Eight years before their wedding day, Courtney Andrews and John Kendall were simply friends—two business school students (she at Columbia, he at MIT) who met during an MBA ski trip in Vermont. They stayed close in New York, seeing each other at wine tastings and casual catch-ups, until an unexpected parallel shifted everything.
Unbeknownst to each other, they took their own solo trips to Portugal within a matter of weeks. When they reunited for a picnic in Prospect Park, the conversation felt different. “As we sat there sharing what we’d each discovered about ourselves in Portugal, something shifted,” Courtney recalls. “John told me later that was the moment he knew.”
Less than a year after they began dating, John proposed in that very same park, returning to the exact picnic spot where their relationship began. Portugal had already etched itself into their story, and it would become the setting for their wedding on October 5, 2025.
The couple chose Vermelho Hotel, Christian Louboutin’s 13-room boutique property tucked into the Portuguese countryside. “As someone who loves fashion and design, I was drawn to how the hotel balances being both a design destination and a cultural landmark,” Courtney says. The interiors—rich terracottas, baroque detailing, handcrafted tiles—felt layered yet intimate. Even more meaningful: theirs would be the first wedding ever hosted at Vermelho. “Christian Louboutin himself sent us a personal letter expressing his joy about the milestone."
To bring the vision to life, they partnered with Alison Events, who oversaw the planning and design. With the support of a local transportation team from Destination Spain & Portugal, the week unfolded seamlessly—from Lisbon to Comporta and finally Melides—narrowing into intimacy as the ceremony approached. By the time their twelve family members arrived at Vermelho, it felt less like an event and more like a shared chapter.
Styling was entrusted to Over The Moon’s Style Director, Grace Givens, who curated a wardrobe that mirrored the setting. For the rehearsal dinner at Pa.te.os, Courtney wore Etro in blue-and-white medallion print as a subtle nod to Portuguese azulejo tiles. For welcome festivities, she chose Diotima crochet in pale seafoam, echoing the breeze drifting across Vermelho’s terrace.
On the morning of the wedding, Courtney got ready in a vintage red silk chiffon Christian Dior dress from the Marc Bohan era, which was dramatic and fluid against Vermelho’s architecture. Beauty was led by Everson Rocha, who created a sleek wrapped bun and soft, natural glam for the ceremony, while barber Gilmar Reis dos Santos tended to the men. For the ceremony, Courtney changed into Monique Lhuillier’s Estelle gown from the Fall 2024 Collection, paired with a cathedral veil and custom Christian Louboutin slingbacks lined in blue. John wore a made-to-measure Giorgio Armani tuxedo with Louboutin shoes and a Tiffany & Co. band.
The ceremony took place on Vermelho’s terrace beneath an ornate baroque doorway. Working with floral designer Pina Cate, the couple opted for a monochromatic installation of cascading blue hydrangeas—a striking counterpoint to the terracotta façade. A string trio from Adlib Strings filled the air with Elgar and Tchaikovsky as Courtney walked down the aisle, while Over The Moon The List Photographer Sarah Falugo of LUÁGO documented every quiet glance and tear.
“I felt instantly in place with my best friend,” Courtney says. “It genuinely felt like we’d built toward this exact moment—like we intentionally manifested our being there together.”
Cocktails followed in Vermelho’s jewel-box Indian Lounge before dinner inside Xtian Restaurant, where floor-to-ceiling draping by HBCV transformed the space into an intimate square setting for twelve. Rentals from Maison Christina and linens from Theoni Collection layered texture against custom paper goods by Bourne Paper Co. The centerpiece—a living garden of calla lilies, delphiniums, and grasses—seemed to grow directly from the floor.
Later, Courtney changed into a custom red embroidered Hermione de Paula midi dress. The designer and Grace worked with the Louboutin team to craft a custom pair of shoes to match, featuring panels engineered by de Paula to ensure the embroidery was consistent from head to toe.
The shift in silhouette signaled the shift in energy. A surprise performance by Dynamite Band transformed the room into a dance floor. The cake—a minimalist two-tier design by Edelweiss—was cut between songs, before the night gave way to late-night bites and a room still on its feet.
The entire celebration felt intentional but unforced—deeply personal, design-forward, and rooted in Portugal, the place that first changed everything for them.
