Real Wedding | Giedre + Tadas

Tell us a little about yourselves!

We have been together for over 11 years, since highschool. It’s crazy just to think about it, but we sort of knew that we were going to get old together, when we met each other. We say we are the A-team - Tadas is very sharp minded and I am more a creative soul in our team. However, we both are true perfectionists. So somehow this creates a really good balance in our daily lives. Btw, Tadas makes the best gelato in the world, maybe that’s the secret! We are both from Lithuania, but we have lived in Copenhagen for many years now. Our life journey included a wonderful year in Munich too. We love to travel, ride our vintage bikes and try the best gelatos and coffee all over the world.

Why did you decide to get married where you did?

We always knew that our wedding was going to be somewhere in nature, at an intimate and sunny location, where everyone would feel like they are on summer vacation . Portugal and Quinta de Sant'Ana and all the vendors involved, were a magical coincidence. I am a huge photography lover and I accidentally saw Adriana Morais' photos and complimented her, so we chatted for a bit and I asked her for some venue recommendations, since it looked like she had been in these unique wedding locations. She recommended several venues, but after we saw Quinta de Sant'Ana it instantly felt right.

Initially we did not plan to get married in 2021 due to the pandemic however, after contacting Quinta de Sant'Ana they said that already now a lot of people moved and booked dates in 2022. They had a few dates in September 2021 which would fit our plans however, it was already April - so not a lot of time to plan the wedding. After that we were considering eloping and getting married somewhere in the mountains, just the two of us.However, one day we came back after a wonderful holiday with friends, sat down in the kitchen and just thought out loud that we really want to do this cozy wedding with closest friends and family. So we did! We contacted Quinta de Sant'Ana again, asked if they still have the date available. Five months later we were all in Portugal, celebrating this beautiful day.

How many guests did you have?

We had 41 guests - just our closest friends and family to keep our wedding intimate.

Tell us about your outfits.

Overall we did not have a dress code as we wanted to create an atmosphere where everyone feels their best selves. The same applied to our outfits. The only thing the was certain for our outfits was that it needed them to be relaxed. Tadas was pretty easy going about it. He ordered maybe 4 or 5 different suits within this criteria and chose the one which suited him best. As for my dress, it feels like it deserves its own story, for all the compliments it got! To be honest, I never imagined myself in a wedding dress before. So I did not have a clear picture in my head. I just knew it needed to reflect me, be minimalistic and unique. A long time ago, I saw one of UTA Studio's photos at the seaside, where the girl in the picture wore this simple, light dress, which almost flew in the air. It was different from anything else you can find. From then on, I knew I wanted UTA Studio to design the dress. When I came for our first meeting at UTA Studio, I tried all the different styles and shapes, since I did not know what I wanted my dress to look like. Nothing felt exactly right. So I put on a dress which was completely opposite to all others, spontaneously pulling up the length of the dress to make it more informal, adding a few details... Suddenly it clicked - I wanted a simple, minimalistic dress which feels special at the same time. We sketched the last details and chose the fabrics. Aiste, the owner of UTA Studio is a magician of dresses. She has a very subtle style and her dresses are so architectural, probably that is why I loved it so much. The excitement in her eyes confirmed that it was the right one. By another beautiful accident I stopped by the Dust Studio and met Viktorija, I knew she had this minimalistic wedding jewelry collection. I asked her for advice on which earrings to choose for the dress. To my surprise she offered to design the earrings which would match the wedding dress. We sat down, she quickly made a sketch and it ended up in this beautiful miniature of a minimalistic, organic piece of art.

What was the most important aspect for you, in terms of planning your wedding?

Being authentic and keeping things simple - and letting things go with the flow. We did not want many traditions and long speeches, we wanted everyone to feel relaxed and enjoy the time in this beautiful location. Planning a wedding in such a short amount of time required trusting people and we were incredibly lucky to meet Paula Duarte and the whole Quinta de Sant’Ana team who realized our dream wedding. Paula agreed on the most unexpected location for dinner even though the weather forecast wasn’t on our side. Just before sitting at the dinner table we thought it was going to fly out into the winyards. She almost had a panic however,we just had a good laugh from the situation. The storm was over in a few minutes and we had a very romantic dinner in the middle of vineyards, as planned! So, having no expectations is another key of planning the wedding! Accept that some things can be unpredictable and enjoy the time with your loved ones.

Were there any elements that were important for you to incorporate?

Yes, it was important for us to make our wedding personal. We did this through the overall atmosphere, details and the music we chose to play. Our wedding was on Sunday, so we chose a “Sunday kind of love” song to play while I was walking to the altar. The whole playlist during the celebration was 80's style disco, to create a mood of pure happiness. We also had a photo guest book, with my grand grand dads analogue camera and polaroid, so we could see the celebration from our guests eyes. But I would say our guests were the most important element of the wedding, they are all so unique!

Any tips for couples getting married, particularly during the pandemic?

I would repeat myself, but not having high expectations is our tip number one, let it be organic and let things flow its own way - that way you will make the day be about you and people around.

In regards to the pandemic, be ready for everything, but stay positive. Hopefully however, it is now all in the past!

Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about?

Everyone who was part of our day was amazing. Somehow we feel that the universe was working in our favour to meet so many wonderful people! Adriana Morais, our photographer was the reason why this wedding happened in Portugal. I fell in love with her photography from first sight and I am infinitely grateful she was able to capture our day. She is not only a very talented photographer but also has a beautiful personality. Paula Duarte, the wedding planner and the whole Quinta de Sant'Ana team did an incredible job organizing the whole celebration, pushing the limits in regards to our wishes and making everything look truly magical. Our band, the 24 Robbers Swing Band who played during cocktails, dinner and the evening were such wonderful vendors to have crossed our path. We had a few talks with them before the wedding and felt an immediate click with their personalities. We sent the playlist of our favourite songs, to share the type of music we imagined at our day. We were very surprised when we heard our favourite songs playing live. We still watch their performances from the wedding to remember the mood of the day. They created this amazing atmosphere throughout the whole day. We can’t even count how many compliments there were for their live performance!