Henrique proposed to Fatima in September 2019 on a surprise boat trip. At the time, they were living in different countries and Henrique had to go abroad for a few months for work, so they put off wedding planning until he returned. Then the pandemic hit, and wedding planning stopped. They thought they had to set their sights on 2022 for a wedding. A friend of theirs saw an Instagram giveaway for an elopement planned by Vera from Ideias de Veludo and encouraged them to enter. Out of the thousands of entrants, they were chosen as the lucky winners! From there, Vera and the couple set off to plan this dreamy elopement in Portugal.

The planner, Vera, recalls her idea for the contest: “As you know, 2020 is a difficult year for everyone and wedding business is severely affected around the world, as most events were postponed or canceled. The traditional Portuguese wedding, which gathers a large number of people, is no longer compatible with this new reality. I saw my couples heartbroken because they had to postpone their dream and despite giving them all my support and always having a friendly word, I was also sad and shaken by this whole situation. I wanted to keep planning weddings and make people happy, what could I do in the meantime" I decided to offer a real elopement, for a real couple, who had their wedding postponed, or had their plans on hold. This is the message we wanted to pass to all the couples: in difficult times, dreams can come true!
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