High School Sweethearts Say I Do in Havana Surrounded by their Children & Family

Melissa Baran
July 23, 2019
Categories: Real Weddings, The Blog, Traditional Elegance

Today’s wedding wasn’t solely a union between the Bride & Groom. For Kaprisky and Jose, it was a day of love for their entire family (including their three sweet children). A marriage wasn’t the start of their family journey, but more of a celebration of the beautiful life they’ve built together. AIRE DE FIESTA and Coordinate Cuba made sure their destination fete went smoothly, while Ayenia Nour documented every moment for a collection of memories they can enjoy for years to come.

From the Bride… Jose and I met and dated in Anchorage Alaska while in high school. We come from big families—all immigrants, constantly seeking change so we ended up in Alaska. We lost touch after I moved back to Massachusetts after my freshman year, years went by and we had yet to reunite but I always had this feeling. About eleven years ago, I went to New York to visit a friend, I wanted to switch it up and needed a change of scenery. I was coming off an uptown train when I saw Jose. It was a love that never faded or changed–it was patient and waited for us. Ten years later we were celebrating our anniversary in Havana, Cuba where we got married surrounded by our beautiful children and family.

Jose proposed in November 2017 just after we bought our first home. It was a whirlwind since then trying to plan a wedding on top of raising three children, working full time and renovating our home. A small destination wedding made the most sense for our hectic schedules. We’d already been together for many years and done the whole kids and house thing, so a wedding was just the cherry on top, something for us to really celebrate the life we’ve built together. My new last name would be Castillo (castle in English) so it was fitting to create our hashtag of #BuildingCastillos (building castles). That’s exactly what we have been doing, building our foundation stone by stone. Building Castillos! We knew our ceremony had to be in February (our anniversary month) and if we were going to spend so much money on this wedding it’d better be somewhere warm. With our Dominican background, our destination had to be in the Caribbean. I absolutely could not deal with our relatives complaining otherwise and the kids needed distractions which the sun always provides. An intimate ceremony made the most sense to us–a week long getaway for us and our favorite people. Havana was always on our bucket list to travel so without a moment of hesitation we decided to get hitched in Cuba and it was perfect.Traveling to Cuba may seem scary as an American but you can still travel under specific visas. We traveled under the “support the Cuban people” visa which is quite perfect for those travelers who want to know and understand the Cuban culture. Under this visa, you would support Cubans by staying in Airbnb’s, eating at none government owned restaurants and purchasing at none government owned stores. We created an itinerary and went on tours, beaches and bar hopped right through the Airbnb website; amazing experience! Cubans are full of love and culture and are eager to help. The friends we made during our stay will always remain close to our hearts.

My cousin recommended I contact with a photographer named Ayenia Nour and we started planning the wedding immediately. It just felt right—almost like I met Ayenia when I was supposed to. Ayenia listened to our story and was so excited with us every step of the way. We checked in from time to time and she made sure all our questions were answered without hesitation. We built a relationship and we still keep in touch. Ayenia introduced us to Mariam Gonzalez from Coordinate Cuba who, hands down, is the best destination wedding planner anyone could ever have! There is not a more powerful duo than a bride and her planner and we were it. Her attention to detail and professionalism goes a long way. We fell in love and booked our wedding location prior to seeing it in person. Crazy! La Guarida had a rustic and glamorous look that we loved. We needed every part of our wedding to speak a story. Our love has never been simple, it’s changed and grown as much as we have as individuals. On our visit in July 2018 our decision to have our wedding in La Guarida was affirmed as soon as we walked in. I felt it in my bones, this was the place we were meant to get married.

Jose has an old soul and is attracted by all things antique and vintage. I wanted to make sure our invitation suite reflected his vintage style. I found calligraphy writer on Etsy, Hannah Yoder. We chatted for a bit via email as we went back and forth on what I envisioned. Hannah knew exactly what I wanted and even sourced homemade paper from Share Studios for our unique invitations. Combined with a stamp seal from Stamptitude and Hannah’s design, our invitation suite were better than what we imagined. The flat lay photos were perfection which included many trinkets and items I sourced at local antique shops and of course a ring box from The Mrs. Box. Some of the flat lay photos display a piece of the fabric used to make my dress which set well with the beautiful ribbon from Silk and Willow. It was all so special.

I started looking for a cinematographer in January 2018. I found a Miami based company, Dream Light Visuals, who have worked with couples in Havana. I reached out to them and was put in contact with Junior Garcia and his wife Vanessa. I love a good power couple. Another perfect match only sweetened by Junior’s Dominican heritage and Vanessa’s Cuban descent. The wedding was in good hands. Every detail and every person needed to speak to who Jose and I are. We are people of the people, supporters of our culture and admirers of growth. Coming from a family of immigrants is the central point of our story, it’s influenced who we’ve become and the opportunities we’ve received. Junior and Vanessa add a sexy Caribbean vibe to their work which Jose and I fell in love with. Our conversations always included our elevated voices to the point where I would screech with excitement with all of his wonderful ideas. I will for sure miss it!

My wedding dress was the only detail I did not struggle with. Contrary to many brides, I knew exactly what I wanted. In the start of my wedding dress hunt, I’d gone to a traditional bridal boutique where I was encouraged to buy something simple and timeless. I think that was just code for white and boring. I still ended up buying a dress I wasn’t in love with, but I just kept going back to our story… the complexity, our history and who I was. This wedding was just for Jose and I to begin with but I lost sight of that with my dress. My wedding dress meant everything to me. I needed something with more meaning—so I sold my first dress six months before our wedding and enlisted a local designer named Yanell Galva. She made the dress I imagined my children wearing. I didn’t tell anyone except my sister that I’d changed dresses. My mom would’ve had a heart attack, but I knew that I needed to trust my gut. In the end I wanted to surprise them all! Yanell is a young woman who grew up in the town where my children were born and who also has a Dominican background. She’s a spiritual woman with a hip rock flare who’s soft spoken and so gentle. We connected immediately and she took my vision and ran with it! Yanell also kept the dress a secret and worked around my schedule for fittings and updates. She worked diligently through most nights and made sure I was aware of every detail. Did I mention this was her first wedding dress? When I mentioned I trusted my gut, I meant it. Yanell listened to what I wanted, and I trusted her from start to finish. Her craft is genius.

(continue reading the Bride’s story below!)…

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Upon our arrival to Havana in February, we had an agenda and knew exactly what to do and what to expect. I spent my days drinking Guava juice and eating ceviche with my gorgeous family. Our wedding was a dream to say the least. I couldn’t have been calmer. I’m pretty type A so everything was very organized because dealing with three kids means I don’t have time for any more stress. Our ceremony and reception were breathtaking. Michel Valdes from Aire De Fiesta Cuba is truly a master at his work. From our ceremonial large archway to the mojitos being served upon guest arrival, Michel understood my attention to detail. The different unique chairs was definitely a vision I had and Michel made it happen. Jose and I love greenery and Michel was a bit nervous when we told him less flowers and more greenery but it all turned out beautiful! I wanted to create an experience for our small party (26 people to be exact), one they’d live with for as long as I did.

Meeting Jose meant learning to lean on someone else. My wedding day served as the biggest test in trust. All this preparation and planning leading up to a day entirely out of my control. And you know what? It was complete bliss. My wedding was the least stressed I’d ever been. I had so many people in my corner who wanted to make sure I had the best day possible. I’m a mother and it’s hard to find those selfish days where I can think about myself for a change. If I hadn’t of had my sister with me that day I probably would’ve melted. She ran around me in every which direction to make sure my dramatically and dreamy long veil was always sorted. Umm…my veil was 200 inches by the way! Heather from Sash + Veil knew I meant business when I requested a drop veil made with 200 inches of her silky soft material. It was a vision!

Our first look was out of a storybook. We first saw each other at the Plaza Catedral. I walked towards Jose with our children standing close by. I saw our eldest daughter Paris crying and couldn’t hold back my own tears. Jose was in love with me. I wasn’t just the luckiest woman in the world, I was the luckiest mother. I could not have ever imagined us getting married without our children present. It didn’t make sense to us. There is everything Jose and I want to teach our children but for myself, as a woman, I wanted to show my children what it means to fall in love with someone who deserves you and how to accept the love you deserve. Jose loved my dress and made sure to tell me exactly why when he first saw me.. Swoon!

I planned to walk down the aisle alone until we factored my veil in, then my sister volunteered to walk right behind me, and I got to walk into the next phase of my life with all the support I needed. Brides say they never hear the music being played as they walk down the isle because they’re so nervous. I heard every chord. I Could Fall in Love by Selena was played by a Cuban quartet who almost understood the support I needed. I could fall in love and I could have the wedding I always dreamed of as a little girl. I just needed to have faith, the rest was quite simply a dream.

Jose and I could barely get ourselves together to speak our vows. It was so emotional, and everyone was ugly crying as Jose said his vows and Spanish and I said mine in English. We made sure to follow Dominican tradition and include the exchange of thirteen arras. Each arra (coin) represents a value we will share with each other. Our children were all involved with the ceremony as this was as much their wedding as it was ours. Our reception was unreal! It was located on one of La Guarida’s rooftop terraces which has an amazing view of Havana. We walked in and danced our first dance to a live band playing Juan Luis Guerra “Burbujas de Amor”. A Cuban band playing a Dominican love song, it couldn’t have been better. We were presented with a 10-course meal of the finest dishes from La Guarida and it was ALL so delicious! I’m a trained dancer so of course I changed into something livelier to keep up with the musical night. The sexy white fringe jumpsuit from Meshki did the trick and Jose could not stop staring. Mission accomplished! Our small wedding was the perfect mixture of everyone we needed. Heels were thrown aside to accommodate the endless dancing that ensued. We were all drunk uncles in the end: pretending the band was ours and owning the Havana night like it was our last.