The perfect mix of destination wedding glamour and playful decor details.

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The priority for Dan and Zia on their destination wedding day was to fill both the ceremony and reception with as much personality and playfulness as possible, without taking away from the serious sentiment of the day. They struck the balance perfectly with Sci-Fi inspired stationery and music choices, personalised vows, surprise readings and a divine Monique L’Huillier dress for Zia. Matt and Lena Photography documented the day which we think is the perfect inspiration for any of you who want to do a destination wedding that bit differently...

Beautiful Wedding in Portugal by Matt and Lena Photography // see it all on onefabday.com

Dan and Zia met at Trinity University, Dublin, where they were both studying Drama and Theatre Studies. After falling in love and beginning to plan a move to the UK, Dan proposed.

Dan and Zia, Wedding in Portugal by Matt and Lena Photography-1 (17)

Zia remembers the proposal... "Our proposal was very spontaneous. Although we had talked about marriage in the past and had (unbeknown to the other) both been thinking about proposing to the other, when it actually happened I think it came as a surprise to us both. It was a night much like any other. We had just watched a movie (The Edge of Tomorrow) and we were getting ready for bed."

Zia continues... "We had recently started to set plans in motion to move to the UK. That night I wanted to check in with Dan and make sure he was still happy to go ahead with everything. I asked him how he was feeling about the prospective move. He said that he was “excited for us to move, to get a house and a dog and get married.. cos eh, yeah, I think we’ll get married. Do you wanna get married? Will you marry me?!” And I said yes!"

Before the proposal, Dan and Zia had been to a friends wedding abroad and loved it so much they decided to have a destination wedding of their own. They tell us... "A year before we got engaged we attended a friends wedding in France. We loved the experience of their wedding abroad. It was so relaxed and nearly everyone made a full weekend of it. There was just a great overall holiday vibe to the whole event. When we got engaged we knew right away that we wanted to get married away too."

After lots of venue visits, Zia and Dan settled on Quinta De Sant’Ana in Gradil, Portugal which they filled with board games and fun decorative elements inspired by their love of manga, adventure games and adventure movies.

Zia describes... "Our theme was adventure! Our invites and menu/table settings were all based on images of exploring strange and exciting planets (like an old 50’s sci-fi movie). Lots of the music we had during the wedding came from adventurous films and games we both love. Our recessional song was the theme from a manga tv series we love called Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. During the drinks reception, our string quartet played themes from adventure games like Monkey Island and the Legend of Zelda, mixed in with adventurous film themes like Indiana Jones, as well as more classical pieces."

The ceremony itself was just as personal and playful with a close friend acting as celebrant, personalised vows and two friends performing surprise readings. Dan and Zia recommend... "Both of the readings during the ceremony were complete surprises! And both were lovely to hear (and certainly made us laugh in places). If you’ve got friends you trust enough, we would totally recommend asking them to surprise you by picking their own readings."

Zia’s brother Alan even created bespoke wedding invitations based around the theme. Zia describes... "He is an animator and Dan and I are both into our games and Sci-Fi so we asked him to design something akin to an old 60’s Sci-fi Movie Poster. He drew us both in space suits on a galactic adventure! We were then able to hand the raw illustration files to Ann and the team at the Quinta, and they did a wonderful job of including the imagery from the invites on the menus and table number cards."

The beautiful Zia wore a stunning Monique L’Huillier wedding dress for the day, accessorised with Jules Bridal Jewellery jewels which she won through a One Fab Day competition. So happy to have contributed to your day!

To complete the day Dan and Zia performed a tango as their first dance. They remember... "Our first dance was a tango, which we performed at the end of the drinks reception, just before the meal. The piece of music was called El Choclo and was played live by a string quartet. We chose it because we wanted our first dance to have a performance feel to it, and what better performance for a couple in love, than a passionate tango?"

Huge congratulations to you both and thanks so much for sharing your wedding day with us all! A big thank you also goes to Matt and Lena Photography for sharing their work with us. To see more from Matt and Lena Photography visit www.mattandlenaphotography.com