Puerto Rico Destination Wedding
Grab your wide brim straw hats, because we are going to be basking in a mid-summer destination wedding at a dreamy beach in Puerto Rico. Shot in different medium by the ever so talented Weddings By Two, this wedding is the whole package. It is intimate, sweet and beyond stylish. What else could I ask for on a hot and humid morning in NYC? Of course there were too many faves to fit all of them here, so be sure to check out the gallery for more.
From the bride: even before Dan and I were engaged, we knew we wanted a destination wedding—someplace warm and tropical. With our families located in two separate states (New Hampshire and Wisconsin), us in Brooklyn, and our friends scattered around the world, we thought it would be a great way to unite everyone, and create a sense of community for our wedding celebration. Desperate for a vacation from a long New York winter, we happened to spend a weekend at Villa Montana Beach Resort in Isabela, Puerto Rico, and fell in love with the beauty of both the resort and the Northwest coast of Puerto Rico. Once we were engaged, it was a pretty easy decision to go with Villa Montana.
Rather than rely on a local officiant who didn’t know us, we asked Dan’s cousin, who is a very dear friend of ours, to perform the ceremony. What he wrote was personal, touching, and funny; it was perfect. Dan and I share a love of chocolate, so instead of a unity candle, we did a chocolate tasting, based loosely on an African tradition of tasting the four elements comprising a marriage: sweet, sour, spicy and bitter.
We wanted our wedding to be a spirited and festive celebration of our love for each other—nothing too formal. It had to be a fun party that maintained just enough gravity to honor the significance of the event, and we wanted each of the elements of the wedding to be personal to
us. We used the tropical location as a cue for our wedding colors of bright pink and orange, using the colors in our wedding stationery, in the paper flowers that decorated the ceremony and reception spaces, and in the clothing for our attendants. Dan insisted on wearing a 3 piece suit, but we dressed the groomsmen in the matching pants and orange gingham shirts without ties. The ladies wore bright pink dresses, which turned out to be much brighter than we imagined, but made a whole lot of sense in our tropical locale.
Weddings By Two, this wedding is the whole package. It is intimate, sweet and beyond stylish. What else could I ask for on a hot and humid morning in NYC? Of course there were too many faves to fit all of them here, so be sure to View all images from this wedding in the gallery!
Wedding Vendors + Venue (New York and Isabela, Puerto Rico):
Venue: Villa Montana Beach Resort, Isabela, Puerto Rico / Photographer: Ben Fraser, Weddings By Two / On-site Coordinator: Mara Morales, Villa Montana Beach Resort / Catering and Flowers: coordinated by Villa Montana Beach Resort / Officiant: Christopher Mason, groom’s cousin and friend of the couple / DJ: DJ Ricky JV / Wedding Dress & shoes: JCrew / Headpiece and Flower for hair: Wishbone Millinery by Vanessa Bassett / Hair & make-up: friend of bride / Vintage brooch bouquet (using brooches contributed by friends and family): Lionsgate Designs / Jewelry: Kate Spade and Tiffany & Co. / Groom’s suit: JCrew / Groom’s tie: Dolbeau / Groom’s shoes: Coverse All Stars / Boutonnieres: vintage flower brooches found on etsy / All bridal party attire: JCrew / Wedding stationery & all printed pieces: designed by the bride; invitations printed by Studio on Fire / Parasols & Fans: beaucoup / Custom Paper Banner (for cocktail bar): Ay Mujer / Tissue paper flowers: bride’s mother & guests / Sea urchin place card holders & starfish table number holders: etsy / Vintage postcards (for guest book): etsy and ebay
Oh my word, that cake topper is PRECIOUS!!! I’ve seen the little wooden doll ones before, but I LOVE the overheard garland! It’s perfect! Also, I love this photogs black and whites- especially the 4th image down. Awesome border effect! love it!
This is such a fun and bright wedding! I LOVVVVEEE the idea of a chocolate tasting during the ceremony. I would love more details on this. What kinds of chocolates did you use? Did you have a particular reading during? We are chocolate fans and are looking for something a little more unique than the unity candle to do during our ceremony
LOVE the brooch bouquet!
I’m obsessed with that cake topper! Is it from Etsy?
The invites really put it over the top for me — wow! I love how simple and yet completely gorgeous this whole wedding is. Congrats!
The cake topper is PRECIOUS! Can you share the artist’s name with us? Thank you so much! Best wishes to the happy couple.
The cake topper is PRECIOUS! Can you share the artist’s name with us? Thank you so much! Best wishes to the happy couple.
thanks for all the kind comments! i can’t believe i forgot to credit the cake topper (!!!): it’s from a fantastic etsy shop called lollipop workshop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/lollipopworkshop
Tiffany, I saw a blurb about a chocolate tasting in a real wedding story and had a hard time finding more info as well. Turns out it’s based on a Yoruban tradition of tasting the elements of marriage: sweet, spicy, sour and bitter. it’s traditionally done with honey, sugar, lemon juice and hot pepper. our friend/cousin did write something to go along with it, but it was mostly just an intro to the tradition, and an explanation (and prompt) of each flavor we’d be tasting. We bought chocolates from both Jacques Torres and Maison du Chocolat (why not splurge, right?) and had the darkest chocolate truffle we could find represent bitter, a cayenne laced truffle for spicy, a lemon infused truffle for sour, and a sweet caramel/milk chocolate truffle for sweet. i suggest placing each taste on a spoon to keep your fingers clean!
Lovely, that wedding gown is amazing! little intimate wedding, beautiful colors and breathtaking setting! thanks for posting!
The groom sure does look good in that tie 🙂
– David (from Dolbeau)
Congratulations! Beautiful pics! Glad you had a wonderful wedding in Puerto Rico.
PR is great, easy to get to and beautiful – I love the last picture on the beach, looks so 1920’s!!
Your post inspired us to look at Villa Montana for our wedding. We’d love to hear more about your experience. Since we’re both in Brooklyn, we thought we might share a similar sensibility. Is it possible to arrange an email chat? Thanks for such great photos.
Hi I love your wedding specially your invitations! I was wondering where could I get them? I read that the bride designed them is there any way I could buy this design?