villamoura is AMAZING but pretty cha-ching!!
If you want to look beyond hotels, it's definitely worth speaking to a wedding planner. There's a nice marquee option - Os Augostos. I wasn't overly keen on the idea of a marquee but when I saw it I thought it was really well done - air con and everything inside! They also have a small chapel onsite so you can actually get married there on site - that was one of the real selling factors of that place for us. Only issue there is there seems to be a lot of confusion over costs and what is and isn't included (particularly when it comes to an open bar!), so if you look at that place, just make sure you written quotes before you hand over any deposit, so you know exactly what you are getting. There is another popular marquee but we didn't visit it.
Other options are farmhouses, private estates and pousadas. (Pousada just means building of special interest). We visited this converted manor house - it's now run as a hotel. It was something else! Some of the wall murals and artifacts are so old, it was like being in a palace. We weren't too sure when we saw the pictures of it, but when you get inside, it's totally unexpected. They are still finishing off some renovations there and we were worried it wouldn't be finished in time for our wedding so we didn't consider it too strongly. But once it's all finished it will be great. It's up on the hills so there is a great panoramic view of the Algarve from there.
We've opted for a vineyard. So there's all sorts really!
I also came across this place on the internet after we had done all our visisting so we didnt get to see it but I thought it looked nice on the website:
http://www.mysecretgardenhotel.com/wedd ... rties.html
by enniskillenguy » Mon Jan 25, 2010 10:14 am 
It really is a fab place. The church there is gorgeous as well...I have been there twice and am dying to go back!
It was the Villa Vita Parc we looked at - its gorgeous.
