A Fun Mexico Destination Wedding

Today I’ve got an amazing wedding to share with you all! This fabulous Mexico destination wedding has it all: beautiful bougainvillea bouquets, playful paper goods, and gorgeous photography to top it all off! And you really don’t want to miss the underwater trash the dress session at the end either! What is your favorite detail?

The lovely bride Kasey gives us all the great details:

As the Director of an event company based out of Canyons Resort in Park City, UT, I see so many wonderful ideas. I am used to brides telling me their dream, and getting to work to make it a reality! But to define my own wishes, blend with my husband’s vision, and stay within our budget, was not just another day in the office. Two decisions were relatively easy: date & location. On 11/11/11, we would be celebrating our 11th year of dating (high school sweethearts!). And Cabo San Lucas was where my grandparents took us for their 50th wedding anniversary, already a special place to us. Once we realized that the location itself could be our theme, all our decisions were based upon “vintage Mexico.”

My favorite flowers are peonies. I knew I couldn’t get them in Mexico for the wedding, so I called the local wholesale flower shop that I work with for all the events I produce here in Utah. They reassured me that they could get them in, so I ordered a few dozen. The plan was for my sister to pick them up in Salt Lake City before boarding the plane to Mexico the day before the wedding. But first, I made sure her airlines would allow it…they reassured me that it would be just fine. I also printed off the page on the Mexican customs website where it said that flowers could be brought into the country, and gave it to her “just in case.” Needless to say, when she landed in Mexico they made her throw all those gorgeous flowers away! She tried her hardest to get them through, but to no avail…when I first saw her at the hotel and found out the news, I was devastated. I had pictured striking peony bouquets for my bridesmaids and myself–and planned to use them in addition to the flowers that I had ordered through a local Mexican flower shop for the centerpieces. All of a sudden, I had the solution. There were bright pink bougainvillea plants everywhere around the hotel. Ever since I grew up in southern California, I have always loved bougainvillea. So the night before the wedding some of my wonderful (and adventurous!) friends volunteered to cut enough from around the area for us to use for the wedding. It turned out so perfectly! The color, the style, the personal touch, and the local flair…and now we have a great story to share.

Aside from participating in selecting my dress, my husband was involved in every detail—including a surprise he and I planned for our guests. Following Marshall’s ceremonial breaking of the glass, three “Banditos” on horseback carrying machetes galloped down the beach and protested the wedding shouting, “You cannot get married here, this is our land!” The guests (especially my mother and best friend who thought they knew every detail of the day) were shocked—and some a bit frightened! Once the Banditos asked the guests if they thought we were truly in love, everyone knew it was staged. The horses then danced, guests cheered, and we were all off to the terrace for dinner.

After enjoying the traditional Mexican buffet underneath paper flags hung above between palm trees, we roasted marshmallows and drank more beer by a bon fire on the beach. The following day, after a sunrise photo session, Marshall and I jumped in the pool for a “trash the dress” underwater photo shoot. Actually, it washed all the sand off my dress! We are so blessed to have shared our wedding with 54 loved-ones, in a special location, and now have fantastic images to remember it all!