South America Weddings

This insanely dreamy, floral-filled wedding inspiration from DM Events & Design makes us want to book a one way ticket to Cartagena ASAP! The streets are filled with charming pastel hues, old meets new architecture and lots and lots of flower-adorned buildings – it truly couldn’t be a more perfect locale for a destination wedding! This style shoot captured the essence of Cartagena flawlessly. Prepare to fall in love with these images from Stephanie Brauer Photography and floral designs from Don Eloy Events. We’re obsessed!!

From DM Events & Design… Working in Cartagena was a dream come true! Inspiration abounds in this city full of natural beauty. Often, Cartagena evokes images of rich jewel tones and vibrant colors, think women with lush wine-colored roses in their hair, but we were inspired by the breathtaking sunset views from the old city. Our palette grew from watching the sun melt into the ocean and the dusty, soft pastel hues that saturate the sky.

As with every wedding, the venue is one of the most important decisions you will make. Our list was very short, in fact, it only had one venue on it, the Sofitel Legend Santa Clara. Originally built as a convent 1621 and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984, this landmark property embodies the essence of old meets new. Having stayed at the property on a previous trip to Cartagena, it was such an honor to be able to design something so personal and meaningful in such a gorgeous space.

It was important to us to partner with local vendors and we were so incredibly lucky to have found a dream team of talented vendors and just all-around beautiful people. We teamed with Don Eloy Events to create stunning florals that elevated the pastel palette without detracting from the already natural beauty of our surroundings. The majority of our tabletop details were sourced in markets around Cartagena although we did bring linens and napkins from our favorite New York rental house, Nuage Designs.

When it came to bridal attire and accessories, Sposamia Cartagena was a dream to work with! The bride wore a Willowby by Watters dress paired with the most gorgeous pair of rose-colored Manolo Blahnik shoes. Welcome bags are always such an important part of any destination wedding so we knew we had to go big or go home! We worked with the talented Simone Lejour to create festive hand-painted fans to pair with goodies we collected from around the city!

We wanted our guests to bring home a piece of Cartagena so they would always remember such an amazing city! They say if you love what you do, it will show. We hope our love of what we do and this beautiful city shines through in this shoot! Cartagena is an enchanting city with beauty around every corner!

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Photography: Stephanie Brauer Photography | Floral Design: Don Eloy Events | Cake: Rice & Flower | Reception Venue: Sofitel Legend Santa Clara Cartagena | Invitations & calligraphy: Lynette Rose | Accommodations: InterContinental Cartagena | Bridal dress: Willowby by Watters | Bridal salon: Sposamia Cartagena | Bridal shoes: Manolo Blahnik | Chairs and tabletop rentals: Alcira Guevara Rentals | Escort cards: Wandering Heart Paper | Hair and make-up: Laura Nunez | Handpainted fans: Simon Lejour | Linens & napkins: Nuage Designs | Place cards: Betlem Calligraphy | Planning & Design: DM Events & Design | Processing Lab: The Find Lab | Ribbon: Tono Co | Tour guide: Claudia Vidal Tours | Vintage stamps: Champion Stamps | Wax seals: Artifiact Uprising

We talk about a ‘pop of color’ all the time in weddings, home and fashion. But travel? I don’t think we’ve ever featured a mini guide as hue-happy as this one. Captured by Studio Finch, Cartagena is just the destination you should look into if you’re craving a dose of color. Studio Finch is giving us a head start with these 5 must-do’s!

From Studio Finch… Cartagena, Colombia is one of the most amazing hidden gems I’ve ever seen! It’s an adorable walled city port town, filled with color and lush flowers everywhere. Caratagena is located on the northern coast of Colombia, filled with cobblestone streets and colorful stucco buildings from the 16th century. Everywhere you look, there is a pop of color, hat and fruit salesmen. Out of all of the amazing things to do and see in Cartagena, here is the list of recommendations I was able to narrow down.

Ceviche

It’s a must! Cartagena is an old pirate port town, and with that comes the most delicious raw seafood in citrus juices. You can get it at just about any restaurant, or ceviche truck. To go for authentic, go for the ceviche trucks!

Go for a stroll on the walls surrounding the walled city.

Parts of Cartagena’s walled city has portions of it which you can walk on. The best time of day to go for a stroll on the historic wall is just before sunset. You can have the amazing opportunity to watch the colors in the sky change as the sun goes down.

Watch the traditional perform at night at Plaza de Bolivar.

Another bonus, it’s free to watch! The plaza is filled with young couples dressed in traditional outfits. The dances have so much energy, and also tell a story.

Enjoy a beer on the wall at sunset.

At El Baluarte Tasca-bar, on the South Eastern part of the wall, you can enjoy a beer while listening to the live music in a wooden adirondack chair.

See the arches Torre del Reloj.

Not too far from El Baluarte Tasca-bar you can wander around the square and see the historic arches. The beautiful arched gate walks you into Plaza de la Aduana.

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There are so many things to do, and so much color to take in that I highly recommend seeing this beautiful town for yourself. Fun touristy tip: check out the Russian themed bar! It’s on the NorthWest corner of the Plaza Fernández de Madrid.

Photography: Studio Finch | Film Lab: The Find Lab

An amazing way to start the work week?  This darling affair captured by Valeria Duque Photography, or as I like to call it, a destination love fest with pretty pink hues, a darling bride and groom and a little “day before” session magic mixed in for good measure.  It’s basically the perfect combo for a whole lot of pretty and you can see it all right here in the full gallery.

From Valeria Duque Photography… When Salua called me last year to tell me she was going to get married in the beautiful island of San Andrés and wanted me to take her pictures I was jumping up and down with joy! not only is the island a gorgeous locations for pictures (pool like ocean, palm trees, white sand, etc…), but I knew Salua and her now husband, Pocho, from another wedding I shot in San Andrés a couple of years ago and they are both such lovely and fun people!

Things got even better when Salu told me that she wanted to do a pre-wedding session around the island the day before, this might seem like a normal thing to do in the US but in Colombia, it’s a miracle when the bride is okay with being seen by the groom before the wedding.  This was a first for me (and I have been shooting weddings in this country for five years now), so I was really looking forward to this afternoon and my expectations were absolutely fulfilled!! We visited some amazing places, like the old baptist church, and La Loma neighbourhood which is the oldest and more typical part of the island!  Afterwards we went to El Cove, a beautiful rocky beach where the sunset is played at it’s best! We rode around in Salua’as brother’s Vespa and had fun with the rest of the pictures, a sweet detail was the sign that they held reading “quiero todo contigo” which means “I want everything with you.”

It was so good to feel calm and have plenty of time to do all kinds of things, and having all of the couple’s attention on the pictures and what we were doing. Normally at a Colombian wedding, I get 20 minutes tops to shoot the couple’s pictures and they are, more often than not, concerned with whether the guests arrived okay, or the band has set up, etc, etc….

The wedding decoration was inspired by the colours of the caribbean and the island, every table was named after a part of the island, and the invitation was an illustration of the couple with the line “hasta que la vida nos alcance” which means “till there’s no more life to live.”  On every plate there was a fortune cookie as a present for each guest with customized quotes selected by the bride and groom.

San Andrés is known for it’s beautiful ocean, that’s known as the sea of seven colours, because of the different shades of blue and green that you can see in it, it’s also a natural reservation and it’s coral reef is one of the most beautiful in the world!

Photography: Valeria Duque Photography | Gown: Saja | Shoes: David's Bridal | Club: Nautical Club, San Andrés | Decoration: Sai Weddings | Groom's Shoes: Lacoste

Held in the small, picture perfect Colombian town – Barichara, this wedding by efeunodos photography is a cultural beauty for sure. Rich in tradition and style, each and every detail reflected the couple’s personality. Of course I can’t go through this entire post and not mention the couldn’t-be-cuter flower girls and the bride’s FAB dress! It’s a cultural celebration full of love and style, and there is even more to see in the full gallery!

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From efeunodos photography…This is a very special wedding because it was done in one of the most beautiful towns of our country. It’s a small very well-kept colonial town called Barichara, it’s located between the mountains very close to Parque Nacional del Chicamocha, a gorgeous natural park. The bride’s name is Maria Juliana and the groom’s name is Luis, they both live in Bucaramanga a city about 2 hours from Barichara by car. They decided to get married in Barichara because they wanted a wedding with a lot of personality and in a place that would be different from the city and they chose well!

They got married in the main church of the town plaza, a beautiful and huge colonial church, everything was decorated in beige and pink, pink symbolizing Maria and beige symbolizing Luis and their union. They used organic materials such as felt, and a local fiber called Fique for the decorations. The bouquet, boutonnieres, flower girls headpieces and flower girls shoes decorations were hand-made by request of Maria Juliana by Puro Love. The wedding reception took place at the lovely Taller de oficios de Barichara, a big house that works as a school for local artisans and crafters, they divided that venue in several rooms each having the name of a different craft such as: cooking, pottery, carpentry, etc.

The bride and groom met an hour before the ceremony in a colonial house to take some pictures, after the ceremony they walked the 2 blocks to the venue with a typical town band playing music and all the guests followed. The men were dressed in Guayaberas, typical Colombian attire that is considered formal in warm weathers and that looks amazing because all the guys wear white. After a toast by the bride’s father,  dinner was served and the party lasted until 4:00 am.

Wedding Photography: efeunodos photography / Wedding Gown: Pronovias / Bouquet, Boutonnieres + Flower Girl Headpieces: Puro Love / Bride’s Shoes: Jorge Ramirez / Groom’s Suit: Distinguidos / Floral Design + Decor: Marta de Bohórquez / Venue + Catering: Taller de Oficios de Barichara / Band: Rey and Rey / DJ: Nicolás Rojas / Wedding Cake: Pastelería Nevada

Now this is my kind of party.  The festivities went on until two in the morning, only because the venue kicked them out, and moved to a near by bar to keep the good times going.  Before then, there was a romantic, seaside ceremony and reception with simple but oh-so chic decor.  efeunodos photography photographed every dreamy and mesmerizing moment including a personal firework show put on my the bride’s brother and father.  Click here to see even more from this epic San Andres Island affair!

Click here to see the entire image gallery!

From efeunodos photography… The bride was born and raised in San Andrés and the groom is from Bogotá, they got married in the afternoon in San Judas Church, and after the ceremony they rode a small bus around the island with their wedding party, drinking champagne, and taking pictures in several beautiful locations. Susana, the bride, bought chinese umbrellas for her bridesmaids, and although the weren’t dressed alike they all had a tropical flower on their heads to distinguish them as bridesmaids. Felipe’s (the groom) groomsmen were wearing Guayabera shirts, a white shirt made of cotton or linen that’s typical from the caribbean coast, perfect for the hot weather.

The party was in a private beach called Rocky Cay that belongs to Decameron Hotel.  They first had a welcome cocktail for their guests: sangría, and tropical juices. Afterwards, they served dinner which was delicious, filled with caribbean specialties such as Fruto Pan (bread fruit), lobster and Cherna (a type of fish) with crab sauce. It was really delicious.

The decoration was very simple but elegant, you didn’t have to work that hard in decorating the place, since it was on the beach with the ocean and a beautiful moon reflecting on it.  The centerpieces were local white flowers with white hydrangeas and roses set over white linen table clothes with a light brown and white print of twigs and leaves.

After the toast and speeches were made, Susana’s father and brother (they work with fireworks) lighted an astonishing display of fireworks that lasted a long time and left all the guests mesmerized.

Afterwards the party began and the music was great music from the Caribbean such as danzol, reggaeton, and other tropical rhythms in charge of a great DJ.  The party went on until 2:00 am when we got kicked out of the venue and went to La Perla bar, a beautiful bar with a great view of the sea at night.

Wedding Photography: efeunodos photography / Wedding Gown: BCBG Max Azria + Maria Amparo Giraldo (Alterations) / Bride’s Shoes: MIX No. 6 / Groom’s Shoes: Zara / Groom’s Attire: Custom by MATTEUS Formal Wear / Catering: Decameron Hotel / Event Design: Shirley Díaz / Fireworks: Juan Sebastian Lopez / DJ: Raul of El Reino del Mar / Wedding Venue: Rocky Cay Beach of Decameron Hotel

We thought we would start off the week by whisking away to Cartagena, Colombia to this whimsical wedding captured by efeunodos fotografia.  How does a week long getaway in a charming colonial city sound?  Top it all off with one deliciously detailed wedding, a raging carnival and all-night extravaganza.  Can it really get much better than that?  The full gallery is packed with more inspiration from this adorable couple and their destination nuptials!

Click here for more inspiration in the full wedding gallery!

From the moment we decided to get married, Kuba and I knew we wanted to have a small and intimate wedding with the word FUN written all over it. Kuba is Polish (he grew up in Poland and Botswana, Africa and went to boarding school in England) and I am half Colombian, half Ecuadorian (lived in both countries). We met in Canada in 2002 at university and had the opportunity to live in different Canadian cities. After several years living like gypsies, we settled down in Toronto and had our son Mateusz. This particular lifestyle has allowed us to meet many wonderful people from around the world. Our wedding list included people from 32 different countries and we invited only 75 people! From these 75 guests, 50 made it to our wedding (from 15 different countries).

We chose to get married in Cartagena, Colombia because it is one of the most romantic and charming cities in the world. We knew all our guests would fall in love with it the moment they got off the plane. Cartagena is a city which maintains and its colonial roots very much alive and is unbelievably breathtaking. Its Caribbean warmth and its imposing architecture make it a very special setting to the small, unique and intimate wedding we had in mind. Our guests started arriving one week before the big day and we felt really lucky to have a wedding that lasted longer than most weddings (that is how it felt!). We celebrated each night of the week in a different venue of the city and counted down the days to the big day with our family and friends.  Having everyone we love with us for a week was the best wedding gift we could ask for and made for a beautiful wedding experience.

We had our wedding at a 500 year old colonial mansion in the old city called “Casa Don Sancho”. The house has a gorgeous salon on the second floor where we held our civil ceremony and a stunning pool area on the main floor where we had our reception.  The house is full of history and has an air of colonial romanticism throughout the space. Kuba and I are fans of The Beatles and feel many of their songs represent our life together and our dreams and hopes for the future. For that reason, The Beatles were a salient element throughout the wedding. Our first song was “And I love Her”, our tables were named after Beatles songs and our altar had a banner that read: “Stand By Me”.  These personal touches made us feel like our wedding was really ours, like we were making ourselves felt in sublet and delicate ways in every aspect of the ceremony and the reception.

Our wedding was a small, intimate and fun. Our main priority was to have as many of our friends and family that day with us. We wanted everyone to feel welcome and feel how much we appreciated all the effort they made to be there. That is why we came up with the idea of welcoming them with goodie bags.  The day of the wedding, we welcomed the ladies with some adorable paper fans (in turquoise and pale pink) which we decorated ourselves with stamps (fish and our initials in each fan). We also crafted the flags for the ceremony ourselves and put them together a couple of days before the wedding as well as the big banners. I designed them myself even though I have no background whatsoever in graphic design… let’s just say it took a lot of trial and error (and a lot of sleepless nights) before I got the desired results! We made the letters for the altar (“Stand by Me”) with gorgeous crafting paper we found at Michael’s and stringed the letters to form a banner. We had some paper hearts and circles hanging from the small bench we used during the ceremony. We bought these hand-punched hearts in Etsy (seller: theCandyShoppe) and they are from a 1920’s world atlas. They symbolized our love for travel and our dream of traveling the world as a family. They were also a way to express our gratitude for having people come from all over the world to be with us that day. We also made the cards that went in the frames at each table. I got the frames custom made by a designer I met in a design fair in Colombia’s capital, Bogota. All these little D.I.Y. details added a little bit of a personal touch to the whole day.

Wedding Photography: efeunodos / Flowers: Gladys /Event Design: William Banea / Event Planning: Caribe Cordial / Wedding Venue: Casa Don Sancho – La Heroica / Invitations: D.I.Y / Shoes: Forever21 / Dress: Tailor-made / Music (DJ, violinist and carnival): Grupo Manhattan / Hair and Makeup: Diego Moya / Wedding Suit: Paul Smith

If this is the way that people celebrate life, love and all things wedding in Colombia…beam me up Scotty. This wedding was actually submitted by the bride’s best friend, Valeria, whose adorable wedding we featured a few months back. And who, along with her husband Juan Felipe Rubio, happened to be the photographers behind these unbelievably lovely images. And they are so unbelievable lovely, I can hardly stand it. But before you dive in, remember that we have even more romantic, amazing, make-you-fall-in-love-all-over-again photographs right here.

{click here to see the full wedding}

The couple’s names are Andrés Montoya and Natalia Molina, they have been dating for 11 years, they were high school sweethearts!! Andrés works for Noel, a candy company managing international affairs, and Natalia is a graphic designer with a Masters in fashion marketing. They got married in an old colonial house near El Retiro, a small town near Medellín (the second largest city in Colombia) called Fizebad.

The decor was focused on origami cranes that we made ourselves. Natalia, Andrés and myself worked for months on them, making them all sizes and colors. Natalia has always been great at making origami animals (as teenagers she used to send me messages with the paper folded as a frog or a pig). We also loved the Japanese tradition of making 1000 paper cranes before the wedding meant to signify as much love, patience and tolerance as a marriage requires. We thought that was beautiful.

We also used lots of white lighting, so there were christmas lights tangled all over the place. For centerpieces, Natalia ordered the Ikea serving platters and in them she placed cupcakes made of different flavors: lemon, chocolate, strawberry, coffee (we are in Colombia after all) made by a local Medellín bakery called Como Pez en el agua.

Natalia also made the bouquet She bought the roses from one of the many exporters in our country and assembled it herself the day of the wedding. The bottoniers were comissioned by me as a surprise and were made by Paulina Valencia from Maria Fermina Accesorios who found a way to treat fabric in order to be able to fold it like origami.

The dress was designed by Natalia and a local tailor made it for her. The headpiece by made by local designer Carolina Malabet Tocados ( she has no website, you can see some of her works on my flickr) whom you can contact here. The shoes were custom made for Natalia by Tamara Bazdys also a local designer.

The bad news about today’s first featured affair is that it took place in Colombia, utilizing some of the best local vendors…which of course means that it might be hard to replicate the wedding. The good news is that many of the ideas are completely steal-able and could be done in just about any setting.

Here are a few details from the AMAZING photographers behind the day, Valeria and Juan…

The bride and groom are really good friends of ours, Carlos and Laura, both industrial designers. All of the decorations were handmade by the beautiful bride Laura: the center pieces, the flowers around the altar, the sugar mushrooms in the center pieces, the bouquet…you name it, all was carefully planned and designed by her. The beautiful groom prepared the candle sign in cursive type that you see on the pics as a surprise for Laura who was absolutely thrilled.

The food was a Thai Stir fry, amazing, because once you picked your vegetables you went to a place where there were 4 cheffs each of them with 4 woks and they prepared your dinner with the exact ingredients you wanted: rice or pasta, curry and orange, pepper or tamarindo (a local fruit) sauce, peanuts or sesame. The wedding was catered by Banquetes Santa Mónica. The picture with the chalk board shows how the serving of the food was explained to the guests.

Don’t you agree that there is just something special about this affair? It’s thoughtful, it’s beautiful…and yet it seems so effortless. So lovely in it’s simplicity and style. Thank you so much to Valeria and Juan for introducing me to your work. I can’t wait to see more weddings from you!

Today’s first featured wedding is pure romance. I fell head over heels in love with these images the moment that I saw them and only wish that my own wedding was as effortlessly lovely.  The photographers that sent me the affair, Valeria and Juan, are a husband and wife team in Colombia…one a fashion and advertising photographer, one a photojournalist, the team has begun shooting weddings on the weekends. And man oh man, are they good.

This particular wedding was held in Rionegro near Medellín, in Colombia, at the bride’s parent’s home…

The bride’s gorgeous gown was made by the very talented Juliana Correa, designer of the Colombian brand OnA and is total perfection. Actually, everything about this wedding is as close to perfect as you can get. The music during the ceremony was all performed by friends who are musicians (the best man was actually playing the piano!). At the end of the ceremony, the couple gifted their guests a cd with the music that had played throughout the evening.

More on the way!