Our wedding weekend

Long before it was a five-star hotel, Amoure was the Quinta da Câmara — a noble family estate just outside Braga where olive oil was pressed for generations.

In 1745, King João V granted the property to its first owner, Diogo Rodrigues Machado da Silva, a Knight of the Order of Christ and captain of Moure. For years locals thought the old manor was beyond saving — until it was lovingly restored into the Art Deco–inspired country house where we'll raise our first glass of the weekend.

Braga Cathedral was consecrated to the Virgin Mary on August 28, 1089 — decades before Portugal even existed as a country. It is Portugal's first cathedral, and for centuries it rivalled Santiago de Compostela as the most powerful church in the Iberian Peninsula.

Inside the Chapel of the Kings rest Count Henry and Dona Teresa, the parents of Afonso Henriques — Portugal's very first king. That's why Braga is often called the place where Portugal was born.

Over 900 years, the cathedral layered Romanesque stone, Gothic chapels, and dazzling golden Baroque organs — the same organs you'll see above us as we say "I do."

Tucked into the green hills of the Minho, Quinta Lago dos Cisnes grew over decades into one of northern Portugal's most sought-after places to celebrate — loved for its gardens, its lake, and its wonderfully romantic details.

The name says it all: there really is a lake, and there really are swans. Come dinner, dancing and a few surprises, we'll be celebrating right beside them.