mrs2be.ie

[enniskillenguy]

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.

[im married]

enniskillenguy welcome to the site. are you getting a planner or doing things youself?? think there is a few missies on her getting married in portugal

[Mrs smiley_face]

Hi Enniskillenguy
I'm getting married in the Algarve, going over with wedding planner first weekend in Feb to find a venue and set my date. Will report back then if you like! Do you have a preference which part of Portugal?

[Bride0310]

Alvor.... its beautiful!

[im married]

[Mrs Toot]

It really is a fab place. The church there is gorgeous as well...I have been there twice and am dying to go back!

[mrsOtobe]

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

[mrsOtobe]

Any other ideas for bands flowers etc greatly appreciated.

For music I'd recommend contacting Algarve Entertainment Solutions. I've been dealing with a lady called Tamsyn in there.

http://entertainmentsolutionsalgarve.com/

Their website doesn't quite do them justice I don't think - they have a massive range of acts to choose from. Everything from bagpipes to divas to string quartets, as well as bands and DJs of course. We've booked all our music for the day and the party the next day through them (church music, welcome drinks musicians, band, DJ and karaoke machine for the next day). They've been excellent to deal with so far. They also supply a manager on the day too just to co-ordinate the musicians and make sure all the sound equipment is all good and just to be around in case there are any problems.

[mrsOtobe]

I came across the Vila vita park anybody got married there recently? Love to hear some feedback. cailin

Just realised I meant to say Villa Vita when I put Villa Sol in my last post! Doh! It was the Villa Vita Parc we looked at - its gorgeous.

[flowerbride]

Hi mrsOtobe
Thank you for getting back to me. I'm so excited about the Vila vita Park.
Today I've received some information, can't wait now to book a trip to have a look.
Do you know of someone who actually got married there I love to hear about it.
someone recommend a company called Algarve blessing have you heard of them? sorry for all questions it's just you seem to have a lot of information. I saw the photos of your venue it looks gorgeous wherabouts is that?

[flowerbride]

hey,
Just wanted to share some exciting news.We are flying out to the Algarve on Tuesday to meet up with the coordinator of the Vila Vita Park. Helena said she would be able to explain everything more ino detail when we are there also planning to meet up with the photographers team and see a sax player recommended by stef from algarve music agency. My dad use to play the sax so he is all excited about it. will let you know how we're getting on. cailin

[im married]

hope everything goes well for you

[flowerbride]

thanks scdp, are you getting married in Portugal also?

[im married]

no, my sis did a few years ago.

[Mrs smiley_face]

Hi all,

here's the venue's we looked at 2 weekend's ago.

http://www.osagostos.com
http://www.montedocasal.com
http://www.pousadas.pt/historicalhotels ... stoi/home/
http://www.vilavitahotels.com/rw_vv/mai ... _portal2_e http://www.pestana.com/hotels/en/hotels ... rPraia.htm http://www.tivolihotels.com/hotels-port ... /list.aspx. http://www.montedasalagoas.com/site/
And the Grande Real Santa Eulalia in Albufeira

Best of luck with your search!