A Modern Wedding in Alentejo Portugal

Set against the arid backdrop of Alentejo’s rolling vineyards, Gerardo and Carlos’s wedding unfolded at Herdade do Freixo — a venue whose stark brutalist architecture served as both stage and statement. For a couple drawn to striking contrasts and unapologetic design, the setting was ideal: raw concrete softened by the serenity of surrounding vines, a collision of nature and structure.

Inside a translucent, greenhouse-like structure built from industrial panels, guests were enveloped by layers of tropical and carnivorous plants: pitcher plants, Venus flytraps, and trumpet pitchers that shimmered behind plastic walls like living sculptures.

For the reception, custom metal tables echoed the venue’s architecture, while centerpieces floated in clear bags of water — part installation, part ecosystem. From Portuguese-only cuisine and design-forward cocktails to custom charro-inspired suits by Mexican designer Campillo, every detail was a fusion of identity, culture, and daring aesthetics.

Our Story

Names / Gerardo Echeverria & Carlos España

Location / Alentejo, Portugal

Wedding Date / May 3^rd, 2025

Guest Numbers / 76

Budget / €110,000

How We Met

We first met at a Christmas dinner party at a mutual friend’s home in Cancún, Mexico. We connected as friends right away, and not long after, my best friend organized a couples’ trip to his house on a secluded beach in the Sian Ka’an Biosphere, near Tulum. That trip changed everything. It’s where we began dating, and we’ve been together ever since.

Our Engagement Story

I love organizing very curated trips, and Carlos and I had always dreamed of visiting Australia and New Zealand. A month into planning the itinerary, I realized this trip felt different. It was going to be a special one, so I decided to buy a ring and propose while we were there. I didn’t know exactly when it would happen, but I knew it would be during that trip.

About a week in, we were staying at a stunning lakefront house designed by Fearon Hay Architects on the South Island of New Zealand. After a beautiful hike up Roys Peak, we returned to the house to relax. We were drinking coffee, just the two of us, quietly admiring the lake in front of us. That’s when I asked Carlos to marry me. It was relaxed and personal, exactly how I hoped it would feel.

What we love most about each other…

We have very different personalities, but they blend and balance each other really well. What I appreciate most is the deep respect we have for one another. We’re always encouraging each other and staying supportive for one another in everything we do.

The Setting

Wedding Location

We’d always daydreamed about getting married in Portugal. Neither of us has family there, but something about it just felt right. We had visited a few times before and fell in love with the people (so warm and creative), the landscapes, and the overall energy of the place. It just made sense.

Carlos is an architect, so when we discovered Herdade do Freixo, we knew it was the one. The venue’s striking brutalist architecture, set against the softness of the surrounding winery and nature, felt like the perfect balance. From the moment we saw it, we knew we had to get married there.

Aesthetic

The very first thing we knew we wanted was something different. We wanted carnivorous plants. That was our starting point. We envisioned florals that felt a little wild, a little edgy — old-world tropicals with real personality. We knew they would pair beautifully with the brutalist architecture of the venue.

From there, with the guidance of Marta from Tales Weddings (our amazing wedding planner), and Bosque Concepts (the brilliant team behind the florals), the concept evolved into something much deeper. We designed a celebration inspired by biology, art, and architecture — equal parts avant-garde and bold. It felt true to who we are.

The floral team truly worked magic, sourcing incredible Venus flytraps, tropical pitcher plants, and trumpet pitchers all the way from the Netherlands.

Preparation

Carlos’ family and mine stayed together at a beautiful countryside house in Alentejo, not far from the venue. The morning of the wedding, we all had breakfast together in the dining room. My brother, sister, and I did some exercise while Carlos and his sister enjoyed the spa and sauna. Other family members had massages or relaxed by the pool. It was very calm and easygoing — exactly the energy we wanted to start the day. Carlos and I got ready together while the rest of the family continued enjoying the house before heading to the venue.

Photography

We wanted wedding photos that felt both effortless and curated. When we found Carlos from NousNous, we knew he was the one. We were lucky to be photographed by him. He captured the day with an editorial eye, making every frame feel cinematic. We’ll be treasuring these photos forever.

Videography

We knew we wanted Sebastián from TAN Weddings to film our wedding. He’s arguably one of the best wedding filmmakers in North America, and we felt honored he accepted. He flew in from Mexico and created the most artful, elegant, and emotional film of our day. It’s truly a work of art.

Style Notes

Ceremony Décor

We wanted the ceremony to feel like stepping into a living, breathing ecosystem. Inside the venue, a translucent structure was built from metal frames and plastic panels, enclosing the ceremony space like a greenhouse. Layers of tropical plants were placed between the plastic, casting organic shadows and reflections.

The design was inspired by Carlos’ fondness for humid and cold environments. It created a striking contrast with the dry Alentejo landscape outside, adding a layer of industrial minimalism that felt bold and personal.

Reception Décor

We hosted the reception in the same venue, letting the raw, brutalist architecture guide the entire design. Long metal tables and benches were custom built to mirror the clean lines and raw structure of the space. At the center of it all, a tall metal structure held clear bags of water, each containing a carnivorous plant. It felt more like an avant-garde art installation than floral decor. Matching centerpieces on the tables echoed this concept, with more clear water bags and carnivorous plants inside, lit from below.

It turned out beautifully — unexpected, sculptural, and full of artistry.

Wedding Planner & Stylist

Since we were planning the wedding from abroad, we put our full trust in Marta from Tales Weddings, and it was hands down one of the best decisions we made. She brought the avant-garde wedding of our dreams to life with so much patience and creativity.

Flowers

From the beginning, we were drawn to florals that felt unusual and striking — we wanted something that could hold its own next to the raw architecture of the space. That’s when the idea of carnivorous plants came in. We loved how wild and sculptural they looked — like living art with a bit of attitude.

Gustavo and Tiago from Bosque Concepts brought their incredible creativity to the table and came up with some of the boldest, most beautiful floral ideas we’ve ever seen. The result was beyond anything we had imagined.

Stationery

Andrea from Milé Paper Co. created the most beautiful wedding invitations and stationery — modern, minimal, and perfectly in tune with the entire day.

Cake

We chose a pear and pistachio cake made by Sandra from Migalha Doce, featuring a brutalist design that couldn’t have been more fitting — or more memorable.

Food & Beverages

We wanted to maintain the Portuguese essence throughout the evening, so we made a clear decision: only Portuguese food, all night long. Cocktail hour kicked off with stations of olive oil and presunto, which set the tone for the sit-down dinner that followed. Alongside the food, beautifully crafted cocktails and sleek, sculptural shots that looked like tiny works of art were flowing and got everyone buzzing.

Dinner was all about sharing and celebrating. We served classic Portuguese entrées family-style, followed by individual meat and fish main courses. Wines from the venue’s own winery were poured throughout the meal. For dessert, we had pear and pistachio cake that was as delicious as it was design-forward. After-hours stations with tripas de Aveiro and bifanas kept the energy up well into the night.

“We loved how wild and sculptural carnivorous plants looked — like living art with a bit of attitude.”

Fashion & Beauty Notes

Groom’s Attire

We wanted to bring a little bit of Mexico to Portugal, so we turned to one of our favorite Mexican designers, Campillo, known for his charro-inspired pieces with a bold, modern twist. We worked closely with his team in Mexico City, traveling to his studio several times for fittings, and created custom matching looks drawn from his Fall/Winter ’24 collection.

Inspired by charrería, the centuries-old Mexican equestrian tradition, the suits featured a star-shaped bodice that required hours of precise shaping and draping. We gave it a wedding-worthy twist by having them made in ivory silk crepe, finished with sterling silver buttons inspired by volcanic stone.

Wedding Rings

Carlos’s ring was designed by Los Angeles-based jeweler Nataf Joaillerie, whom I discovered through Dover Street Market. The design features dual suspended diamonds set beneath a yellow gold band.

Carlos designed my ring with London-based jeweler Jet McQuiston. He worked closely with the designer to incorporate vitreous enameled symbols that represent us and our relationship, and chose an aquamarine as the centerpiece, a stone that felt deeply personal and unique.

Jewelry & Accessories

Carlos wore cream Lemaire loafers and his Rolex. Gerardo wore white Loewe shoes and borrowed a diamond bracelet by Katkim from his sister as a good luck charm.

Mother’s Looks

Both our mothers embraced a floral theme. My mom wore a hand-embellished Rachel Gilbert gown, covered in three-dimensional florals that gave the illusion of a blooming garden in motion. She paired it with Aquazzura gold-and-PVC sandals and Tabayer jewelry.
Carlos’s mother matched the venue’s floral concept in a Venus flytrap print dress from Ferragamo’s Spring/Summer ’24 collection, an unexpected and perfectly on-theme touch we loved.

The Details

Honeymoon

After the wedding celebrations were over, we drove to Comporta and spent a few days at Cabanas no Rio, a beautiful beach cabin designed by Aires Mateus. We relaxed by the ocean, enjoyed the beach, and treated ourselves to delicious seafood.

After that, we hit the road and headed to one of my personal favorites, Quinta da Corte. It’s a stunning, intimate hotel with only eight rooms, designed by Pierre Yovanovitch. The space is filled with beautifully curated art, incredible food, and a breathtaking winery. It was the perfect way to wind down, soak everything in, and eat as many Portuguese pastries as we possibly could.

Gift Registry

The most memorable gift we received was simply having all our friends and family there. Everyone had traveled so far, from Mexico, Argentina, Denmark, the UK, the Netherlands, Spain, even Australia. Seeing them all together and knowing the effort it took to be there truly felt like the greatest gift we could have asked for.

“We designed a celebration inspired by biology, art, and architecture — equal parts avant-garde and bold. It felt true to who we are.”

Wedding Songs

For the ceremony, we played nature-inspired bird sounds from beginning to end, creating a calm, immersive atmosphere. As guests entered the reception dinner, the sound shifted to soft white noise to ease the transition and set a gentle tone.

Entertainment

Diogo from Groovebox was our DJ for the night and kept the energy high from start to finish. He played all the nu-disco and pop we love, and of course, a little Rosalía to keep the vibe just right.

Celebrant

Catia from Rituais led our spiritual ceremony with so much warmth and intention. It was beautiful and grounding in all the right ways.

Readings

We decided to let the ceremony flow naturally and share our vows from the heart, speaking in the moment and saying what we truly felt.

Our Advice

A memorable moment…

One of the most memorable moments was walking in and seeing the venue completely transformed. It was surreal. We just looked at each other like, “Is this really our wedding?”

If I could give other couples one piece of advice…

Planning a wedding abroad is actually easier than people think. It’s less stressful in many ways. Since you’re not physically there, you’re forced to let go a little, trust the process, and go with the flow. Don’t lose sleep over the small stuff. Trust the team you’ve hired. They truly know what they’re doing. We put our full trust in our wedding planner, and it was the best decision we made. Everything came together beautifully.

One thing I wish I knew before I started my wedding plans…

I wish we had known how effortlessly everything would come together. The entire process was such a beautiful experience, from the virtual meetings with our wedding planner and the team to the very last minute of the celebration. If we could do it all over again, we wouldn’t change a single detail.

Sources of inspiration…

Our source of inspiration came from some pretty unusual places: botanical illustrations by Jebb & Cheek, the work of artist Yoshihiro Suda, and pieces by Danish goldsmith Arje Griegst. We rarely shared actual images with our planner. Instead, we simply talked about the things we loved. It was mind-blowing how, just by getting to know us, our wedding planner and floral team were able to translate those conversations into ideas that felt completely aligned with who we are.

Our Contacts

Wedding Venue / Herdade do Freixo

Wedding Stylist & Planner / Tales Weddings

Photography / NousNous

Videography / TAN Weddings

Grooms Formal Wear / Campillo

Wedding Rings / Nataf Joaillerie & Jet McQuiston

Jewelry & Accessories / Katkim & Rolex

Shoes / Loewe & Lemaire

Stationery / Milé Paper Co.

Florist / Bosque Concepts

Cake / Migalha Doce

Catering / Bar Factory

Celebrant / Cátia Sofia

Entertainment / Groovebox

Rentals / Back-Up Rentals

Grooms / Gerardo & Carlos