Ohhh Mexico, your beaches sound simply divine right about now. You know what else is divine – why this little nugget of goodness from Sabine Scherer of course. For some reason, I am completely obsessed with lace dresses on sandy beaches and this bride rocks it ever so beautifully. Get ready kiddos because this pretty parade is about to get started and you might be yearning for margaritas and yummy tacos when all is said and done. More you say? Click on the gallery for the full wedding fiesta.
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Geoff and I both love old world Mexico. We wanted our wedding to be small, intimate, elegant and on the beach. We wanted to invite a small group of our family and very close friends, so we could spend several days with them. We selected this lovely historic fishing village, which has become a 5-star resort destination while maintaining a quaint authentic Mexican feel. We chose The Tides Resort, which is set on a private beach, just off Playa La Ropa on Zihuatanejo Bay. The staff was wonderful in assisting me to plan and design the wedding of our dreams. Since most of our guests live in North American cold climate cities, most of them planned a 5-7 day vacation. We organized many fun events, including a candle-lit beach barbeque welcome event at the resort, golfing and a private fishing trip. After our rehearsal on the beach, we took a private bus out to the main dock in Zihuatanejo to board our 80’ catamaran for a sunset cocktail cruise. We then walked the historic village to our rehearsal dinner, held at a very traditional old world Mexican restaurant. It was magical!
I wanted the beautiful tropical surroundings to be the focal point, so I kept our wedding attire neutral. The guys were in beige cotton suits and white linen shirts. The girls were in champagne cocktail dresses. Our flowers were white and green orchids and lilies. My dress was Monique Lhuillier, layers of thick ivory lace, modern, but still reminiscent of old world Mexico. My jewelry was custom designed by my friend, Anna Sheffield. She took my mother’s green peridot pendant and reworked it, along with two other peridot stones to make my drop earrings. She also made my one-of-a-kind art deco pave diamond wedding ring.
In designing the wedding ceremony, cocktail reception, dinner and beach lounge, I wanted to create an intimate and comfortable environment, bringing the inside outdoors. Instead of chairs, we used comfy cushioned benches at the ceremony. Accompanied by our Mariachi band, we walked down the beach to our cocktail reception and dinner. Our dinner environment was an outdoor veranda, adjacent to our candle and paper lantern-lit beach lounge and dance floor. Orange floral arrangements and lots of candles adorned each table, along with hand-made menus and individual green orchids. Our red wine for the dinner was a very special jeroboam (double magnum bottle) we special ordered and once empty, used for our guest registry. Each guest wrote a short note with a gold metallic paint pen. We now have it displayed in our dining room.
As our guests finished dinner and our custom Tres Leches wedding cake, we made our way down to the beach lounge for our first dance (to Jason Mraz “Lucky”). We had a shoe valet for guests to check their shoes, to go barefoot on the beach and dance the night away. The after-party was designed as a cocktail lounge on the beach, using teak benches with cushions and pillows, end tables, paper lanterns, glass hurricanes and a fire pit. A local cigar expert rolled custom cigars and we gave our guests traditional terracotta tequila cups for our wonderful sipping tequila! Then the staff brought out our custom piñata filled with local candies, for the smaller guests. A very good ending to our amazing wedding was traditional Mexican coffee and churros for everyone! Salud!!
Photographer: Sabine Scherer / Venue: The Tides Zihuatanejo / Wedding Planning and Design: (The Bride) Suz Maxwell LLC / Wedding Dress: Monique Lhuillier / Shoes: Guiseppi Zanotti / Jewelry: Anna Sheffield / Groom’s Suit: Canali