Next up, we've off to Mexico for a wedding that's bursting with color + personality! Wanting something small and beach-side, this couple travelled to the secluded Yucatan coast with their nearest and dearest, rented out the beautiful La Zebra for the weekend and DIY-ed the celebration of their dreams (on a tight budget, nonetheless)! Bridesmaids crafted the bouquets the morning-of, the invitations were all hand-typed on a vintage typewriter and the bride even helped design her own wedding dress! Renata Yagolnitzer captured every.last.detail, and you can see the rest right here!
Mexico Wedding from Renata Yagolnitzer
Click here for the FULL wedding!
From the Bride... When Rubin and I decided to get married, we knew we wanted to do it with our toes in the sand. We also knew that we wanted it to be small and intimate, so we chose to have a destination wedding. We figured that since our love was so great, we needed more than one day to celebrate it. We decided to, with our guests, rent out an entire hotel and have a whole weekend of fun. We picked the Yucatan coast because of its pristine beauty. Tulum is a romantic and secluded town that offered us everything we could want in a wedding. It took us a long time to decide on La Zebra as our venue because there were so many hotels to choose from, but once we saw it, we knew it was perfect. They lovely people at La Zebra took care of our and our guests' every need with unmatched care and kindness, and Victoria Holmes, La Zebra's in-house wedding planner, treated our special day like it was her own. The entire team bent over backwards to give us the wedding of our dreams.
I looked at so many wedding dresses, but none of them felt like me, so I searched for a designer to help me create my dream dress. I found Rebecca Schoneveld Cheek, who creates romantic, effortless bridal gowns inspired by 1930s fashion. She has a studio very close to me in Park Slope, and together, we designed the dress I had always wanted. The unique experience of having a custom gown made just for me and getting to know Rebecca was one of my favorite things about the entire process.
Our budget was limited, so our wedding was the ultimate DIY event. I wanted to keep the decorations to a minimum since the location had so much natural beauty. We made the invitations ourselves using a letter press and Rubin's late grandmother's typewriter. I made all the faux mercury glass vases and votives myself, and our gorgeous chuppa was made with found driftwood by Colin Selig, a sculptor and family friend. The photography, cinematography, DJing and event styling were also done by our very talented friends; Ren Yags, Jeffrey Max, Trent Wolbe and Rebecca Bartoshesky, respectively. My bridesmaids did all the flower arraigning the morning of the wedding, and the groomsmen worked tirelessly with the staff to set everything up.
The week of the wedding was stormy and wet. It rained every day, and every forecast said it would thunder and pour the entire day of the wedding. Victoria tried to convince me to plan to have the wedding at a covered location on the grounds of La Zebra, but I refused. I believed it would be a beautiful day, and the morning of the wedding there wasn't a cloud in the sky! Not a single drop of rain fell on our perfect day. We had the ceremony on the beach, officiated by our Uncle Jack. For dinner, everyone got to build their own tacos, we had cocktails made with fresh-squeezed sugar cane juice and grocery store donuts for dessert (they were delicious!). We danced outside till 2 a.m. (even the parents) and ended the night by running into the water. We received enough love for an entire lifetime. It was a magical, ridiculously fun, heart-warming, once-in-a-lifetime experience!
Wedding Photography: Renata Yagolnitzer / Wedding Venue: La Zebra in Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico / Event Design: Rebecca Bartoshesky (A Friend) / Event Planning: Ren Ariel Sano-St. John (The Bride) / Floral Design: DIY / Wedding Cinematography: Jeffrey Max (A Friend) / Catering: Lina's Mexican Kitchen / Wedding Invitations: DIY by the Bride & Groom / DJ: Trent Wolbe (A Friend) / Chuppa: Colin Selig (A Friend) / Wedding Dress: Custom by Rebecca Schoneveld Cheek / Bridesmaids' Dresses: Kay Konvertibles