I know I don’t have to tell you this, but I’ve been spending my fair share of time daydreaming of my next big vacation, and this year I am a little bit antsier than most. I’m blaming it all on the fabulous inspiration literally overflowing from right here on SMP Destination, like this crazy gorgeous photo shoot straight from the heart of the beautiful El Salvador. A rustic meets organic take on all things tropical, it’s a master class in some serious pretty with A & B Creative and Twenty Twenty Studios behind all of the magic you see. See it all in the full gallery.
And a beautiful film from Twenty Twenty Studios for even more pretty…
From A&B Creative… I wanted to create a shoot that wasn’t like other typical tropical weddings that couples may see that are hyper-saturated in bright tropical colors and instead create one that felt more in tune with the property we were on: earthy, organic and timeless.
As soon as the gates to Casa Curry open you know you’re entering a special venue. It feels like somewhere you never could have known existed, while feeling like home at the same time. The couple who owns the property, which is also a coffee plantation, has been growing the most incredible gardens on the property for over a decade and it shows. Nearly every plant (and all the grass!) you see was planted by them and they’ve designed an Eden-like oasis amongst the volcanos in the mountains of El Salvador.
I wanted to design an inspiration shoot that highlighted this magical property, all of the flowers and succulents featured were found on the property and the coffee in the bar was grown and harvested there as well! My goal for this shoot was to create a design that showed a different type of look for a destination wedding and venue. It’s not a beachside location, but it’s clearly still tropical. The design + styling displays its rustic mountain surroundings and is influenced with the gorgeous natural beauty of the area. I tried to infuse the designs with the area whenever possible: the stencil for the bride & groom’s chairs is the same one they use on the coffee bags they ship, the succulents are grown on the property, the mandarins used in the chandelier are also from the venue, tiles seen on the property and in the nearby town are mirrored in the escort and place cards as well as the coffee bar signage. All of the craving inducing food is local too: the cake, pupusas, quesadilla from the coffee bar (that they eat with/dipped in coffee), as well as the pilsner, cola champagne, fruit and chocolat from the welcome basket.
I completely fell in love with El Salvador while we were there and something incredibly special that happened since we got back was that our bride, Melissa, got engaged and is going to be getting married at the venue next spring!
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Photography and Cinematography: Sarah Gerber of Twenty Twenty Studios | Creative Direction + Design + Styling: Rebekah Carey McNall of A & B Creative | Floral Design: Rebekah Carey McNall of A & B Creative | Venue: Casa Curry | Coffee Products: Cafe Casa Curry | Paper Products + Tile Design: Chris Andrew John | Bride: Melissa Djaffer | Wedding Dress: The Limited | Bracelet: Electric Sun Creatives |Earrings: Premier Designs | Ring: Forever 21 | Tablecloth + Juice Glasses: Anthropologie
