Having visited the lovely Sayulita, Mexico myself a few years back, seeing amazing wedding photos like these from photographer Jillian Mitchell immediately take me back to the magic of this sleepy Pacific surfing town! Couple Gloria and Kevin did their Mexico destination wedding right, and after this blog post, they’ve got me dying for some quality time on the beach!
The Couple: Gloria and Kevin
The Wedding: Villa Amor, Sayulita, Mexico
Where did you choose to hold your wedding, and what was the inspiration for this location? (Gloria) We first read about Villa Amor in Sayulita, Mexico in the travel section of the New York Times in 2008, and just tucked it away in our minds. When it came time to pick a location for our wedding three years later, we had a lot of choices: Vancouver (my home town), San Luis Osbispo (his home town), San Francisco (where we live). Even though we had never been to Sayulita, there was something about this little seaside town that kept drawing us in. We did as much research as we could online and we kept hearing little stories from friends of friends who had been there, and thought it was such a special place. We went with our gut instinct and are so glad we did!
(Kevin) Selecting the destination was the first decision we made and it was the most important by far. Like a lot of people we know, our friends and family are all over the country – in fact, they’re all over the world. So, our wedding was going to be a “destination” wedding for some of our guests no matter what. We got the perfect location; it was exotic and warm, while still being affordable and easy to get to.
Were there any places where you broke the rules in your wedding planning? Why and how did you do that? Having a destination wedding in a remote place takes a lot of the decision making out of your hands, which is wonderful. It’s a lot easier to pick a cake when there’s only one bakery. Full disclosure: we had churros instead of cake and I don’t think anyone was disappointed!
Looking back, what are the moments, decisions or memories that you love the most about your wedding? People lose some of their inhibitions when they’re away from home. I don’t think I’ve ever seen people wrestling over a microphone at a wedding. My nephews, who we asked to dress in bow ties and moustaches, stopped the show when they performed a dance routine at the reception.
What piece of advice would you give to a bride planning her wedding today? If you’re doing a destination wedding, you need to trust your wedding planner. She is your counsel for everything from what to eat to what photographer to hire. We had someone we trusted and we slept better for it. This is the biggest party of your whole life. Plan accordingly.
The Wedding Team:
The Photographer: Jillian Mitchell
Wedding Planner: Karen Ruezga of Villa Amor
Ceremony & Reception Venue: Villa Amor
Invitation Designer: Sweet Penelope
Florist: Flor Mimo
Catering: O Restaurant
Wedding Dresses: Ceremony – Lazaro, Reception – BCBG
Bridal Accessories: Shoes – Topshop, Veil – Delicate Spirits
Bridesmaids’ Apparel: Victoria’s Secret
Groom and Groomsmen Apparel and Accessories: Apparel – Banana Republic, Shoes – Hugo Boss, Ties – Macy’s
Thank you so much for sharing our intimate wedding getaway with us! Best wishes, Gloria and Kevin!
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This wedding is just beautiful! The ring bearers are ADORABLE with their lil staches.
Amazing venue, I love the laid back feel!
Seriously stunning event! Gorgeous style and incredible images! Bravo!
Oh wow! What a perfect collection of memories! It was TRUELY one of the most fabulous weddings we have ever attended, and we’ve seen our share! The boys love that they made it into this website with their mustaches. They had the best time, however, going forward they have extremely high expectations of weddings! :) Gloria and KO, just absolutely lovely!
We at Villa Amor had a wonderful time just watching this wonderful couple and their guests enjoying Villa Amor….they were a wonderful joy filled couple and we wish them all the happiness this world has to offer!!!! We hope to see them back again…..Barbara and entire staff at Villa Amor.
This looks like a fantastic way to “tie the knot” (so to speak)! My wife and I love the beach and exotic outdoor locations like this, and sometimes we actually kinda regret not doing something like that rather than than the traditional church wedding that we went along with. Had we done a beach wedding instead, my wedding ring probably wouldn’t have accidentally fallen and cracked during the reception! Yeah, that actually happened. How the heck does a ring break in half like that?! If anyone had something similar happen to them with a tungsten ring during or after their wedding, check this out, http://www.facebook.com/BrknPromises
That last picture is way cute! And her shoes = to die for!
Beautiful! I think destination weddings in Mexico are such a great idea. I want to do this so badly when I get married.
Amazing! What month did you have the wedding? We are looking into a June wedding and hoping it’s not going to be TOO hot.