Featuring Destination Weddings on the site has that bittersweet factor, I'm torn between being totally delighted for the couple in question, in today's case: Deirdre and David, and being riven with jealousy at the gorgeous sunshine they enjoyed on their day!

But it's impossible to be bitter in the face of the pure happiness of a couple on their happiest day so we're delighted to share our first ever Destination Wedding in Portugal by Sosac Photography.

Deirdre and David opted for the Monte Das Alagoas after meeting with Algarve wedding planners in 2010 "they brought us to a few venues around Alvor. We really liked the room in Monte das Alagoas and the fact that it was so close to Alvor." Alvor is a pretty fishing village in the Western Algarve ideal for families and in this case - weddings...

So how did you get together? "David and I met by chance at the tail end of a night out back in a friend’s college digs on Western Road just before Christmas 2002. He was there with his friends and I with mine and we got chatting. Just as he was getting up to leave I nabbed him in the hallway and asked him for his number. A week later we basically went on a blind date as I couldn’t really remember what he looked like! I was sitting in a bar waiting for him when I got a text saying ‘I’m at the bar’…which was great cos that narrowed down the choices of men I was looking for i.e. the one on his own!"

The beginning might have been smooth enough, but Deirdre and David's engagement story is like something out of a Carry On Film...

David rented a boat on Lough Derg and took me out there for a romantic day out. I had a feeling something was up as he had never done something like that before and he was being very mysterious about the whole thing! Anyway our ‘romantic’ boat trip soon turned into a bit of a fiasco when the gearbox on the boat decided to give up the ghost slap bang in the middle of the lake. There was only one thing for it-to row ashore the old fashioned way using the oars! So what had started out as great craic soon turned to hard work and a lot of long silences as we prayed we’d make it back to shore…10 minutes away from the shore we started to relax and then David said ‘I wanted to ask you something before we got off the boat’…I had been so caught up in making it back to dry land I just barked a ‘what?’ at him and then he proposed! There was an awkward hug with the lifejackets then and lots of laughing and smiling as we sailed into shore! We went to Ballincollig the next day and picked the ring."

Smart girl Deirdre didn't need to splash out on her designer headpiece - the Acacia II by Jenny Packham  - she rented it from a girl whose picture she commented on on facebook! Ah, the power of social media in action!

So how did Deirdre and David decide on their venue? "Initially, I was disappointed that it wasn’t closer to the sea but when I saw it on the day of the wedding I was so so happy with our choice. The garden was like something out of a fairytale, and it was brilliant to have the place completely to ourselves as Monte das Alagoas is a private venue."

For the reception decor Deirdre specified to the florist that she  "wanted to ‘bring the outside in’ hence the lush greens and whites. We named our tables after all the places of significance in our lives e.g. where we met, where I lived in University, where David used to hang around as a teenager, with pictures from google maps to show people where we were talking about. Also we didn’t want a ‘top’ table as we didn’t like the idea of being up on a height and being spectators at our own wedding. So instead we had a figure of 8 table with the entire bridal party, David’s son and the priest, who was a cousin of my father’s. It was really nice to be in amongst our guests and to be sitting together as a group."

Getting married abroad didn't prevent Deirdre from putting her own stamp on the day, in addition to designing and printing their own booklets, they also made a cool seating plan " a ‘beach’ with little cocktail umbrellas on it. Every guest had a cocktail umbrella with their name and table number on the back…oh so time consuming before the wedding but it was worth it for the finished product! "

The speeches have to be the highlight because the weather was so beautiful, and my sister had suggested it from a wedding she had previously attended, we decided to have the speeches outside. Everyone stood, sat or lay on the grass with their drinks and the speakers stood on the steps in the middle of the garden at a bit of a height so as to be seen….it was just so lovely and relaxed, and the people that spoke really spoke from the heart. My sister, my bridesmaid, gave such a beautiful heartfelt speech, there wasn’t a dry eye in the garden!

And after having a destination wedding, what advice would you give to brides and grooms planning their day abroad? "Two things -plan your wedding together as a couple and delegate,delegate,delegate!  

I think planning and organising your wedding together makes the day a lot more special and also shares the burden or worry and stress! We were lucky in that we had wedding planners who ensured the day ran very smoothly, but we also really enjoyed doing things together like the seating plan, and picking the menu together etc. It shares the burden and also means that everything is much more special as things were joint decisions rather than individual.

Delegating was a skill that I only picked up in the week running up to the wedding but I wished I had known it earlier as whenever I asked anyone to do a job for me, they always obliged! Remember you don’t have to take everything on yourself, so whether it’s sorting out a ring cushion or collecting wedding candles-ask for help!"

Wise words ladies, especially for a wedding abroad - you're going to need all the help you can get.

Huge thanks to Deirdre and David for sharing their beautiful day with us and of course to Shane O'Sullivan from Sosac Photography for letting us feature his images. There's plenty more to see over on www.sosacphotography.com