You recognise Sintra from a distance by two giant conical chimneys piercing the sky. They’re the kitchens of the Sintra National Palace — the oldest surviving royal palace in Portugal, inhabited by the court for eight centuries. Getting married here isn’t renting a pretty setting: it’s stepping into the building where the kings of Portugal actually lived.
Let’s be clear from the start: this is a National Monument, open to the public and managed by Parques de Sintra. Ceremonies and dinners take place by space concession — in the Swan Room, with its painted ceiling, for up to a hundred seated guests — with the larger party to follow at a partner venue in Sintra.
For couples who want a ceremony in a true royal palace, in the heart of Sintra, this is the spot. If you ask us, it’s the kind of history no modern ballroom can buy.
The monument has no accommodation. Mary Me coordinates room blocks at the Sintra hotels and handles transfers, so the wedding party and guests sleep nearby in curated accommodation and reach the palace and partner-venue reception without a hitch.
The Sintra Palace is the only Portuguese medieval palace to have reached our day almost intact. Raised on Moorish foundations, it was expanded by King João I in the early 15th century and by King Manuel I in the early 16th — hence the unique blend of Gothic, Mudejar, and Manueline, and the Hispano-Arabic tiles that cover the walls.
It was the favoured residence of several generations of royalty, and every room tells a story: the Swan Room, with its swans painted on the ceiling; the Magpie Room, with the legend of a court’s indiscretion; the Coat of Arms Room, with the heraldry of the noble families. Today it’s a National Monument and part of the Cultural Landscape of Sintra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
If you ask us, there are settings that evoke royalty and settings where royalty actually lived. This one is, without doubt, the second kind.
We’re in the heart of the town of Sintra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site — the palace opens directly onto the historic centre, with its narrow streets, pastry shops, and the hilltop palaces a few minutes away. It’s the point from which all of Sintra’s magic radiates.
The advantage for a destination wedding is centrality with magic: Lisbon airport is about forty minutes away, and there are hotels, partner venues, and the Atlantic coast a short distance off.
Anything the guests might want to do — explore the palaces of Sintra, a day in Lisbon, an escape to the beach — is at hand. Arriving is easy. Leaving — we can’t quite guarantee that part.
Let’s be honest about the format: the Sintra National Palace is a monument, not a full banqueting venue. What happens here is the ceremony and a more intimate dinner, by space concession from Parques de Sintra — the Swan Room hosts up to a hundred seated guests (a hundred and thirty standing), with direct access to the Central Courtyard for the cocktail.
Civil and symbolic ceremonies take place in the historic rooms or the courtyard, and Catholic ones at the Sintra churches, a few steps away. As the monument is open to the public during the day, suppliers set up at closing time, and the larger party, with dancing into the small hours, typically sets up at a partner venue in Sintra.
It isn’t the simplest wedding to organise — it depends on a concession, there are timings, and the palace can be requisitioned for State functions — but marrying in the rooms where the Portuguese court lived is unrepeatable. And this is exactly where our experience comes in. The couple’s session moves in the painted halls, the courtyard, and the Manueline tilework of the oldest royal palace in Portugal. Pop the question. We handle the rest.
It’s precisely in monuments like these that a planner’s coordination makes all the difference — and it’s the kind of challenge we love.
A multicultural celebration can be choreographed even within a protected monument — a symbolic ceremony from another tradition beneath the twin chimneys, the larger party at a partner venue. We handle the menu — halal, Chinese banquet, Jain vegetarian — with approved suppliers, and the pandits and officiants used to Sintra.
We handle the concession process with Parques de Sintra, the permits, the timings, and the closing-time set-up, and we design the operation in two acts when needed: the ceremony and intimate dinner at the palace, the larger party at a partner venue, with transfers linking it all — taking advantage of the forty minutes to Lisbon airport for the international group. And there’s the practical side: the civil-ceremony paperwork in Portuguese, the management of the accommodation at the Sintra hotels, and a programme of palaces, Lisbon, and beaches for the guests. From the first call to the last dance.
It is possible to hold ceremonies and more intimate dinners by space concession from Parques de Sintra, who manage the monument. The larger party typically takes place afterwards at a partner venue in Sintra. Mary Me handles the whole process.
The Swan Room hosts up to a hundred seated guests, or about a hundred and thirty standing. The exact capacity for your format is confirmed with Parques de Sintra.
In the heart of the town of Sintra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, about forty minutes from Lisbon airport. Transfers and accommodation are handled by Mary Me.
No — it’s a monument. Mary Me coordinates the room blocks at the Sintra hotels and handles the transfers, so guests sleep nearby.
Typically at a partner venue in Sintra, a few minutes away, with catering, sound, and space built for celebrations. The palace gives the ceremony, the intimate dinner, and the photographs; the partner venue gives the party into the small hours.
From late spring to early autumn, for more stable days. As a monument subject to concession and possible State functions, we recommend booking well in advance.
It’s the oldest surviving royal palace in Portugal, with the iconic conical chimneys and rooms where the Portuguese court lived for eight centuries, in the heart of Sintra. Real history, not a backdrop.
