In the SMP land of all things lovely, this wedding ranks among the very best. It’s a celebration set in the most stunning Mexico locale with pretty pops of pink sprinkled all along the way. Jillian Mitchell perfectly captured this all-out party and Karen Ruezga made certain it went off without a hitch. Enjoy a swoon through out favorite photos, and then get your gush on in the full gallery right here.
From the Bride…Brad and I met five years ago in typical New Orleans fashion: at a bar. Bound both by our love for New Orleans and our passion for music and food, we danced and ate our way through the city and quickly fell in love. After a Mardi Gras proposal at the bar where we met, it was time to plan our ceremony. It seemed as if a grand New Orleans wedding would be in order, but a traditional affair just wouldn’t have been us.
Being that I was raised in Seattle, Brad in Louisiana, and that our friends were sprinkled throughout the United States, we knew we wanted to have a phenomenal destination wedding that everyone would enjoy. We chose the charming beach town of Sayulita, Mexico knowing our guests would constantly bump into one another on each corner. After initially worrying about trying to plan a number of daily wedding activities, we finally settled on letting Sayulita take care of itself. Our guests lined the beaches and shops by day and filled the bars and restaurants by night.
Villa Amor was a wonderful choice for our wedding venue in Sayulita. Besides being one of the most beautiful places we’d ever been, their staff was overwhelmingly friendly, their wedding services were outstanding and it was the ideal size as our guests filled up almost every villa in the resort. Karen Ruezga, our wedding planner, made our dream wedding come to life and Jillian Mitchell’s gorgeous photography captured every moment. Our wedding was absolutely perfect. Although it was an unbearably humid July evening, my mother had collected dozens of vintage handkerchiefs for our guests and they were all put to good use! One of our best friends served as officiant and surprised us with a sweet reading from Dr. Seuss’ Oh the Places You’ll Go and another close friend read a beautiful passage from The Velveteen Rabbit. As every New Orleanian knows, a good party is incomplete without great music – so we flew in the band closest to our hearts: Country Fried. They rocked a hand-picked set list filled with our favorite songs. Our reception began with our first dance to an achingly beautiful rendition of Neil Young’s Harvest Moon and didn’t end until the wee hours of the morning. Our all-night party, complete with a cigar roller and an impromptu New Orleans-style second-line, was even capped off with a fireworks display overlooking the entire town.
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Wedding Photography: Jillian Mitchell | Wedding Venue: Villa Amor | Wedding Planning: Karen Ruezga | Floral Design: Flor Mimo | Bride’s Shoes: Loeffler Randall | Wedding Dress: Watters | Groom+ Groomsmen’s Attire: Brooks Brothers | Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Alfred Sung