Inspired by the turquoise water at their ceremony site in Cancun, Mexico, today’s couple incorporated the trendy color into their décor, while Michelle’s bridesmaids wore brilliant fuchsia and Carlos wore a light blue suit with a fuchsia bowtie. Michelle says the bouquets – featuring purple, turquoise and white flowers – were beyond what she envisioned, and the couple adored the ambiance of romantic lights by the pool at their reception venue. Michelle put in a lot of work, too, creating custom tote bags for their guests, filled with hangover kits (mints and antacids), do-not-disturb signs, itinerary booklets and keycard holders. After taking to the dance floor and enjoying dinner and cake, the newlyweds left in a shower of sparks having had the most amazing destination wedding ever!
Michelle & Carlos
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How did you meet? It was an unusually warm March evening in 2012 when Carlos stopped by Citibank to make a quick withdrawal. When he reached the teller window Michelle was quick to offer up her help knowing she could use her beauty and charm to get a few accounts out of Carlos. Before she knew it, Carlos was the one charming Michelle with his good looks and sweet demeanor. After Michelle “conned” Carlos out of a new checking, savings, and credit card account, Carlos took a leap of faith and asked her out for a drink. He gave her some sob story about his college roommate standing him up for drinks at a local bar- this story was later denied by his roommate but proven true by Carlos. Michelle turned Carlos down, but provided him with her business card in case he needed “any additional help”. At first Michelle was extremely skeptical- what crazy person actually goes on a date with a complete stranger they met an hour ago?! However, after some reassurance and guidance from her best friend, Michelle decided to meet Carlos at the nearby bar. Michelle’s friend was prepared to make an escape call an hour into the date. Needless to say, Michelle never answered that call. What is your proposal story? From the moment Michelle and Carlos met, they knew it was fate that brought them together. Within a few weeks Michelle and Carlos knew they had found the missing piece that completed them. Shortly after, the thought of spending the rest of their lives together was all they could think about. After three and a half years of trying to hunt down the perfect ring in over 10 different countries, Carlos started to worry there wasn’t a ring out there to match Michelle’s LOUD personality. In January 2016 Carlos started designing THE perfect ring, with “a few suggestions” from Michelle. After a two-month delay and a few modifications THE ring was ready. For the past year, every time they went upstate Carlos kept on promising Michelle they would stop by the Woodbury overlook to take in the view from the mountains. Now that he had the perfect ring, he knew where the perfect proposal would take place. However, Carlos was sure to double check his plan and had it stamped and approved by Matron of Honor, Christine Ann. On Friday, April 22nd, Carlos knew it was THE day. On the drive upstate to Michelle’s parents’ cottage, Carlos was restless and nervous he would miss sunset. It’s safe to say that was the longest hour and a half of Carlos’ life. Once Carlos pulled into the overlook his palms were sweaty, knees weak, he kept on forgetting what he wanted to say. Michelle being Michelle kept on asking, “Why are we here?” to which Carlos responded “Just trust me.” With Michelle’s hands in his, as they were on top of what felt like the world, Carlos dropped down on one knee. Carlos: “You have been my rock for the past 4 years.” [Michelle blanked out and forgot what was said next.] Carlos remembers saying: “Now you deserve a rock to show all my love for you.” Carlos: “Will you do me the honor and be my wife?” Michelle: “Of course. Now get up, that’s your bad knee!!” Note: Both are unsure of whether Carlos was able to put the ring on Michelle. It’s very likely she grabbed the ring and put it on herself. Tell us a little a bit about your wedding We have always dreamed of a wedding on the beach surrounded by all of our closest family and friends. My wedding specialist understood our vision and knew we had to have a breathtaking beach for our ceremony and private pool for our reception. I could not have picked a more perfect resort. We were aiming for a romantic beach ceremony followed by a twilight reception by the pool. I chose fuchsia for the bridal party to complement the blue of the water. We then chose turquoise as our primary decor color to provide a beach feel at the reception by the pool. We added Italian lights and lanterns for centerpieces to provide a romantic feel. Tell us about your attire choices. I wanted a romantic-flowy dress, which is exactly what I got. Since I have a darker complexion, true white did not look great on me, therefore I chose a dress with an almond underlay. I was not planning on changing until the after-party, but the pool area didn’t get much of a breeze so I opted to switch into an off-the-shoulder dress I wore for welcome cocktail the night before. What was the most important to the two of you while planning? Was there anything that you chose to splurge on or skip? MUSIC! I am Guyanese and he is Salvadorean. We had to make sure we had a DJ who was able to play everything from reggae and soca to cumbia and merengue. We decided to splurge on bringing a friend from home and renting the DJ equipment from the hotel. It was worth every penny since people are still talking about how great the music was! What were your favorite parts of the day? Attempting to take cute bridal party photos where we were running towards the camera or jumping. We completely failed at this, but it was strangely refreshing and felt good to have some good laughs with our favorite people. After the ceremony was over and we took our formal photos and bridal party photos, we started our couple photos on the beach. We were walking back and forth taking some drone shots for the videographer. It was nice to have some time alone after the ceremony and before the reception to soak everything in together. You can see us genuinely laughing and being truly romantic in these shots because we were literally on cloud 9. Tell us about your wedding flowers. My flowers served as my something blue. I was inspired by some pinterest posts and then tweaked to my liking. Orchids are my absolute favorite flowers and turquoise and teal are my favorite colors so I could not have thought of a more perfect bouquet. Tell us about your wedding cake. Our cake was DELICIOUS!! The best tres leches cake we have ever had!!! We went for a simple design and decorated with our wedding flowers and of course a customized topper featuring our baby- our bichon frise! What did you do for favors? Since we had a destination wedding we thought it would be fitting to give our guests welcome bags as favors. We gave each couple/guest a custom canvas tote bag which included an itinerary, customized tumblers, keycard holders, customized do not disturb signs, and hangover kits which were filled with pain-killers, antacids, and other goodies. Please describe any DIY, handmade, or personal details. I created most of my decor on my own including: signs for my sparklers, signs at the reception, place card tags for “Take a shot, find your seat” and everything that went into our welcome bags. I had a friend of mine customize the welcome bags and I purchased waterproof stickers for the tumblers. We wrote our own vows for the ceremony. For the reception, we tried to include our personalities, such as having a “Take a shot and find your seat” option instead of the usual place cards. Did you include any family heirlooms or special traditions? In Indo-Caribbean culture, when someone gets married it is custom to play tassa, a band of drums. Since there were no tassa groups in Mexico and it would have been very expensive to fly a band out, this was even more reason for us to have our friend DJ. Even though it was not the same as having live tassa, it was definitely the finishing touch on making our wedding feel special. Do you have any advice for couples planning their weddings now? Do not stress yourself out on your wedding day. One of the biggest mistakes we made was having to pay our vendors and the venue the day of the wedding. This caused a lot of stress and tension between my husband and me. It also made it impossible for me to enjoy my time getting ready with my girls without talking to him and stressing myself out. Also, don’t stress the little things. You’re the only one who knows your true vision, therefore your guests won’t notice if something is missing or if off; your day will be perfect regardless. Don’t forget to set aside some time for the two of you to enjoy some alone time together as newlyweds before the reception.
Vendor Love – Photography: Spot Studios | Ceremony Venue: Now Sapphire Riviera Cancun | Reception Venue: Now Sapphire Riviera Cancun | Videography: AmorAmor Weddings | Makeup: Sara Tamargo Makeup Artistry | Travel and Accommodations: Destination Weddings Travel Group | Wedding Dress: Essense of Australia | Bride’s Shoes: David’s Bridal | Submitted via: Matchology
