Okay, okay, that wasn't the original title ... the original title was "Rose & Miguel's Mod Spicy Yelapa Fiesta" but I think Rose's alternative title fit the bill better ;). I had fun planning and designing this wedding from start to finish - Rose just has one of those vibes that makes everything brighter and prettier and ... well, rosey ;). And it helped that she knew what she didn't like and what she did like so that, when we got down to designing business, it didn't take me long to be inspired....
Place: Yelapa, Hotel Laguinita
Coordinator: Patti from Chic Concepts
Caterer: NAEF
Staff Photographer: Francisco
INSPIRATION BOARD
Rose's first design words were, "I imagine a magical Mexican beach wedding. An Indian and Mexican inspired decor." And, wa-la, here it is!
THE CEREMONY
I can't say the ceremony was design driven so much was it was Shaman driven. Rose's Shaman had very specific requests as to how the chairs needed to be set in a circle specific to north/south ... but the rounded chuppah was Rose's idea and she just wanted some tin stars in there - of course! I love the lace fabric overlay ....
Rose had two bouquets - one which had to have certain colors in it for the ceremony and the other which was her bouquet which was miniature white roses and casablancas, inspired from one of our other brides, Ashley :).
THE COCKTAIL
Since we were using such a big space for the ceremony, cocktail and reception, I knew I wanted a way to direct the guests which would be easy to follow. We came-up with a walkway from the ceremony to the cocktail and the cocktail to the reception made-up with hand made luminaries which we cut Rose & Miguel's initials - interspersed between were floating roses in galvanized tin which we painted a bronze color. We also had chalkboard signs directing the way and I love the added mementos that Omar put along the sides.
The cocktail area itself had a big sign announcing the cocktail area, cocktail tables draped in turquoise blue and tied with raspeberry ribbon, floating roses in the middle and hanging raspberry curtains to block off the area a bit and keep everyone congregating together around the tables :).
THE DINNER
As guests made their way along the luminary path towards the reception, they were greeted with a large chalkboard with escort cards and a beaded necklace or bracelet favor. Since we had so many tables, I decided it would be best to simply number the tables to make it easier to find their table.
Rose really wanted the tables to compliment the natural elements and the beach, so I decided to do white chiffon overlays and let the wedding colors of turquoise blue, raspberry and orange be bright accents to draw the eye but not overwhelm. We had a solid color rose arrangement with bamboo leaf wrapped around the bottom in glass vases, a Moroccan candle lantern, turquoise blue water glasses and turquoise blue napkins adorning the tables. In order to assist the waiters with who was eating what, we trimmed the bottom of each water glass with ribbon. Table markers were chalkboards with the table number. Place cards were hand-punched with an eyelet trim and held in forks.
This area is pretty dark at night, so we lit the area with various oxidized tin stars in glass, with colored glass beads and hand-punched - it looked awesome!
THE CANDY LOUNGE
Probably my favorite area of the entire evening, Rose had wanted a candy bar. And she had wanted a lounge. So I decided to combine the two into one area. We had Moroccan inspired and Indian pillows adorning the lounge furniture, bowls painted bronze and filled with yummy candies, both traditional like Rosa y non-traditional like Jelly Bellies, nuts, suckers, you name it :) and wooden spoons and plastic bags for guests to fill an take with them if they so choose. We had some beautiful hanging Moroccan lanterns and oodles of candles. Heart heart heart!
THE DANCE FLOOR/PHOTO BOOTH
Since the groom loved and wanted a lighted dance floor I knew that it wouldn't make much sense to put oodles of candles overhead - they would just get lost. What we needed was something big and eye-catching and I fell in love with this Moroccan lantern as soon as I saw it!
For the photo booth we decided to recreate the way Miguel had asked Rose to marry him - scuba diving! We had little chalkboard bubbles for guests to write their thoughts and add to the merriment :).
LATE NIGHT TACOS
Rose provided some yummy tacos later on in the evening, so we strung some pretty paper Chinese stars, moved the cocktail tables under the large palapa (um no photos of that - but it was cool ;) and gave the party goers a place to gather and chow down later on.
Designing and creating a wedding in such a remote place was definitely challenging - and inspiring and empowering and the end-result was a beautiful wedding in a very private space for an amazing, kind-hearted couple - and working with Patti, one of my bestest girlfriends, only made the whole experience that much more dear to my heart. Heart heart!!
Coming-up next I have a few more maraca shout-outs and then Shannon & Derek's blog with photos from the oh-so-talented Nate Broshot. Stay tuned!
