Southern Weddings

Who would’t be jealous of a destination wedding in Cabo San Lucas?! (I definitely wish I could’ve been there!) The destination holds a special place in Megan + Justin’s heart and was the perfect place for their fun and festive wedding. Photography by the amazing {Poser} who captured the many meaningful details in the ceremony, which took place at the Capilla Josephina Chapel at {El Encanto Inn}. The bride wore a dress by {Casablanca} and bouqets and centerpieces were done by {Cabo Flowers}.

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. Justin and I met at our local high school in Arlington, TX back in 1998. He was the jock sitting in the back of science class, and me at the front. Justin was not even a twinkle in my eye until the next semester while coordinating the annual Mr. Viking Pageant at school. He walked in the auditorium late one night to drop off baby pictures for the upcoming pageant slideshow, gave a big smile and the rest is history. I was persistent about going on a date with him, something I never did with boys, and we began dating. We ended up going to college together, grew together as best friends and partners and after 10 years of dating Justin proposed while on vacation in Cabo San Lucas in August 2007. He set up a cabana with a private sunset dinner on the beach and had the entire wait staff in on it. We are huge beach fans and knew that Cabo would be our wedding destination for all our family and friends to enjoy, as it has such a special place in our hearts.
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? Justin is half Hispanic so we wanted to incorporate those traditions into the event. Because we chose Mexico, we wanted a classy Mexican theme but not the traditional bright colors, piñatas, cut paper flags, etc. I created a Mexican tile pattern that was carried throughout all the wedding collateral, from the save the dates all the way to the menu cards. Most of our guests had never been to Mexico so we wanted to encompass the language, the traditions, the music, and the history and architecture of Mexico in our wedding.
Favorite design element of your big day: My father passed away when I was 11 years old. Since then I have had several very close family members pass away before Justin and I married. So, to incorporate them into our wedding day I created small photo cards and had our florist tie them into my bridal bouquet. Even though my father was not there in person to walk me down the aisle, he was there in spirit and it really helped my mother and get through the emotions of the day knowing they were all there with us to celebrate and had not been forgotten.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: I wanted something with lace to capture the feel of Mexico, but nothing too heavy because I had to travel with it. After waiting 10 years to get married you sort of know what you like and what you don’t, so after trying on only two dresses I went with my first option, and my mother’s reaction! I chose the strapless Casablanca gown with a lace overlay and a three foot train. It had a champagne color band to coordinate with the bridesmaid dresses and was extremely comfortable, which was a huge priority for me.
Describe your wedding flowers: One of the difficulties of planning a destination wedding is accepting the fact that what you can get here in the U.S. is not necessarily an option in Mexico. Peonies are my favorite flower but knowing how expensive it would be to import those to Cabo we chose bright shades of tulips, my second favorite flower. Because the bridesmaid dresses were champagne in color, I wanted something to contrast the dresses, the blue ocean and colors that would really stand out in photos. Each bridesmaid had a small, tight bundle of 15 tulips wrapped with gold ribbon, while my bouquet had white tulips along with white and green hydrangeas to create a fuller bouquet. We found two large red urns that matched the stained glass in the chapel and flew those down with us to Mexico and well as 5 smaller vases for the reception table. The long reception table looked amazing with the various bright flowers in the red vases, such a sharp contrast from the white linens and gold chivari chairs.

More to come from Megan and Justin in Part II…