They Said Yes at Lake Como and Got Married in Lisbon: Brittney & Luis's Wedding at Vandelli Botanical Gardens
- Author: Natali Grace Levine
- Wedding date: 08/10/2025
- City: Lisbon
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Love Story
Brittney and Luis met on vacation - the kind of meeting that shouldn’t lead anywhere permanent, and then it does. They clicked immediately, and as luck would have it, they lived nearby. Close enough to keep the adventure going, close enough for a casual beginning to turn into something neither of them was in a hurry to define. Since June 2022, they’ve been together and, as Brittney puts it, loving it.
The proposal came in August 2024, on their second trip to Europe together. They started in Milan, took a day trip to Lake Como, and ended up at a breathtaking lookout above the water. Brittney had her suspicions. Luis led her up a staircase anyway, got down on one knee, and had a photographer ready before she even knew what was happening. He nailed it perfectly, she says - “the view was straight out of a magazine.” One year later, they were planning a wedding in Lisbon.
About Your Wedding
An abroad wedding, planned almost entirely by email, for 100 guests who flew in from the United States to celebrate in a city that neither the bride nor groom calls home - and not a single moment that felt anything less than exactly right. Brittney spent a year building the day around a vision that was always clear: romance and elegance, simple and timeless, with every transition flowing so naturally that guests never once felt rushed.
The venue was Vandelli Botanical Gardens, chosen after exploring options virtually and speaking with other brides who had been there. What sealed it, Brittney explains, was the flexibility - “I loved the idea of a blank slate I could customize however I wanted, and that’s exactly what Vandelli offered.” A soft, neutral palette followed naturally: lilies in the garden, single-stemmed roses in the greenhouse, candlelight everywhere. The result was a day she says she would repeat without changing a single thing. “Every moment, exactly as it happened.”
Morning Details
The morning began at Pestana Palace Lisboa, with Agnes from Let’s Hair and Miguel from Fresh Faced setting the tone before the day fully took over. Their calm presence, fun energy, and plenty of laughs made the morning feel exactly as it should - unhurried, warm, and full of the particular joy that comes from being surrounded by the right people at the right moment.
The jewelry told its own story. Brittney wore her mother’s tennis bracelet - a piece her sister had also worn on her own wedding day - and carried her sister’s veil into the ceremony. “Special pieces that made the day even more meaningful,”she says quietly. Her rings followed the same logic as everything else: classic gold bands, with a single emerald on hers for a subtle, elegant touch. The invitations, designed by Brittney herself through Truly Engaging, and the stationery handled by In Love Studio, completed the picture - every paper detail was considered as everything else.
Bride Getting Ready
Brittney had a clear vision going in: a high-neck, low-back dress that suited her body and the romantic atmosphere of the day. She visited boutiques, thought she had found it, and then her sister encouraged her to try one more. At White House Bride, a stylist pulled a lace gown from the rack on instinct - and that was the moment. “The moment I put it on, we all cried - me, my mom, and my sister,” Brittney recalls. The lace captured exactly the romantic feeling she had been looking for, light enough for a Lisbon August and elegant enough for a candlelit greenhouse.
Her final look included her sister’s veil, her mother’s tennis bracelet, stud earrings, lace arm sleeves, and pointed-toe satin shoes. The bouquet - long-stem lilies crafted by Martins Alves - completed everything. Her mom, her sister, and her mother-in-law were in the room for it all.
Groom Getting Ready
Luis got ready at Pestana Palace with his father, Brittney’s father, and his brother-in-law - a room full of the men who mattered most, on the morning that mattered most. He wore a custom double-breasted black tuxedo by Tux Guys, with one detail hidden from view: their wedding date engraved inside the lining. The kind of personal touch that no one else would ever see, and that made it mean even more.
By the time he was dressed and standing at the grand entrance of Pestana Palace, waiting, the morning had done exactly what it needed to do. He was ready.
First Look
“I was just so happy to finally see him and start the day together” - that was Brittney’s first thought when she walked out to meet Luis at the grand entrance of Pestana Palace Lisboa. His, by contrast, was pure shock and awe. He loved the look. Between the two of them, they had the whole moment covered - one completely overwhelmed, one completely at peace, both exactly where they needed to be.
Photoshoot Before The Ceremony
Pestana Palace was the natural choice for the pre-ceremony shoot. Brittney had fallen in love with its structure, colors, and timeless elegance while planning, and photographer Louise Golding knew the property well - she had shot there many times, understood exactly where the light fell and how to use it. A vintage car, a palace facade, and two people entirely at ease with each other. The images from this session set the visual tone for everything that followed, and as Brittney puts it, her photographer is someone she simply cannot recommend enough.
Ceremony
She arrived by vintage car, just ahead of the guests. From inside, Brittney watched everyone trickle into Vandelli Botanical Gardens - moving through the space, taking in the lilies, lifting their phones, settling into the quiet beauty of it all while a live violinist played. “A quiet, beautiful moment before the ceremony began,” she recalls - one that belonged entirely to her before it belonged to everyone else.
The ceremony unfolded at the garden’s staircase, with Brittney walking down the aisle to an acoustic violin rendition of Lovely by Billie Eilish. The traditions she and her sister had built together found their place here too: the borrowed veil, and at the end of the ceremony, a surprise dance with her mother - the same gesture her sister had made at her own wedding, now passed forward.
Photoshoot After The Ceremony
Married now, with Lisbon as their witness. Family portraits came first - on the stairs and near the statues of Vandelli, classic, composed, and timeless. Then the garden opened up for sunset shots, golden hour light falling over the botanicals in exactly the way a Lisbon August promises. Louise also captured candid moments during cocktail hour: the couple moving among their guests, laughing, present, completely themselves.
Sunset in a botanical garden. The hardest part was remembering to look at the camera.
Wedding Venue & Decor
Three spaces, three moods, one evening that moved through all of them without a single rough edge. The ceremony on the garden staircase, cocktail hour among the lilies, dinner in the greenhouse, dancing in the glasshouse to close the night. Vandelli handed Brittney a blank slate - and she knew exactly what to do with it.
The palette stayed soft and neutral throughout. In the greenhouse, as Brittney describes it, “the space glowed with soft candlelight, single-stemmed roses, and flowing drapery, creating an intimate, dreamy atmosphere that felt timeless and unforgettable.” Nothing competed with the setting. Everything enhanced it.
Couple's Advice
“Make full use of the entire property. Each space brings its own distinct mood and feels like part of a mini journey for guests. Also, timing is especially important in the summer months - a later ceremony works beautifully, both for comfort and for catching that golden sunset glow.”
Reception
The greenhouse dinner was where the evening shifted into something guests would be talking about long after they flew home. Signature cocktails by Bar Factory, catering by Food Story, and a menu that included traditional Portuguese dishes - a deliberate choice, so that 100 guests who had crossed an ocean could taste the city they had come to celebrate in.
And then there was the moment Brittney says she’ll never forget. Not the first dance, not the cake - but a quiet beat in the middle of dinner, when she and Luis simply stopped. “Surrounded by flowing cocktails, music, and our guests laughing and enjoying themselves - we just sat and took it all in,” she recalls. That fly-on-the-wall moment, watching everyone celebrate together, was the one she’d been hoping for without quite knowing it.
The first dance was to I Am Yours by Andy Grammer. The cake - three tiers by Edelweiss, intricate and elegant in equal measure. And behind the camera, through it all, was a photographer, Louise Golding, whose work went far beyond the images she delivered. Planning an abroad wedding without a dedicated planner is no small thing - and it was Louise who quietly filled that gap on the day itself. “Not only was her photography beyond skilled, but her experience in the wedding world made her an invaluable second pair of eyes - giving me the extra hand I needed to make everything run smoothly,” Brittney says. The kind of photographer who understands that her job doesn’t begin when she picks up the camera.
Wedding Team
- Hotel Pestana Palace Hotel
- Photographer @louisegoldingphotography
- Venue @vandelli.pt
- Videographer @fullcut
- Hair @letshair
- Makeup @miguelstapleton
- Decor @aura.rentals
- Drapery @lisbonweddingplanner
- Cake @edelweiss_cakes
- Bartenders @barfactorysolutions
- Dress @white_house_bride
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