Romantic Wedding in a portuguese palace

Looking for inspiration for your wedding in a Portuguese palace?

Here you can check a photographic summary of Maria and João’s wedding at the São Marcos Palace in Coimbra, as well as a wedding video and the engagement session in Évora.

João is from Pedrógrão and Maria from Évora, but it was at Faculdade Egas Moniz, in Costa da Caparica that they met during an academic party. They chose the center of the country to marry and in that sense the ceremony and party took place at the Palace of São Marcos in Coimbra.

The marriage proposal was made on a surprise trip to the Maldives.

A wedding photographer is not only present on the wedding day. We usually do a engagement session. This session is for the bride and groom to get to know the photographer and also to have a souvenir as a couple. Often the photographs from this session are used as decoration on the day or as wedding invitations.

Maria wanted their session to be held in Évora, her homeland. You can also see a summary of this session in Évora below.

THE PALACE OF SÃO MARCOS – HISTORY

São Marcos Palace was built in the middle of the XX century on the ruins of a fourteenth century monastery belonging to the Order of S. Jerónimo. When religious orders ended in 1834, the monastery became private property. The lack of maintenance aggravated by a serious fire that took place in 1860, led the space to a state of almost total ruin, from which only the monastic church and the pharmacy house were saved.

Thus, inspired by 16th century palaces, architect Leonardo Castro Freire designed the building that currently houses the palace. The Palace of S. Marcos served as the official residence of the Dukes of Bragança between 1954 and 1975. In 1976, the Palace was acquired by the Portuguese State from the Foundation of Casa de Bragança and later transferred to the University of Coimbra, in 1981, to carry out activities scientific, cultural and social.