LA QUINTA SANT'ANA, PORTUGAL
What happens when you plan a wedding, change the venue, change the country, survive a global pandemic and somehow end up with the most ridiculously beautiful three-day wedding celebration in Portugal? You get Talita and Oliver’s Quinta de Sant’Ana wedding. Mustard-yellow buildings, hot pink flowers, incredible food, gospel singers, a VERY determined four-year-old and a dance floor that eventually claimed an actual jacket.
Honestly, I don’t think we could have planned this one any better if we’d tried. Welcome to Portugal, baby!
Talita & Oliver's Wedding
at
Quinta de Sant'Ana, Portugal
I’ve known Talita and Oliver for a LONG time. And when I say a long time, I mean we’ve been planning this wedding through approximately seventeen different versions of reality.
They originally had another photographer almost booked, but then they found me. And apparently, once that happened, there was no going back (obviously!)
The original plan was to get married in Båstad, Sweden, where Oliver is from. Then the venue changed. Then the plans changed. Then a little thing called a GLOBAL PANDEMIC happened. At some point, Spain was involved. And eventually, after years of waiting, rearranging and probably wondering if this wedding was EVER actually going to happen, they landed on Portugal.
PORTUGAL! YESSSSS. LET’S GOOOOO!
Now, a little about these two: Talita is Brazilian-Italian, absolutely gorgeous and has the kind of energy that makes you want to be her best friend immediately. Oliver is a proper Swedish guy from Skåne, with his heart very firmly in the right place.
They met in Dubai, and since I’ve known them, they’ve lived in so many different countries that I’ve genuinely lost count. Globetrotters doesn’t even begin to cover it. And somewhere along the way, they also managed to create the world’s cutest little human, their daughter Aria.
Who, as you’ll soon discover, had absolutely no intention of letting her parents steal ALL the attention on their wedding day.
The final destination was Quinta de Sant’Ana, a ridiculously beautiful vineyard wedding venue just outside Lisbon, with mustard-yellow buildings, bright pink flowers, greenery absolutely everywhere and some of the best wine I’ve ever tasted.
And after everything it took to get here, Talita and Oliver weren’t about to settle for just one day. Oh no. We were doing THREE. A welcome dinner, a wedding day and one final, slightly hungover celebration.
And I was SO ready. Let’s start with the day before.
THE DAY BEFORE
After YEARS of planning, changing venues, changing countries and waiting through a global pandemic, this was it.
We were FINALLY starting Talita and Oliver’s wedding weekend. We met up with Talita while she was getting ready, wandered around Quinta de Sant’Ana for a bit and then headed over to the BBQ welcome dinner.
And what a fucking welcome dinner. There was an enormous buffet with arancini, a whole roasted pig and more food than anyone could reasonably eat. Drinks were flowing, sun hats were everywhere, a band was playing and the kids were running around while the Portuguese hills stretched out behind us.
After everything it had taken to get here, seeing all these people finally together in the same place felt so special. And this was only night one.
See it in motion
Because some wedding weekends deserve more than photographs. Three days in Portugal, one hell of a long journey to get here, and Talita and Oliver finally getting the wedding they’d been waiting years for.
Press play. This one’s a good one.
Now, let’s see it in still photos!
TALITA'S MORNING
And just like that, IT WAS FINALLY THEIR WEDDING DAY. After YEARS of waiting.
Talita spent the morning in her own little farmhouse at Quinta de Sant’Ana, with pale pink walls and a house slowly filling up with her favourite women. There was a huge breakfast, hair and makeup happening everywhere, champagne being opened and little girls VERY interested in the wedding dresses hanging nearby.
We photographed all the pretty little details while everyone got ready, and then flowers and a letter from Oliver arrived. Which was obviously completely unfair, because keeping your makeup intact is difficult enough without your future husband sending you beautiful things and making you emotional before you’ve even put your dress on.
After all those years of waiting, Talita was finally about to marry Oliver.
OLIVER'S MORNING
Meanwhile, Oliver had been given his own little mustard-yellow house at Quinta de Sant’Ana, complete with a courtyard and a bunch of best men to keep him company.
There were shirts to iron, ties to fix, drinks to pour and all the usual organised chaos of a wedding morning. His mum and dad stopped by too, and somewhere between all the laughing and getting dressed, it started to feel very real. After all the different venues, countries, dates and years of waiting, Oliver was finally getting ready to marry Talita.
For real this time.
GETTING DRESSED
And then it was time for THE dress. Talita’s mum helped her get ready, and once everything was finally in place, her grandfather called on FaceTime. He hadn’t been well enough to travel to Portugal for the wedding, so getting to see Talita all dressed up before she left for the ceremony was one of those little moments that suddenly makes everything else disappear for a while.
Then came the first looks. First with her dad, and then with her bridesmaids, who reacted with exactly the appropriate amount of screaming, crying and general excitement.
Years of waiting, and she was finally ready to go get married.
FIRST LOOK WITH DAUGHTER
We had planned the SWEETEST first look between Oliver and their four-year-old daughter, Aria. Oliver was waiting for her, ready for this adorable little father-daughter moment we’d all imagined.
Aria came around the corner, she saw Oliver, and then she saw her best friend Alfie. ”ALFIEEEEEE!” Straight past her dad. Didn’t even hesitate. 
Eventually Oliver did get his moment, and Aria very proudly showed him her new shoes too.
The whole thing was so perfectly Aria that the video actually went viral on Instagram for a while. Sometimes the moments that go completely wrong are the ones you couldn’t have planned any better.
CEREMONY
The ceremony took place in the most ridiculously beautiful church in the little village. And then the gospel choir started singing, and we all got actual goosebumps.
The kids walked in together and stopped to give Oliver a hug before Talita made her entrance with her dad, at which point basically everyone was crying. The ceremony was beautiful and emotional, and Talita and Oliver lit a candle together for their family before heading into a little room with the priest to sign the marriage certificate.
Meanwhile, all the guests made their way outside to wait for the newlyweds. And the gospel choir was coming too. Can you imagine?! The vibes?
CELEBRATIONS
And out they came! Talita and Oliver walked out of the church as HUSBAND AND WIFE, with the gospel choir following right behind them. Their friends and family were waiting outside with handfuls of flower confetti, ready to absolutely cover them in it. There was singing, cheering, confetti flying everywhere and approximately a million hugs while everyone tried to get their hands on the newlyweds.
After waiting this long to finally get married, I think everyone was VERY ready to celebrate, and now we just had to get the entire party back to Quinta de Sant’Ana.
On foot! And yes, flipflops were provided!
Walking Back to
Quinta de Sant’Ana
And then the entire wedding party took to the streets. Everyone walked together from the church, through the little village and back to Quinta de Sant’Ana, with Talita and Oliver right in the middle of it all.
And waiting for us back at the venue was basically my idea of heaven. The little square between the colourful buildings had turned into one giant cocktail hour, with a jazz band playing, champagne and Bellinis flowing, charcuterie everywhere and wine tastings happening down in the cellar. And dogs. But you weren’t allowed to feed them.
There was even a whole little area filled with games and activities for the kids. But most importantly, there was a woman serving pieces of bread soaked in garlic oil in little napkins. AND LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING. I don’t know what kind of Portuguese witchcraft was happening there, but it was genuinely one of the best things I’ve ever eaten.
Honestly, if every wedding cocktail hour involved jazz, wine cellars and garlic bread, I’d be very happy.
BRIDAL PARTY
At some point, we stole the entire bridal party away for photos. Talita had rented this ridiculously cool light blue vintage VW bus that was parked outside, so obviously we were going to use it.
We got everyone together around the van, headed over to the beautiful staircase for a few more and made a genuine attempt at taking some nice, sensible bridal party photographs.
We tried. But as usual, things got considerably less serious and considerably more fun pretty quickly. Which is exactly how I like it.
COCKTAIL HOUR
Back at the cocktail hour, it was time for speeches. Oliver started with an absolutely beautiful speech to Talita, followed by his dad with another one for the two of them.
There were tears, there was laughter, there was more wine and snaps, and somehow the whole place just kept getting louder and happier as the afternoon went on. And since we already had almost everyone gathered in one place, we decided this was also the perfect opportunity to attempt the impossible:
Getting the ENTIRE wedding party into one photograph. Up the iconic Quinta de Sant’Ana staircase everyone went and somehow, against all odds, we actually pulled it off.
FAMILY PHOTOS
Then it was time for family photos, which sounds simple enough. Except we also had a four-year-old who had recently discovered the concept of smiling for the camera. And by smiling, I mean showing us EVERY SINGLE TOOTH IN HER HEAD.
So a fairly significant part of the session was spent trying to make Aria genuinely laugh instead of looking like she was demonstrating excellent dental hygiene. Honestly, she nailed both.
And somewhere in between all of that, we even managed to get some really lovely family photos.
PORTRAITS
We were running a little tight on time, but eventually we managed to steal Talita and Oliver away from everyone for some portraits around Quinta de Sant’Ana. Except Talita had one more surprise planned, A SECOND DRESS!
Oliver had absolutely no idea, so before we even started properly, we got another first look! Yay! New dress, same very happy husband.
And then we finally had the two of them to ourselves for a little while, surrounded by rows of grapevines, bright flowers and all the ridiculously beautiful little corners of Quinta de Sant’Ana.
Very, very worth sneaking away for.
DINNER
And then it was time for dinner. Everyone gathered inside this long, bright room with exposed wooden beams, beautiful flowers grown right there at Quinta de Sant’Ana and tables filled with people who had travelled from all over the world to celebrate these two.
Talita and Oliver danced their way in with the bridal party, and from there the speeches just kept coming. Different countries, different accents, different chapters of their lives, all somehow ending up together in one room in Portugal. There were tears, huge laughs and a LOT of love being thrown at them from every direction. Which, after everything it had taken to finally get everyone here, felt pretty fucking special.
GOLDEN HOUR
Before the light disappeared completely, we stole Talita and Oliver away again. Down in the courtyard, surrounded by pink flowers and fairy lights, we got a few quiet minutes with just the two of them.
Well. Quiet-ish. Because obviously I also made them run off into the Portuguese sunset together, and then made them run back.
We finished by the huge AMOR sign, because if there was ever a wedding that deserved a giant glowing sign saying LOVE, it was probably this one. And then it was straight back upstairs.
There were still speeches to be made and glasses to drink!
END OF DINNER
Back upstairs, dinner was still very much going. More speeches, more laughter, more tears. More stories from all the different lives Talita and Oliver had lived before somehow ending up here together.
There were hugs across the tables, kisses on cheeks and that slightly chaotic point in the evening where everyone is VERY well fed, VERY well hydrated and completely invested in whatever happens next – and there was still a lot to come.
Because downstairs, cake, cheese and crackers were waiting, and Talita was about to have a moment. 🥹
TIME FOR CAKE!
Back downstairs, cake, cheese and crackers were waiting in the courtyard. Aria obviously had to do a little quality control first, and once the cake had officially passed the four-year-old test, Talita and Oliver got to cut it themselves.
With sparklers going off around them, they danced together in the glittering light. And somewhere in the middle of it all, it hit Talita, all the planning, all the changes, all the countries, the pandemic, the waiting – and now they were finally HERE.
Married, surrounded by everyone they loved, in Portugal, celebrating the wedding they’d waited years for.
Sometimes it takes a while for the enormity of a wedding day to actually catch up with you. For Talita, this was that moment.
DANCEFLOOR
And then it was finally time to PARTY! Talita and Oliver kicked things off with their first dance, complete with a very impressive dip, and from there things escalated pretty quickly.
There was a bouquet toss, except Oliver apparently disagreed with the result, stole the bouquet back and handed it to his sister instead. And at some point, a jacket ended up hanging from the chandelier.
I don’t know who put it there. I don’t know why. But I do know that once the clothes start becoming part of the venue decor, you’ve got yourself a pretty fucking good dance floor. And somehow, we still had another day to go.
THE HUNGOVER PARTY
And somehow, everyone looked surprisingly alive the next morning. The final day was considerably slower, with sandwiches, pies, croissants, Bloody Marys and a bride and groom who were definitely a little hungover, but still somehow glowing.
After three days of celebrating, it was such a lovely way to finish everything. No schedule, no ceremony, no speeches. Just good food, tired hugs and everyone getting one last chance to hang out before heading home.
We gathered everyone together for one final group photo, said our goodbyes and left Talita and Oliver to enjoy the last little bit of their wedding weekend in peace.
After years of planning, several countries, one pandemic and THREE DAYS of finally getting to celebrate… They fucking did it.