Tell us a little about yourselves!
Hello! We’re Kendall and Desmond. We live in Tribeca in New York City. We have so much fun together, whether it’s a cozy night at home or traveling the world. We love spending time with our family and our friends more than anything, and connecting people makes us so happy. Together, we own Shopboy, a tailor shop and atelier located in both Tribeca and the West Village. We met in New York City at a friend’s bar about six years ago, and had an immediate connection. We were both soccer players, so we had a lot to talk about from the start, and are also both from the west, Kendall from Colorado and Desmond from California, so we felt a sense of familiarity when we met. We started our business together about a year after we started dating (which many would call insane - and so do we!), but we love it and love experiencing so many aspects of our lives together.
Why did you decide to get married where you did?
We took a trip to Portugal together shortly after we started dating. Kendall grew up with a family house in southern Portugal, so we went there first and then to Lisbon for the weekend. We were there on Valentine’s Day, and the people at the hotel went out of their way to make it such a lovely day without us mentioning the holiday. Portuguese hospitality is uniquely special, and so after that, we decided that whenever we’d get married, it would be in Portugal.
Once we started planning, we wanted our wedding to be a full weekend away, not only for us, but to bring people out of their daily lives to celebrate life and love with us. After we got engaged, we did a little research, took a trip to Portugal to look at Palacio dos Marqueses de Frontiera (a recommendation from a Portuguese friend) and we fell in love with it!
We wanted all of our focus in planning to be on bringing people together and creating an experience for all of our guests, so the raw beauty of the palace allowed us to focus on the moments throughout the weekend and keep the details simple. (I hadn’t even thought about a bouquet until the florist handed me something right before walking down the aisle!)
How many guests did you have?
75. We wanted it to be a party, but also wanted to keep it very intimate. It was important to us that we truly loved and knew every single person, and that every person knew both of us too. We also wanted to have a wedding where everyone felt connected to each other. Whether or not our guests came into the weekend knowing everyone, it felt like one big group of friends and family the entire weekend. It was so much fun to see all the people from our lives come together, integrate and connect with such ease!
What was the most important aspect for you, in terms of planning your wedding?
The most important aspect for us was bringing together all of the people we love most to celebrate with us. We wanted everyone to feel the sense of intimacy and connection amongst the group. Throughout the weekend, our focus for everything was to truly enjoy it and to appreciate all of the moments. We just wanted to have so much fun with all of the people we love the most, so every plan and decision we made always came back to that.
It was important to us that it didn’t feel like every other wedding. We always felt like by the time a wedding starts, everything passes by so quickly and the night is over. So, to make it different, we decided to break it up into three different parts:
We had the ceremony at noon, followed by a cocktail hour and then a seated lunch. The attire was black tie and this is where we did all of the formalities; the first dance, father/daughter dance, speeches, the seated meal and the cake. We really wanted to have a chance for everyone to sit down together, eat and drink, chat and laugh, because we always make it a priority to do these things together, and with our friends and family. We designated one of our best friends to be the Toastmaster, who guided the prayers and speeches. We had two prayers and six speeches, given by both friends and family on both of our sides, so it was a very social and fun lunch. The speeches were amazing and kept the lunch energetic and engaging.
We booked out the hotel, Torel Palace Lisbon, for our wedding weekend, so after the ceremony, cocktail hour and lunch, we all went back to the hotel for a pool party. Everyone changed out of their black tie and into swimsuits. We all sat around the pool, had a few drinks and relaxed in the sun. People swam, threw each other in the pool, laughed, laid in the sun… We had called it “Siesta or Fiesta on the invite, so people really did whatever they wanted.
From there, we went to The Flat, which is a renovated flat in Lisbon that has been converted into an event space. For the first hour or so, we relaxed on the outdoor terrace of the flat and had passed finger food, big sandwiches and an open bar. We had asked one of our close (and very talented) friends to DJ the event, so once he started playing, the night turned into a dance party. It was so much fun to have both of our families - parents, cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles - out on the dance floor together with our best friends.
We had the hotel put out a bunch of food for when we all arrived back after the after party (around 3am), so the night ended with whoever was still awake in the hotel courtyard, eating snacks, drinking beer and smoking cigars.
Tell us about your outfits.
Kendall wore her mom’s wedding dress from the 80’s for the ceremony and lunch, a Haight swimsuit for the pool party and a silk Bevza dress for the reception. Desmond wore a Kiton tuxedo for the ceremony, a floral Prada button-down with Atalaye swim trunks for the pool party, and a camel Prada suit for the reception. Incorporating so many looks was one of the most fun parts about planning our wedding. We wanted each part of the wedding day to have a different mood and energy, and so our outfits needed to reflect that.
The ceremony and lunch were formal and we both had so much fun getting ready for that part of the day. Wearing my mom’s dress was incredibly special for both myself and my family, and it was exciting for both of us to wear outfits that felt like they matched the beauty and formality of the venue. Desmond wore a beautiful and classic black tuxedo, we both wore incredible Saint Laurent shoes, and we exchanged vintage watches for the morning gifts.
We wanted the rest of the day to feel relaxed and more of a party than anything, so we didn’t give any dress code to guests for the rest of the day/night. Of course for the pool party, everyone wore
swimsuits!
For the after party, we wanted to feel elegant, yet free. We both love to dance, and having the after party feel like a dance party was really important to us. Both Kendall and Desmond’s outfits were light and airy for a warm summer evening, but it still felt like we were the guests of honor.
Were there any elements that were important for you to incorporate?
We had a very close friend, Bayo, marry us. Bayo was with us on one of our first dates, and he knows us both very well, so it was always important to us that he would be an integral part of our wedding day. He took a lot of time leading up to the wedding in speaking with us, our families and our friends, which made his speech very powerful, emotional and meaningful to us. We had only our siblings as our wedding party, and this was really special as we are both the middle child of three. Kendall’s siblings wore white, and Desmond’s wore black.
We had an amazing saxophone player (Ricardo Branco) for the ceremony and cocktail hour. We wanted to incorporate live music at some point in the day, and this was the most incredible decision! The music added so much depth to the entire event. He played ‘Canon in D’ when Kendall walked down the aisle, which was so powerful and elegant, especially in that setting. Right when the ceremony ended, he played ‘In Your Eyes’ by The Weeknd as we walked out together, and it was so much fun! It really set the rest of the tone for the rest of the day.
We had tequila shots waiting at everyone’s seat at the lunch, and Gavin, the Toastmaster, made a toast right at the start. This was so much fun and made the rest of the day feel like we were there to party!
Desmond is half Serbian, so we had a special Serbian prayer during the lunch, as well as a shot of Slivovitz, a plum spirit, after the prayer.
We had several speeches, and every single one was so meaningful. We planned for Kendall’s dad, Kendall’s sisters and Desmond’s brother to speak, and then the Toastmaster chose three more friends to speak. This was so spontaneous and fun, and we had no idea who would be up next! For the welcome gift for our guests, we designed and made bucket hats at our tailor shop for all the guests staying at the hotel. It was so much fun to do, and we loved that throughout the whole weekend, people were walking around everywhere with their hats on.
Desmond’s aunt is an amazingly talented calligraphist and artist. We had her design the invites, so the drawings and calligraphy are all by her. She also beautifully addressed all the envelopes for the invites.
Any tips for couples getting married, particularly during the pandemic?
Relax and enjoy it! When it comes to most of the little details in planning, you’re the only one who knows what is/was 'supposed to' happen. Kendall’s little sister told her this after her wedding, and it stuck with her so passing along - 'Don’t worry when things go wrong, because things will go wrong. So who cares!' Getting married during a pandemic is tough, and of course there are annoying things you’ve had to or will have to deal with. To us, the most important thing was to focus on the people who made it to the wedding. Of course, as with any wedding, but especially a pandemic wedding, there were several people who weren’t able to make it because of Covid concerns. We decided early on that, while we would miss these people, it was important for us to appreciate everyone who was there and to focus on the fact that we were finally able to get married in front of so many loved ones.
Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about?
Photographers: Atmosphere Fotografia - We absolutely loved working with Sandra and Miguel. We had several conversations with them before the wedding where they really took the time to get to know us as people, the plans for the weekend and the details we cared about for the pictures. They were able to perfectly capture each part of the wedding and the different moods we wanted to create, plus capture an authentic version of each of us. The photos do such an amazing job showcasing the feeling and flow of the day. They were also incredible during the weekend - they came to our Friday night welcome drinks, each event on the wedding day, and stayed on Saturday night through the dancing - It was very impressive!
Wedding Coordinator: Tudo é Festa - We would highly recommend Tudo é Festa for anyone getting married in Portugal. They have contact with most of the vendors and take care of coordinating everything for the day; venue, catering, rentals, transportation, music, flowers, table settings, decor, etc, all of which we were so happy with. They also have a wedding planner for the day of, and Ines was simply amazing. She stuck with us through changing dates and so many unknowns during Covid, and made sure that everything came together smoothly on the wedding day. Ines and Tudo é Festa are very professional, and thanks to them, we were able to relax and enjoy all of the moments on the wedding day - we really had nothing to think about other than getting married and having fun!
Hair + Makeup: My mom and sisters and I had so much fun the morning of the wedding with Lola Carvalho and Agne from Lets Hair. Lola did all of our makeup for the wedding plus my makeup for the after party. She was able to perfectly execute exactly what we all asked for, was quick and efficient and very helpful with getting us all out the door when it was time to go - one of the buttons from my wedding gown popped off right before we were about to leave for the ceremony, Lola saved the day. and glued it back on with eyelash glue and it stayed for the entire day! Agne was amazing. She beautifully did my hair for the wedding, and she curled it so perfectly that when I took it out for the after party, I didn’t need to do anything! She was wonderful at listening to what I wanted for the day and making sure that the three looks would be possible. We all laughed so much with these two that morning, their energy really got us excited and ready for the day!
Photographer : Atmosphere Fotografia @atmosphere.fotografia | Ceremony Location : Palacio dos Marqueses de Frontiera @palaciofronteira | Reception Location : Torel Palace @torelpalace_lisbon (Pool) The Flat (After party) @flat.eventos | Entertainment : Saxophonist Ricardo Branco @ricardobranco_whitesax | Planner : Tudo é Festa @tudo_efesta | Flora : Karla Lamounier @karlalamounierflower | Makeup : Lola Carvalho @makelolauppro | Hair : Agne from Lets Hair @letshair | Catering, Cake + Beverages : Casa da Comida @casa_da_comida | Stationery : Desmond’s Aunt Rose | Desmond's Suit : Kiton Tuxedo | Swim Outfit : Prada @prada Shirt + Atalaye Shorts | Kendall's Wedding Dress : Mother’s Dress | Swimsuit : Haight @haight_clothing | Silk Dress : Bevza @bevza | Engagement Ring : Vintage diamond sourced by Greenwich Street Jewelers @greenwichstjewelers and band by Noam Carver @noam_carver designed by Desmond | Wedding Rings : Vintage | Shoes : Saint Laurent @ysl | Desmond's Watch : Vintage Chopard @chopard | Kendall's Watch : Vintage Piaget @piaget