Do me a favor: take a minute to picture everything you’ve ever imagined a perfect destination wedding to be… then feast your eyes on this lovely Sayulita affair from Dekker Photography. Because that perfect destination wedding? It’s a total reality. Think a crystal blue ocean backdrop, vibrant + colorful details and a stunning bride who knows her way around DIY. It’s everything, lovelies. See it all right here.
From the Bride… When Dan and I began planning our wedding, we knew we wanted it to be a laid-back, fun, and beautiful adventure to bring our closest friends and family together. We found Villa Amor on Style Me Pretty and loved what we saw. We planned a quick weekend getaway to travel to Mexico and immediately fell in love with not only Villa Amor, but the whole town of Sayulita.
I love any and all DIY projects. I started with our wedding invitations, which included RSVP cards that were written like Mad Libs. When I was done, I still had extra fancy paper which I wanted to use for another wedding project, I just didn’t know what yet.
I started thinking about table names and wanted to do something unique. All of our guests were Americans and the majority of them spoke limited or no Spanish. I thought it would be fitting to have table names after Spanish love or wedding words. Then at each table, the table name was displayed similar to a Spanish – English dictionary. For example, our table name was “La Boda,” which means “The Wedding” in English. I also made place cards with the same matching paper as the table names.
Another fun DIY project I did was the wedding maracas. I ordered plain painted pink and purple maracas online from a party store. Then a girlfriend and I drew Mexican folk art hearts (Milagros) on each maraca using gold Sharpie. There was a maraca at each guest’s seat at the dinner table.
I would have loved for every item at my wedding to be a DIY project, but time didn’t allow for that, so I turned to Etsy, where I ordered tags for the maracas, “Hola!” welcome bags, and wedding programs.
I also made a “Wedding Day Survival Kit” for my husband-to-be. I ordered custom cuff links from Etsy. Each cuff link was a map; one of Sayulita, the other of our home, San Francisco. I also ordered custom collar stays from Etsy that were engraved with our wedding date.
Our wedding ceremony was at Don Pedro’s Palapa on a gorgeous bluff overlooking the ocean. Dan’s aunt performed our ceremony and we each wrote our own wedding vows. Then guests were shuttled to the “Gran Villa” at Villa Amor. Guests enjoyed fresh coconuts and cocktails on the patio of the Gran Villa overlooking all of Sayulita. Next we moved to the brick courtyard for dinner and dancing. Dinner was delicious; we opted against cake and instead had a couple making fresh churros on the patio for dessert all night long. Everyone had a wonderful night of dancing and we concluded the festivities with a surprise fireworks display overlooking the ocean.
Photography: Dekker Photography | Wedding Planner: Karen Ruezga | Florist: CaTtleYa Flowers | Wedding Dress: Marisa Bridals | Ceremony Venue: Don Pedro's Palapa | Reception Venue: Villa Amor | Hair And Makeup: Ella Leyva | Groom's Attire: The Hound Clouthier | Groom's Gift (Collar Stays): Kinseys Corner Etsy Shop | Groom's Gift (Cufflinks): Brass And Chain Etsy Shop | Maraca Tags: Darby Cards | Veil & Dress Alterations: Julie Ireland Dress Making | Wedding Programs: Crcmade