From the road you wouldn’t guess what waits on the other side of the gate. And then you walk in, and there’s a hilltop, the ocean in the distance, the sound of the waves arriving from far off, and the immediate feeling of being in one of those places that seem too good to be real. Casa Paco D’Ilhas, above Ericeira, is exactly that.
It’s a charming guesthouse and wedding venue in a rural village with centuries of history, facing the surf breaks of the Ericeira World Surfing Reserve on one side and the countryside on the other. Long tables under the trees, food everyone talks about, uniquely styled rooms, and a team that welcomes couples like family.
For couples who want a relaxed wedding, with a surf soul and the ocean behind, this is the spot. If you ask us, it’s one of the best-kept secrets on the coast.
The house has rooms for the couple and part of the group. Mary Me coordinates room blocks at the Ericeira hotels for the remaining guests, with the wedding party and immediate family kept on-site, and transfers handled.
The name comes from the place: Paco de Ilhas, a small rural village with ancient roots, part of a territory inhabited since the Middle Ages. The lords of Mafra, the neighbouring town, are said to have used these lands as a summer retreat, when the heat pressed inland and the ocean breeze worked as a natural air conditioner — something it still does today.
The house was restored as a guesthouse and venue by a family that put care into every room, every corner of the garden, and made the kitchen one of its hallmarks. The style is rural heritage with contemporary comfort, and the connection to Ericeira’s surf culture is in everything — no wonder so many couples who met catching waves come back here to marry.
If you ask us, there are venues that sell themselves on grandeur and venues that sell themselves on soul. This one is clearly the second kind.
We’re on a hilltop above Ericeira, in Santo Isidoro, with the World Surfing Reserve on one side — the first in Europe — and the quiet countryside on the other. It’s the best of both worlds: the sea and the waves in view, and rural silence all around.
The advantage for a destination wedding is the closeness: Lisbon airport is about forty-five minutes away, and the fishing town of Ericeira, with its seafood restaurants and laid-back atmosphere, is a few minutes off. Sintra is just up the hill.
Anything the guests might want — surf, beach, a day in Sintra, an escape to Lisbon — is at hand, without ever losing the feeling of a retreat. Arriving is easy. Leaving — we can’t quite guarantee that part.
A wedding at Casa Paco D’Ilhas is, above all, relaxed in the best sense. Civil and symbolic ceremonies take place outdoors, under the trees or in the garden with the ocean behind, and Catholic ones are coordinated at the Ericeira churches, a few minutes away. The cocktail flows through the garden and the terraces, with the sunset over the sea.
Dinner sets up at long tables, in the family-style, shared format that defines the house, with the team’s kitchen — one of the venue’s great arguments — taking centre stage. The next day there’s a pool and a barbecue, and the celebration stretches into a full weekend of togetherness.
It’s a buyout venue: you book the whole house, with the rooms, the garden, and the privacy of the hilltop just for you. The atmosphere is intimate, perfect for medium-scale weddings that want closeness rather than pomp. The couple’s session winds across the hilltop, the garden, and the surf coast of Ericeira at golden hour. Pop the question. We handle the rest.
When we organise a wedding here, we handle everything that links this house to the world your guests come from. We handle the transfers — taking advantage of the forty-five minutes to Lisbon airport — and the management of the accommodation between the house’s rooms and the Ericeira hotels for overflow, with the arrival sequencing of an international group. And there’s the practical side: the permits for the ceremony and for fireworks, the sound curfew, the civil-ceremony paperwork in Portuguese, the liaison with the Ericeira churches, and a programme of surf, Sintra, and Lisbon for the guests who stay on. From the first call to the last dance.
It’s an intimate-to-medium-scale venue, with ceremony and cocktail in the garden and dinner at long tables. The exact capacity for your format is confirmed with the venue.
On a hilltop above Ericeira, in Santo Isidoro, over the World Surfing Reserve, about forty-five minutes from Lisbon airport. The town of Ericeira is a few minutes away, with transfers handled by Mary Me.
Yes — Casa Paco D’Ilhas is a buyout venue: you book the whole house, with the rooms, the garden, and the privacy of the hilltop just for you. Mary Me handles locking down the booking and the logistics.
Yes, the house has rooms for the couple and part of the group. For the remaining guests, Mary Me coordinates room blocks at the Ericeira hotels, with transfers handled.
Late spring and early autumn are ideal for the outdoor ceremonies with the ocean behind. Summer is bright and warm, perfect for the garden party and the pool-and-barbecue day after.
Civil and symbolic outdoors, in the garden or under the trees; Catholic at the Ericeira churches, a few minutes away. We coordinate every variant, with transfers handled.
It’s a charming guesthouse on a hilltop over Ericeira’s World Surfing Reserve, with a rural soul, a celebrated kitchen, and the relaxed feel of a team that welcomes couples like family. Surf, sea, and intimacy in one place.
