Ashlyn and Jarrod had spent months planning a destination wedding when they made a fairly major change of plans: they scrapped it and decided to elope instead. The new plan was much simpler. Head somewhere tropical, find a waterfall, and make the day entirely their own.
That search led them to Costa Rica and a Nauyaca Waterfall elopement, where they exchanged personal vows beside the park’s two-tiered falls with matching Dr. Martens on their feet. The rest of the day unfolded with an impromptu ice cream stop, sushi, a toucan sighting, a swim back at their villa, and one very unwelcome grasshopper.
The couple first met at a bar in San Diego, though it took a month before they went on their first date just before Christmas. Their second came on Christmas day. “We haven’t left each other’s side since,” they share. Years later, that same preference for doing things together, and their way, shaped the wedding they ultimately chose.
What We Love About This Nauyaca Waterfall Elopement
- Matching Dr. Martens that worked with their shared habit of coordinating outfits
- A two-tiered waterfall ceremony with an unexpected audience of park visitors
- Custom sweet pea earrings honoring Ashlyn’s late grandfather
- Crossing a river and scaling rocks in wedding clothes for some of their favorite portraits
- An unplanned roadside ice cream stop 15 minutes after getting married
- A wedding day that ended with sushi, a toucan, a swim, and pizza
Featured Vendor:
Olivo Film
Getting Ready In A Studio Made Their First Look A Little Tricky
There was no separate bridal suite or groom’s room at their villa. Because they had booked a studio, getting ready meant staying on opposite ends and carefully avoiding each other. Junebug vendor Olivo Film arrived early to help with the final preparations before bringing them together on the deck.
“When Ashlyn stepped out onto the deck, you couldn’t have directed it better in a movie,” they remember. From there, they headed for the falls and the part of the day they’d reorganized the entire wedding around.
Changing The Wedding Plans Put The Focus Back On What They Wanted
A Costa Rica elopement wasn’t the original plan. Ashlyn and Jarrod had been working toward a larger destination wedding for months, but as the date got closer, several of the people they most wanted there could no longer make the trip. Rather than keep pushing ahead with a celebration that no longer made sense to them, they reconsidered the whole thing. “That brought us to a decision point,” they share. “That’s when we decided to pivot and elope in Costa Rica.”
Budget played into the decision, too. Instead of putting their money toward the original event, they decided they would rather spend it on a smaller trip and wedding built around the things they cared about most. “We decided the money for the wedding of our dreams would be well spent and most memorable in an intimate setting.”
Finding The Waterfall Gave Them A New Plan To Work Around
There were two requirements for the new wedding: somewhere tropical and a waterfall. Ashlyn and Jarrod already loved tropical environments and were ready to get away somewhere more rural, so Costa Rica made sense. Then they found Nauyaca. “When we found Nauyaca’s two-tiered waterfall, we knew this was our destination.”
After a frustrating experience working with a planner on their original destination wedding, they also decided to organize their elopement themselves. Finding somewhere to stay became the next project. They spent their free time searching YouTube until they came across Achiote Villa, a rental with expansive views and striking architecture. They booked a studio there and quickly realized the property could serve another purpose: it would be where they got ready and saw each other for the first time.
Matching Boots Made Formal Wedding Clothes More Their Style
Costa Rica’s spring heat had to factor into what they wore, but Ashlyn and Jarrod weren’t ready to give up on dressing formally just because they were getting married beside a waterfall. The solution started with transportation. Rather than making the roughly five-mile hike to the falls in wedding clothes, they arranged a truck taxi ahead of time to get them closer to the ceremony site.
Then came the shoes. Coordinating outfits is already part of how the couple dresses when they go out together, so matching wedding shoes seemed obvious. They chose Dr. Martens boots, which gave their more formal looks a detail that was recognizably theirs. Ashlyn also wore custom sweet pea earrings in honor of her grandfather, who had recently passed away. “Sweet Pea” had been his nickname for her growing up.
Their Waterfall Ceremony Ended With Cheers From Strangers
YouTube had helped Ashlyn and Jarrod plan from afar, but it hadn’t quite prepared them for arriving at Nauyaca. Ashlyn carried a bouquet made by a local florist in Uvita using local flora. “Walking down the steps to the waterfall was breathtaking,” she says. “The power of the waterfall and the sounds of the jungle. The YouTube videos couldn’t compare.”
There had been one potential complication leading into the ceremony. Jarrod had been sick before the trip and completely lost his voice a few days earlier. He spent the lead-up trying to preserve what was left of it for his vows. Thankfully, their microphones did their job.
“For me, the most memorable part of the ceremony was finally getting our first kiss,” he says. “I had dreamt of that kiss in front of the waterfalls for a long time.” Because the falls are inside a public park, their elopement wasn’t entirely private. A small group of visitors stopped and waited while they exchanged their personal vows. When the couple kissed, their unexpected audience cheered.
Crossing The River Was Worth It For The Photos
The ceremony may have been over, but Olivo Film wasn’t finished with them yet. The team suggested crossing the river and climbing over the rocks to reach another area for portraits. That meant navigating the terrain in wedding clothes, including Ashlyn carrying her dress as she crossed. “We are so glad Olivo had us do the hike because once we made it to the other side, that is where they captured some of our favorite pictures,” the couple says.
The photographers had already come to the rescue earlier that day. Ashlyn and Jarrod were running behind schedule by close to an hour, so the team went ahead, updated their officiant, and coordinated the truck taxis while the couple caught up. For an elopement they’d largely planned themselves, having vendors willing to adjust in real time made the delay much easier to handle.
Their Post-Ceremony Plans Were Mostly Made Up As They Went
About 15 minutes after getting married, Ashlyn and Jarrod spotted a small ice cream shop along the road and pulled over. Grace, the owner of Famoso Ice Cream, was outside taking photos when she noticed the newlyweds and welcomed them in. Once they told her they’d just gotten married, she treated them to gluten-free, dairy-free ice cream and smoothies. From there, it turned into an eventful adventure. They went for sushi, encountered a wild toucan, and headed back to the villa for a swim.
There was also a less charming wildlife encounter waiting for them. A giant grasshopper had somehow made its way into their bed, requiring what the couple describes as a “battle” before they could continue the evening. Once that was handled, they went out for pizza at Seba’s restaurant. There was no formal reception timeline to return to, which left them free to spend the hours after their ceremony however they wanted.
Letting Go Of The Original Wedding Gave Them More Flexibility
For Ashlyn and Jarrod, the biggest planning decision wasn’t choosing Costa Rica or even choosing the waterfall. It was recognizing that the wedding they’d spent months organizing no longer suited them and being willing to change it. Their advice to other couples is similarly straightforward: “Make the wedding about the two of you, your union.”
Eloping gave them more room in their budget and schedule, but more importantly, it let them decide exactly how they wanted to spend the day. Their Nauyaca Waterfall elopement ended up including the things they’d pictured from the start, like a tropical setting and waterfall ceremony, alongside plenty they couldn’t have planned: cheering strangers, roadside ice cream, and memorable encounters with nature.
The Wedding Team:
Photography – Olivo Films
Ceremony Venue – Nauyaca Waterfalls
Officiant – Marcelo Galli
Ice Cream – Famoso Ice Cream
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