18th-century baroque palace for weddings by the Douro in Porto

Granite and white render outside, corner towers under pyramid roofs, and a carved crest above the central windows. Inside, every surface was painted. The Hall of Mirrors stacks murals of classical figures between gilded pilasters under a frescoed ceiling. The entrance salon wears a blue and ochre lattice behind a Moorish arch. The ceremony salons are quieter: sage-green walls, a dark painted vault, tall arched windows onto the river.

A canon of Porto, Jerónimo de Távora e Noronha, had Nasoni build the palace in the 1740s on his riverside estate. Nasoni painted much of the illusionist decoration himself. The Távora coat of arms was later chiselled off after the family fell from royal favor. In the 1800s a flour industrialist bought the house and stored flour in some of its rooms. A milling company then raised the mill and its chimney beside it. The state bought the ruin in 1984 and Fernando Távora led the restoration in the 1990s. The palace reopened as a pousada in October 2009.

Porto is the excursion. The tiled station hall at São Bento, the Clérigos tower and a port tasting in Gaia's cellars are all within fifteen minutes by car or hotel shuttle. River boats dock below the garden for Douro cruises. For a day out, Guimarães and Braga are under an hour, and the vineyard terraces around Pinhão make a long day trip or a night away. The Atlantic beaches at Foz and Matosinhos are a quarter of an hour.

Porto airport is 21 kilometers away, about half an hour by car, and the hotel's free shuttle runs guests into the city center. Campanhã, where the Lisbon trains stop, is two kilometers from the gate. Parking at the hotel is free, which matters on a wedding day with cars arriving from all over. Vigo's airport in Spain is a second option at 144 kilometers, and Lisbon is a three-hour drive or train.

All 87 rooms and suites are in the converted mill, done in dark wood and gold tones, most with the river in the window. Check-in is at 3 pm and check-out at noon. Wedding guests get a discount on the hotel's best rate, and couples with a hundred guests or more have their wedding night included. Our packages for a wedding in Portugal can include rooms for everyone.

Civil ceremonies are legal here, so you don't have to marry at a registry office first. The Italian garden seats 120 for vows with the fountain behind you. The Azurara salon inside the palace takes 30 under its painted vault, and the D. Jerónimo hall in the mill seats 100 if the forecast turns. Amy and Harrison chose a symbolic ceremony in a palace salon with a harpist by the river window. Our planner in Portugal assists with the paperwork and booking the registrar, and walks the rooms with you beforehand.

The Italian garden is the heart of it: four lawns edged in low planting around a stone fountain, gravel paths, and a balustrade with urns along the river. Drinks go here for up to 250, with cocktail tables set against the balustrade. Beside the palace, the west terrace takes a marquee for dinners of up to 300. In summer it's a clear-roofed one, so the river stays in view. Past the garden, the outdoor pool and a pontoon deck with a sail canopy reach out over the water.

Dinner fits the size of your party. The two Visconde salons on the palace's ground floor seat 36 each at one long table, with the foyer between them for dancing. For a tiny wedding, the Cavaleiro de Malta rooms seat 18 at a single table. Larger dinners move to the mill: the D. Jerónimo hall for 120. The Douro room, 270 square meters under a five-meter ceiling, seats 200. Round tables in champagne linen, gold chairs and candelabra are the house look.

Chef Marlene Neto's kitchen cooks Portuguese food with a contemporary hand, and everything comes from the house. A wedding day runs to a set rhythm. A ninety-minute cocktail with hot and cold canapés, then a seated dinner of starter, main and dessert. After that a dessert and cheese buffet, and a late supper of caldo verde or mini pregos. Vegetarian and vegan dishes sit on every menu. Children under four eat free and five to twelve-year-olds at half price, with their own menu.

The party is in the Visconde salons and the foyer, up to 120 dancing, or under the marquee for 220. Harpist, DJ or band are all welcome, and you bring your own. In the Douro and D. Jerónimo rooms the service ends at midnight unless bedrooms are blocked, so the late hours belong to the palace salons or the tent. The open bar can run until 4 am.

This is a working hotel, so other guests share the gardens and the pool. Your wedding takes over the salons or the terrace you've booked. The palace rooms are yours once hired, and the mill halls close around your dinner. It isn't a secluded estate: the river road runs past the gate and the Freixo bridge is in view. In return you get a city, a station and 87 beds inside the walls.