Psychedelic Paradise: A Retro-Glam Cenote Wedding in Tulum

A few days before the wedding, the couple’s designer sent Laura a message: what did she think about having the ceremony over the cenote, complete with floating flowers? “We had no idea how she could pull it off,” Laura says, “but said if she was willing to try, we were in.” What the team engineered was a hand-painted platform suspended over the water of a freshwater cenote in Tulum, with pedestals of blooms floating on the surface around it. That is where Laura and Stephen got married.

Laura, an environmental lawyer, and Stephen, who works in tech, live in the San Francisco Bay Area and met on their first day of college in Colorado, though as Laura tells it, Stephen “wasn’t ‘dateable’ until senior year.” Their officiant, a close friend, read them exactly right: “Don’t let the geometric tattoos fool you, these are two Midwest kids to their core.” They pulled off the wedding they wanted with planner Angelina Cardenas Events, whose team designed a whole scouting weekend to win over Laura’s dad before anyone committed to a destination, held it at cenote club Vesica Tulum, and handed the full conceptual design and florals to María Limón. The photographs are by From The Daisies, whose work Laura found through a mutual connection and describes better than we could: “I’m pretty sure her work is defining a whole genre. It’s just that cool.”

What Laura and Stephen Wore

Laura’s gown is the “Melisandre” by Kim Kassas Couture, from the Dracarys collection, which draws on the female figures of Game of Thrones and which she found at a Bay Area salon carrying the line. She was torn between two dresses and chose this one for a specific reason: “I loved how it had the modern, architectural vibes of a drop waist dress with the drama of a Kardashian-approved corset.” It reads exactly that way, a strapless corset bodice dense with silver sequins and cascading freshwater-pearl fringe over a full layered tulle skirt. Her “something blue” is a topaz necklace and matching earrings from her mother-in-law and sister, her band is by Wwake, and her shoes are by Reformation.

Stephen wore a linen suit from Suitsupply with Tecovas loafers.

Funky Sunset Tones and a Dive Into the Design

The brief Laura gave María Limón was one word: “funky.” She sent a handful of images of design elements she found funky and not much else. What came back was a full concept María described as “a mix of some kitsch, retro and modern vibes,” balanced against neutral, natural furnishings. “I don’t know how she dove into my soul and pulled out exactly what I didn’t know I needed,” Laura says, “but she did.” The palette landed on funky sunset tones: reds, blues, and oranges that ran through the ceremony backdrop, a custom-painted dance floor, the florals, the table details, and the bridesmaids’ dresses. The starting point had been “moody jungle.” This is a long way from moody, and better for it.

A Ceremony Over the Cenote

Laura and Stephen fell for a cenote years before the wedding, on a college trip to Mexico when they jumped into the clear water of cenote Tankach Ha near Coba and looked up at its enclosed roof. Laura never forgot it. She’d seen couples marry in private cenote ceremonies but wanted her friends and family to be in the room for it, and Vesica, built around an open freshwater cenote, is what made it possible. The backdrop is a towering red-and-white graphic panel, its rounded shapes reading like a retro tile motif, and its pattern continues flat along the platform as an aisle. On Laura’s read: “I’m sure you could find something metaphorical in the contrast of the bold, organic shapes of the red and white backdrop suspended over the serene water, but also it just looked really, really cool :)”

Old-World Tents and a Table That Went On Forever

One of the couple’s favorite design elements started life as a rain contingency. The massive stretched canvas tents from Triboo were suspended between the trees, and “added fun, almost an old-world explorer vibe while creating a more intimate atmosphere over the dinner space.” Underneath them, rentals from Archive Rentals carried the sunset palette down to the last detail: amber and rose-pressed goblets, terracotta taper candles in matte black holders, rust linen napkins frayed at the edge, and patterned rugs that pulled the whole scheme together. The menu cards and red acrylic name tags kept the retro script going right down to the place setting.

Diego, the couple’s live musician, played rhythmic guitar for the ceremony. Their first choice of any vendor, actually, spotted in a video playing electric violin to tropical house. “He had immaculate vibes,” Laura says, and he made good on them at cocktail hour, climbing onto a table to play with what she’s fairly sure was an injured foot, getting the whole party clapping.

A Party That Landed Somewhere Between 1985 & a Modern Club

The reception brief to DJ Omar of AV Riviera Events was disco, Latin, EDM, and dance, “the feeling of being at a party with your best friends on a tropical island in what could be the 80s, 90s, or at a modern club,” and no cringey throwbacks. He nailed it, though he did quietly accommodate one ABBA request from Laura’s parents’ friends, which turned into a dance with her mom and older sister she wasn’t expecting. The first dance was “Get Down Saturday Night” by Oliver Cheatham.

The dancefloor is a swirling psychedelic wash of blue, peach, orange, and red, custom-painted under a domed thatched palapa with living palms growing straight through it. If a bold color story like this one is your language, this colorful wedding inspiration will keep you scrolling.

For the after-party, Laura changed into a blush satin skirt and tube-top set by Australian label Arcina Ori. It was an older design she couldn’t find to buy anywhere, so a friend pointed her to Pickle, the peer-to-peer rental marketplace, and she rented the exact set from a girl in Los Angeles. “It takes a village,” she says. The night ended, fittingly, at Gitano Jungle within walking distance, where a late-night taco feast and a full festival-style DJ set were waiting.

Get Laura’s After Party Look

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Congratulations, Laura and Stephen! All the best from GWS.