Marisa and Wilson wanted their guests’ trip to Mexico to feel like a vacation. That meant a Friday night taco menu, custom maracas, plenty of margaritas, and a wedding day filled with oranges, reds, yellows, and pinks. At their Etéreo Kanai celebration in Riviera Maya, those colors appeared across the florals, stationery, and bridesmaid dresses.

Mexico made sense for another reason. Marisa and Wilson fell in love partly through traveling, cooking, and exploring together, and their first big trip as a couple was to Mexico.. Years later, they returned with friends and family for a weekend built around many of those same things they enjoy together: good food, time outside, and a really good party.

What We Love About This Etéreo Kanai Riviera Maya Wedding

• Citrus tones of orange, red, yellow, and pink across the florals, stationery, and bridesmaid dresses
• Tacos and custom maracas to kick off the welcome celebration
• Marisa’s sleek wedding dress, found after trying more than 30 others and flying to London to get it
• Personal vows, family involvement, and readings from favorite poems during the ceremony

Featured Vendor:
My Perfect Wedding Mexico

Planning the Weekend With Traveling Guests in Mind

With friends and family traveling from several locations, Marisa and Wilson thought about the wedding as more than a single-day event. “Most importantly: we wanted it to be fun!” Marisa says. “Guests were traveling from New York, California, and beyond. It was important for us to feel like a vacation for them.”

That also influenced their budget. Venues, food, and alcohol were areas where they were willing to spend more, while photography also had a protected place in the budget. Their planners, Michelle and Aleza of My Perfect Wedding, kept the financial side organized with a detailed spreadsheet tracking expected and actual costs.

Riviera Maya made logistical sense, too. The couple considered several parts of Mexico before choosing the area because guests traveling from New York could get there on a direct flight. After touring different venues, Etéreo Kanai stood out for its food, team, and outdoor spaces, including a courtyard for the ceremony and beach space for the reception.

Taking Color Cues From Their Trips to Mexico

Years of traveling through Mexico had left Marisa drawn to its bright flowers, Day of the Dead celebrations, and particularly marigolds.

Marigolds weren’t in season for the wedding, so Vanessa Jaimes Floral Design worked with the couple on a color palette of oranges, reds, and yellows instead. Pink joined the mix in the bridesmaid dresses, tying their looks to the flowers without asking everyone to wear the same color.

Those colors continued into the paper goods. Marisa created the invitations and stationery with Sarah Wallack, one of her oldest childhood friends. Nearly 30 years after taking art classes together, the two found themselves comparing fonts and paper samples for Marisa’s wedding. “Like the florals, I wanted the stationery to feel bright and playful,” she says.

My Perfect Wedding helped carry those ideas through the rest of the weekend, from the Friday taco menu and custom maracas to finding DJ Dulce for the reception. The planners also connected Marisa and Wilson with other local vendors. Once My Perfect Wedding planners Michelle and Aleza recommended someone and the vendor seemed genuinely excited about the couple’s ideas, Marisa and Wilson felt comfortable moving forward. 

Giving Family and Friends a Role in the Ceremony

At Etéreo Kanai, several of the people closest to Marisa and Wilson had a role in the ceremony. Marisa’s brother-in-law officiated, while their friend Maddy and Wilson’s sister Bailey each read one of the couple’s favorite poems.

They also wrote their own vows, spending months jotting down thoughts and hiding computer screens from each other while they worked. “We wanted the ceremony to feel personal and for guests to leave knowing us as a couple,” Marisa says.

Because the couple had already done a first look and completed most of their portraits before the ceremony, they didn’t have to immediately leave for a long photo session afterward. Instead, they took a few minutes alone before joining cocktail hour. Their planners even had cocktails and hors d’oeuvres ready for them before they headed down. They later slipped away for a few additional portraits as the sun set over the water.

Finding the Dress on Instagram, Then Flying to London for It

Finding Marisa’s dress took considerably more effort. She was looking for something simple and sleek that would also work for walking around on the beach, but more than 30 dresses later, she still hadn’t found it. Then she came across Own Studio on Instagram.

The studio was in London, and Marisa had just missed its New York trunk show. She booked a 36-hour trip anyway and went straight from the airport to the showroom. The dress she ultimately chose was the exact design that had caught her attention on Instagram in the first place: a strapless, fitted gown with a softly sculpted neckline and a long, clean silhouette that extended into a train.

Wilson isn’t usually much of a suit person, but saw the wedding as a chance to have something made that he could keep. After seeing a friend’s wedding tux from La Rukico, he decided to go custom. He chose a light brown suit with an open-collar white shirt and brown loafers, keeping the look relaxed enough for the beach setting.

Making the Most of the Moments They Couldn’t Plan

Before the festivities had even begun, Marisa and Wilson were riding the elevator to their rehearsal when the reality of the weekend hit them at the same time. Guests had arrived. Friends and family were downstairs. Months of planning were suddenly about to become an actual wedding. They stayed in the elevator for a few extra moments before walking out.

Then there was Marisa’s first look with her dad, who hadn’t been briefed on what a first look actually was. He arrived in sweatpants and a T-shirt, visibly confused. “‘I’m supposed to look at something?’ he asked,” Marisa recalls. “Not quite the moment I was going for, but it was special nonetheless. At that point, we had to laugh!”

The first dance required another adjustment. Marisa and Wilson had taken lessons and were ready to show off what they’d learned, only for a strap Marisa had added to her dress to break about 30 seconds into the dance. They laughed and improvised their way through the rest.

Making the Reception About Good Music and a Really Good Party

Speeches from Marisa’s sister and maid of honor, her dad, and Wilson’s best man came before the dancing. There were sentimental stories, jokes, and a little making fun of the newlyweds before DJ Dulce took over the music and MC duties.

Marisa remembers the packed dance floor, but she also remembers stepping away from it. “The dance floor was amazing, but I also loved the times when I took a break (and refilled my margarita),” she says. “It was so cool to see it from afar and take it in with the guests.”

After putting so much of the budget toward the venues, food, drinks, and the time their guests would spend together, those scenes were exactly what Marisa and Wilson had planned the weekend around.

Waiting Six Months to Start Planning Was the Right Call for Them

Marisa and Wilson waited about six months after getting engaged before they started planning. The whole process sounded daunting at first, but choosing the venue gave them somewhere concrete to begin.

“Take your time!” Marisa says. “Eventually, we realized we just needed to take it one step at a time. And after we found our venue, everything started falling into place.” Her advice now is to keep the planning process in perspective. “And remember, in the end: it’s about you two. Enjoy the ride!”