Beachside Wedding in Cabo San Lucas
A last minute change in plans to exchange vows in Cabo as opposed to a country club back home proved to be the BEST decision ever. Spending 5 days beachside at Sunset Da Mona Lisa with their loved ones in tow, this couple had the wedding of their wildest dreams. Crafted by Florenta Flower Design and captured by Amanda Lloyd, you can catch all the details of their romantic getaway in the gallery here.
From the Bride... When we were first planning our wedding, we were planning for a beautiful country club that overlooked the Seattle skyline. We had sat down with the venue, had everything planned, contracts drawn and then a few days later, out of the blue, I asked my husband, “What do you think of Cabo? Let’s get married there!” Few weeks later after research, we decided on Cabo, told our families and started planning. We figured that with the amount of money that would be spent on a local wedding, we might as well spend it on a once in a lifetime trip with our family and closest friends.
Due to the beautiful setting of Sunset da Mona Lisa, we kept the ceremony decor very simple with just rose petals scattered along the aisle as well as a memorial vase and sign at the guest book table. The reception decor was more than I’d ever envisioned. I’d spent countless hours looking on various online sites and pieced together elements I liked about so many different set ups. I also ordered many things from Etsy and handmade many other things. Some of the most sentimental details were: My younger sister was my Maid of Honor and she made our cake toppers, my hair piece and sewed the blue heart onto my dress. I also had a locket tied to my bouquet of my late Grandfather who had passed 3 years earlier. The ring tied as well was the ring that my Dad first gave my Mom when they got married 33 years ago which had been a silver ring that my Dad spray painted gold at the time because they couldn’t afford a gold band. Lastly, I wore on my right hand a peridot ring that was my great-grandparents. My great grandfather gave it to my great grandmother when they were dating 60 years ago and my Mom passed it down to me on my wedding day.
There were several moments of the day that stand out the most. After being widowed 7 years prior, remarrying was a big leap into a new start at life. When we were planning our wedding, we were having a hard time deciding who we could have perform the ceremony. We asked one of my best friends, a fellow military widow and founder of a non-profit for military widows, to get ordained and marry us. Having someone that has been apart of my life for 6 years and then apart of my ‘new’ life from the beginning marry us, was the most amazing feeling! I had 3 of my fellow military widows there with us to celebrate, who have been my closest friends through the past near decade.
Another moment was right before my dad walked me down the aisle. We were standing there all alone, he looked at me and said, “You ready for this?” with a big smile. Gave me a huge hug and we walked down the aisle for him to ‘give me away’. Another was during the reception, when both my older two children gave toasts to us. My 12 year old son, who was the co-Best Man, had fought me for months that he couldn’t speak at the dinner because he was too shy. He had worked with my younger brother that day to come up with a few jokes to say and it meant so much that he did that for us. My 10 year old daughter spoke very sweet words and made nearly everyone in attendance tear up.
Out of all the amazing memories we have now, I think one that stands out on a daily basis was our choice in photographers. Being a wedding photographer myself, my husband knew that photography was one of the most important details about the whole wedding. Having an amazing photographer capture our special day exactly like it was and also being privileged to call her one of my best friends, it doesn’t get better than that.
When looking back on everything, we truly had the most amazing wedding that we could’ve ever had and we wouldn’t change anything at all. When you think about it, how many people can say that they spent 5 days in a tropical location with their closest friends and family?
Due to the beautiful setting of Sunset da Mona Lisa, we kept the ceremony decor very simple with just rose petals scattered along the aisle as well as a memorial vase and sign at the guest book table. The reception decor was more than I’d ever envisioned. I’d spent countless hours looking on various online sites and pieced together elements I liked about so many different set ups. I also ordered many things from Etsy and handmade many other things. Some of the most sentimental details were: My younger sister was my Maid of Honor and she made our cake toppers, my hair piece and sewed the blue heart onto my dress. I also had a locket tied to my bouquet of my late Grandfather who had passed 3 years earlier. The ring tied as well was the ring that my Dad first gave my Mom when they got married 33 years ago which had been a silver ring that my Dad spray painted gold at the time because they couldn’t afford a gold band. Lastly, I wore on my right hand a peridot ring that was my great-grandparents. My great grandfather gave it to my great grandmother when they were dating 60 years ago and my Mom passed it down to me on my wedding day.
There were several moments of the day that stand out the most. After being widowed 7 years prior, remarrying was a big leap into a new start at life. When we were planning our wedding, we were having a hard time deciding who we could have perform the ceremony. We asked one of my best friends, a fellow military widow and founder of a non-profit for military widows, to get ordained and marry us. Having someone that has been apart of my life for 6 years and then apart of my ‘new’ life from the beginning marry us, was the most amazing feeling! I had 3 of my fellow military widows there with us to celebrate, who have been my closest friends through the past near decade.
Another moment was right before my dad walked me down the aisle. We were standing there all alone, he looked at me and said, “You ready for this?” with a big smile. Gave me a huge hug and we walked down the aisle for him to ‘give me away’. Another was during the reception, when both my older two children gave toasts to us. My 12 year old son, who was the co-Best Man, had fought me for months that he couldn’t speak at the dinner because he was too shy. He had worked with my younger brother that day to come up with a few jokes to say and it meant so much that he did that for us. My 10 year old daughter spoke very sweet words and made nearly everyone in attendance tear up.
Out of all the amazing memories we have now, I think one that stands out on a daily basis was our choice in photographers. Being a wedding photographer myself, my husband knew that photography was one of the most important details about the whole wedding. Having an amazing photographer capture our special day exactly like it was and also being privileged to call her one of my best friends, it doesn’t get better than that.
When looking back on everything, we truly had the most amazing wedding that we could’ve ever had and we wouldn’t change anything at all. When you think about it, how many people can say that they spent 5 days in a tropical location with their closest friends and family?