When planning their wedding in Puerto Rico, this duo skipped anything that wasn’t truly authentic to them, and focused only on what really represented their approach to life and love. The results? Totally worth it. STEM Events created tropical floral masterpieces and ART IS FOR LOVERS captured the blooms and all the other dedicated details – see more in our Vault right here!
From the Bride… Our main goal for our wedding was to showcase the real purpose for why people get married, and that is because two people love each other and have made the decision to venture forward in life together. To us, that meant keeping it simple, and eliminating age old traditions that just didn’t make sense to us. Our goal was to keep the formalities short and sweet and to focus on just having a nice dinner and dance party with our closest family and friends. In doing so we did not have a wedding party, we didn’t do any first dances or cutting of the cake. I think the way in which we planned our wedding showed that we are a laid back couple, and that we are not traditionalists. Ultimately it was our day, but we wanted to make everyone else feel just as joyful, and welcomed and comfortable. And by eliminating some of the traditional things that typically focuses solely on us it allowed for a wedding that made it feel like it was also about friends and family!
We really didn’t want a traditional altar, so our designer came up with just some flowing fabric hanging from the palm trees, that I thought was very beautiful. We used some personalized marquee lights for the reception. When the guests arrived they saw our initials lit up (B&L), and then at the cake table the marquee read YUM, BAR, and in the distance LOVE. It made the scene quite beautiful.
For the escort cards, I painted the inside of shells gold and it had the guests name on it. I placed them on clear glass rocks and in a tray to make it look like oysters on the half shell. To give it that beachy feel. I also tried to add a Puerto Rican feel by creating the menus with the title of “Buen Provecho” which is what Puerto Ricans say before a meal – it essentially mean “Bon Appetit”. I also wanted all my flowers to be something that was native to Puerto Rico or to the Caribbean – in doing so we got a beautiful arrangement of colorful, tropical flowers.
I think it’s really important to just put both your personalities into your wedding as much as possible. Even if others might not understand your choices, for doing this or not doing this, ultimately a wedding is about the two people getting married. Guests will really feel the originality of your wedding and it won’t feel so generic. Try to do certain things on your own if you can. Even if it’s just the tiniest thing, it makes your wedding look even more unique. Details, details, details. Think about little things that you can add to your wedding that will help take it to another level. Personalized napkins for the cocktail hour or in the bathroom. Cocktail straws with your colors. Signage. Cake toppers. Bar menus so your guests know what you’re serving. Gift bags… It was all amazing! Every memory is the best!
Photography: ART IS FOR LOVERS | Coordination: Anne Marie Kleis | Event Design: STEM Events | Floral Design: STEM Events | Wedding Dress: Katie May | Cake: Le Meridien | Shoes: Guiseppe Zanotti | Jewelry: Elizabeth Cole | Catering: W Retreat & Spa | Makeup: Javier Moreno | Hair: Javier Moreno | DJ: Jose Concepcion | Band: La Super Banda | Wedding Venue: W Retreat & Spa | Headpiece: Bo & Luca