Though time was short for arranging such an important event, particularly of the kind which it was customary to hold in those days, the king gave instructions to certain members of his household and to the city officials with regard to what each of them had to do. With great diligence and sound sense they all devoted themselves to fulfilling his wishes, some of them decorating the squares and clearing the streets through which his procession was to pass, and others arranging games, tumbling and revelries to last late into the night. In great haste, from an area which was all gardens, they prepared a large open space between São Domingos and Souto Street. It was there that great noblemen and knights took part in jousting and tourneys, but only if they were skilled in the art, whereas others were excluded. In fact, the whole city was involved in different tasks preparing for the festivities.

When everything was ready for the appointed day, the king set out from his lodgings on the Wednesday and made his way to the bishop's palace, where the princess was staying. On the Thursday the city folk gathered in assorted groups to take part in games and dancing in every square, together with much tumbling and merrymaking. The main streets along which the parade was to proceed were all strewn with a variety of greenery and sweet-smelling plants.

The king emerged from the palace mounted on a white horse and royally clad in cloth of gold. Most nobly arrayed, the queen, too, rode a white horse. They wore golden crowns richly inlaid with precious stones and seed pearls of great price. They rode, not in sequence, but alongside each other in equal status. On foot and wearing fine raiment, all the grooms led the horses of the most high-ranking people present, while the archbishop himself led the queen's horse by the reins. Ahead of them went pipes, trumpets and other instruments making such a noise that nothing else could be heard. Singing at the rear, as is the custom at weddings, came both noblewomen and the daughters of city dwellers. The crowd was so vast that it was incapable of being directed or controlled, owing to the lack of space between the palace and the church.