Happy Wedding Wednesday! Erica and Erich tied the knot in a romantic and elegant Cabo affair with pastel highlights that centered around the sunset. The couple’s instant chemistry one fateful night in Vancouver sparked a romance for the books. After a romantic proposal in Paris, the love birds were soon planning the wedding of their dreams.
They wanted to have a tropical destination wedding with family and friends and felt that Los Cabos was the perfect fit for them. This wedding by Chris + Lynn Photographers really makes us blush. It was romantic, elegant and everything you could wish for in a destination wedding. The couple shared a few of their favorite moments below.
How did you organize a wedding that was so far from your hometown?
We did most of the planning ourselves, however, we did get some advice from Erica’s friend, Carissa, who is a wedding planner herself and the on-site Wedding Event Specialist at the Esperanza, Claudia Morales, performed all the “day of” duties to ensure that the wedding day ran smoothly. Claudia gave us a couple vendor recommendations for each category – music, photographers, décor, hair and make-up, flowers and we pretty much communicated via email and skype to negotiate and finalize plans with each vendor. We created our own invitations and other wedding paperwork as well as other items that we packed with us – tablecloths, candles, wedding day attire etc. Claudia did go above and beyond and kept an updated timeline for us as we defined more and more of our wedding. Clear communication and confirmation was key.
Can you share a “defining moment” from your relationship (first date, first kiss, when you knew you were meant for each other…)
Our defining moment had to be our trip to San Diego. We were only dating for two months and Erica was skeptical going away with me for a few days this early in our relationship. She took the risk and the rest is history. On that trip we remember most our ride on the Giant Dipper rollercoaster at Mission Beach’s Belmont Park. One night on the beach is where Erich professed his love for Erica.
The Ceremony:
It was the perfect day as the sun was shining and there was a slight breeze, just enough to keep everyone from getting too hot. The wedding party all walked down the aisle to the elegant guitar music while Erica, in all her glory, and her father walked down to the vocal’s of her friend Samantha singing “I can’t help falling in love with you”. The backdrop of the sea and the sky was breathtaking.
We had the most amazing Reverend who really set the tone with love and laughter. He proclaimed a romantic speech and then at the right moment, We placed our rings on one another’s fingers and were announced husband and wife. The traditional procedure was pretty standard in our wedding but what made it stand out was the tropical serene location and thoughtful personal vows.
Describe three of your favorite moments from the wedding day:
Exchanging of our personal wedding Vows
Erica’s walk down the aisle with her father and most people seeing her dress for the first time (including Erich as he made it a point not to see it anytime before the wedding day)
The speeches on the terrace by the Maid of Honour, Best Man and both father’s
The MC playfully singing one of our favourite songs “Marry me” by Train
The Reception:
The location was breathtaking: Cliffs, sand, surf, sky, sunset, palm tree, twilight, stars it had it all. One can’t even begin to explain the feeling you get when you first overlook the view at the Esperanza, it’s something that has to be experienced. The décor was quite simple as the natural beauty of the location really stole the show. Elegant centerpieces of candles and driftwood were used and all the dinnerware was from the resort. Erica did design her own table cloths, menu cards and wedding programs. The theme was to be the colours of “magic hour”, that time when the sun sets. Colours include hues of red, pink and blue.
What obstacles did you face in planning a destination wedding? How did you overcome them?
The biggest obstacle was the cost of travel for our guests. It’s a tough decision to ask anyone to spend a large sum of money to come to your wedding. We made sure the agent we used was able to come up with a payment plan to spread out the cost. We just kept positive knowing that everyone will be amazed once in Mexico and will forget about all their reservations when they feel that warm tropical air hit them.
We chose to have a multi-coloured macaroon tower instead of a wedding cake, plus we served desert to everyone. The macaroon tower was made up of 150 macaroons that represented the colours of our wedding.
What was the best idea you had in planning your destination wedding?
In terms of the actual wedding events, one of our best ideas was to have one of our animated friends as MC. Originally, we were going to reply on the DJ or someone who didn’t know the group to make announcements but having a true friends who got to know everyone during the week and relay memorable and funny stories throughout the night with both enthusiasm and passion brought a whole new element and flow to the wedding.
In terms of cost savings, we never underestimated the power of negotiation, especially in a group setting. I’d say we pride ourselves on the value that we got working with each vendor.
– Best advice to future brides and grooms of destination weddings:
Don’t drink the water! If you plan on taking on a lot of the planning yourself, this goes for any wedding, make a checklist of items to be completed each day, week and month and email this to each other daily so that you don’t forget anything. When you perform a task, keep it on the “completed” list as this really gives you a boost when you look back at all the items you have accomplished versus what you still have to do.
— In retrospect, is there anything you would have done differently in the planning?
The only thing we underestimated is the amount of time allocated for dinner on the wedding day. We could have used another hour on the terraces and a bit more time before dinner as we felt a little rushed for all the photos we wanted taken and the dinner went by so quick with the speeches, slide show, four courses and break to take twilight photos. It wasn’t a big issue as the guests probably didn’t even notice anyway.
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Vendors: Photographer: CHRIS+LYNN PHOTOGRAPHERS//Event Venue: Esperanza Resort//DJ:Adam Mijares//Caterer: Esperanza Resort//Event Planner: Esperanza Resort//Design and Decor:Oxten// Submitted via Two Bright Lights
