A Lisbon Wedding Weekend Infused With Sentimental Touches and Indian Traditions

When it came to choosing a wedding destination, the couple decided that they had to bring their loved ones to Lisbon. “With Chaysen living there and the eventual plan that I join him, we were excited to show our friends and family the place we call home and show them what this city means to us,” says Rhiannon. “It’s artsy, eclectic, and really just has so much to offer to everyone.” The to-be-weds teamed up with Catarina Amaral of Vows Portugal to bring their wedding weekend to life. “I am so grateful for Catarina and all the attention, love, patience, and effort she put into us, our vision, and our wedding. She made everything seamless,” the bride says. “Every detail was carefully chosen with intention and an ode to our story and love.” Rhiannon also wanted to infuse elements of her Indian background into the celebration. “We wanted it to be timeless with a colorful twist,” she adds.

For their rehearsal dinner and cocktail dinatoire welcome party, the couple decided to host guests at the site of their first date, Palácio do Grilo. “We wanted this to be a red theme with red flowers, red lights, red decor, and red accents,” says Rhiannon. The bride and groom would also wear Indian attire and have a mehendi artist at the party as a nod to Rhiannon’s mother, who emigrated from India in her teens. “I love the culture and that I get to embrace that half of my ethnicity,” she says.

It took some time for the couple to find the right venue for their wedding day. “We are pretty unconventional, and when our wedding planner mentioned Palacio da Fonte Nova, we were so excited to see it,” says the bride. “My jaw dropped when we walked in.” The estate just outside of Sintra was covered in Portuguese tiles, huge bougainvillea trees, and manicured lawns. “They had never held a wedding there before, so that excited us the most,” Rhiannon adds. The couple went ahead and booked the venue for a late-summer ceremony on September 5, 2025. For the final day of festivities, Rhiannon and Chaysen would bring guests to a recovery beach day lunch at Praia Princesa in Caparica. “I love taking Chaysen’s motorcycle across the bridge to Caparica when I visit. He loves to surf, so he lives at this beach,” says Rhiannon. “Praia Princesa has beautiful French vibes that made for a perfect setting with rosé flowing and plenty of waves.”

Rhiannon’s wedding dress search actually began before Chaysen even proposed. While having a drink with her best friend and future maid of honor, Lucy McCrae Judson, at the St. Regis Atlanta, Rhiannon met Mandi Jackson, the owner of Mandi Jackson Bridal. “When Mandi told us that she sells wedding dresses, Lucy told her all about Chaysen and me,” recalls Rhiannon. “Mandi grabbed a bottle of Champagne and invited Lucy and I to go with her to her atelier in the hotel lobby. We followed her and had such a fun night just being girls, laughing, and trying on all sorts of wedding dresses.” While Rhiannon went on a dress shopping trip in New York City, she ultimately felt her heart drifting back to that special connection with the Atlanta salon.

There, she found her dress—a strapless lace Monique Lhuillier gown with a plunging sweetheart neckline. “My wedding dress felt timeless yet daring, soft yet strong; it carried the quiet confidence of the woman I had grown into,” says Rhiannon. She paired the gown with a clean, low bun, Hello Noémi diamond flower petal earrings, and Aquazzurra satin sandals. “I wanted to keep my jewelry simple, other than a silver bracelet that I always wear that says Chaysen on it, a gold pinky ring that has my three best friends’ birthstones that we all have and wear, and a ruby and diamond ring I wear every day,” says the bride. “I had an NLA Collection white knot bag that I had prepared with lip gloss and essentials that I didn’t see or touch all night.”

As the reception turned into a dance party, Rhiannon changed into an Oscar de la Renta mini dress with embellished orchids. “This specific orchid is my favorite flower, and I knew it was going to be in my bouquet, so I thought it was a special touch that it was in my reception dress,” she shares. “I paired it with a pair of Prada platform heels that lasted me about five minutes until I changed into a lower-heeled Miu Miu sparkly mule.”

For his wedding day look, Chaysen had a custom tuxedo made at Tailor on Ten in Bangkok, Thailand. Since his family owns the Moorea boutique hotel in Koh Samui, the groom made a stop on a journey there to create his bespoke ensemble. “I wanted something that felt elegant yet effortless—something that would age beautifully in photos,” Chaysen shares. He paired the look with cufflinks he received as a gift from his mother.

As the rehearsal and welcome event were to be infused with Indian elements, Rhiannon and Chaysen found their looks on a visit to Jaipur together. “Chaysen had his custom sherwani made at a local place,” shares the bride. “They kept calling him a prince and taking his picture—it was so cute.” For her look, Rhiannon had a custom Amit Aggarwal ivory two-piece set made with draped, pleated fabric. “I wanted something that blended traditional with contemporary, and this really beautifully captured that,” she says. The bride also bought her jewelry to pair with the look on the trip. While she initially was planning on wearing the set all night, she discovered a ruffled red Aknvas dress in red that she decided to change into during the party. “It’s so fun, and I felt so fun in it,” she shares. Rhiannon also loved that it was a nod to Indian brides traditionally wearing red. “I also changed my jewelry for a pair of Oscar de la Renta Indian-inspired earrings that I sourced and am obsessed with,” she says.

For the beach day, Rhiannon wore a white Missoni runway top she found on her bachelorette a week before in St. Tropez, L’Agence pants, Cult Gaia pearl earrings, and a vintage Chanel raffia bag. She adds, “I also wore a Hunza G white one piece underneath that I jumped into the ocean with all of my girlfriends with in later that day.” The groom wore a linen set he found at the St. Tropez Saturday market. Rhiannon adds, “He was surfing most of the day, so you could find him in his Quiksilver wetsuit.”

The wedding weekend arrived, and guests began to land in Lisbon for the festivities. The first night began with an intimate rehearsal dinner for just the couple’s families, maid of honor, and best man—then the party went into full swing for the cocktail dinatoire. “It was a beautiful night filled with delicious food, amazing cocktails, a wonderful DJ, speeches, and mehndi,” says the bride.

Rhiannon spent the morning of the wedding getting ready with her maid of honor and her mother in robes from her mother-in-law’s brand Llobycats. Guests arrived at the Palacio da Fonta Nova and found their seats in the garden. “I loved that we were up on the stairs and our guests were looking up at us with the beautiful palacio as our backdrop,” shares the bride. “The climbings bright florals on the stairs that met us at the altar and hanging marigold sprinkled about gave it such a nice Indian touch.” Chaysen admits he was nervous before the ceremony. “But once I saw my wife walk down the aisle, it was like a ray of light that hit me and made all my worries go away,” he says. The groom’s father-in-law officiated, and the bride’s mother joined to give the couple flower garlands—a nod to traditional Indian ceremonies. The couple exchanged emotional, handwritten vows before they were pronounced husband and wife. “Part of my vision for the ceremony was to make people feel that magic and fairy-tale love we share,” notes Rhiannon. “There wasn’t a dry eye in the crowd during our vows, so I think we achieved that feeling. That feeling we feel for each other and throughout our story since we met.”

Cocktail hour followed in the garden with passed appetizers and specialty margaritas. “We had an incredible band, Duddha and the Lotus Band, that had such an electric and unique vibe,” says the bride. “I think Duddha was actually barefoot the whole time.” Since she didn’t want to miss a moment, the bride, her friends, and the wedding planner all tried to bustle her dress next to the band instead of heading inside. “Chaysen also came over and joined me, and we took a moment to eat canapés, have some drinks, and really soak it all in,” she says.

Dinner followed on the lawn next to the Palacio with music from a live saxophone player. “Everything flowed so beautifully and effortlessly between every moment that it all felt seamless,” shares the bride. “We had some incredible speeches by my dad, my maid-of-honor and best friend Lucy, and Chaysen’s brother-in-law, Philip, who gave a raw, unedited version of the night we met in a hilarious speech.” Another unique touch to the reception? “Rhi surprised me with a cake she had made with our horoscopes and lyrics to one of our favorite songs,” says Chaysen. “This really took my breath away.”

The party moved to the other courtyard next to the Palacio, where a dance floor, lounge area, and bar were in place. The newlyweds shared their first dance to “Can’t Help Falling in Love” sung by the bride’s friend Olivia Rosen. “It made the moment all the more intimate, special, and unforgettable to us,” she shares. The bride had her father-daughter dance to her namesake song “Rhiannon,” and the groom continued the trend with a mother-son dance to another Fleetwood Mac song. “We are big Stevie Nicks fans,” Rhiannon jokes. “Afterwards, all of our guests joined us on the dance floor to dance under the stars.”

The bride and groom note how they can’t believe how fast it all flew by. “I relive those moments almost every day—the laughter, the light, the people we love most gathered in one place,” says Chaysen. “I feel profoundly grateful and lucky to have had such a magical celebration of love.”