FRANCISCO & ALEXANDRA | WEDDING AT PESTANA PALACE LISBON
Francisco and Alexandra were married at Pestana Palace Lisboa, a national monument built in the Romantic revival style, before moving the evening's celebration to Quinta dos Espadeiros in Almada. Published in British Vogue, Vogue Arabia, and Tatler, we photograph a limited number of weddings each year across Portugal, Italy, and France, and this was one of the more architecturally distinct days we have covered in Lisbon.
ELEGANT AND TRADITIONAL VENUES
Alexandra prepared for the ceremony at Pestana Palace Lisboa, whose gardens and 19th-century interiors gave the getting-ready portraits a formal, layered backdrop. The building's Romantic revival architecture, with its detailed plasterwork and period furniture, meant that almost every room offered a usable frame without additional styling.
The ceremony took place in a chapel known for its stained glass and ornate altar. The narrow, directional light through the windows shaped the ceremony photographs in a way that open venues rarely allow, giving the vows a more contained, intimate register despite the grandeur of the setting.
The celebration continued that evening at Quinta dos Espadeiros in Almada, whose grounds and main facade provided a different architectural register from the palace, better suited to the reception's more relaxed pace.
Sophisticated Attire
Alexandra wore two dresses over the course of the day. The ceremony gown was a sleeveless Rosa Clará design with a bateau neckline, an open back, and a detachable train, finished with Jimmy Choo slingback pumps in white fishnet mesh and latte nappa leather. For the reception, she changed into a silk mousseline gown by Maria Lucia Hohan, paired with Superga shoes for the dancing that followed.
Francisco wore a custom-made suit and incorporated family heirlooms into his attire, a detail that gave his look a specificity that the rest of the day's styling matched.
WHY THIS DAY WORKED PHOTOGRAPHICALLY
The value of a day like this for photography is the range: a formal palace ceremony, a chapel with directional light unlike anything else on the schedule, and an evening reception with an entirely different architectural mood. Few single-venue weddings offer that much variation across one day, and it meant the resulting gallery reads as several distinct settings rather than one location photographed from different angles.
If you are planning a wedding at a historic property in Lisbon and want to understand how we approach multi-venue days like this, our services page explains our process in detail. To begin the conversation, reach out here.
