This San Miguel De Allende Wedding Will Sweep You Away with Romance + Adventure

San Miguel De Allende Wedding

Get this: Erik + Victoria met in the recording studio on the first day she moved to New York City! As their relationship blossomed, these two traveled a LOT as touring musicians. They happened upon the beautiful city of San Miguel De Allende just months before Erik proposed, a colonial era mountain town in Central Mexico with a thriving arts community, known as “The Heart of Mexico” —  and it’s easy to imagine why E + V fell in love with the town! Upon getting engaged, these two knew exactly where they were headed and could barely contain their excitement at the opportunity to share one of their favorite destinations with their closest friends!

Luckily for us, Mexico, with its radiant warmth, magic and vibrancy really lends itself to the kind of celebration we were looking for! The sacredness of the ceremony and the fun of the reception were equally important to us and we were definitely not into our wedding being all about one or the other. We aimed to seamlessly blend the more spiritual elements of the event with the fun of a killer party, all while maintaining a sense of intimacy. As far as inspiration, we went for secret enchanted garden meets the most lavish house party you’ve ever attended… with amazing music throughout and a surprise sunset Mexican parade on top! We were also sure to pick locations that were naturally beautiful even before all the decorations, flowers, etc., so we rented two super dreamy private homes in town, Casa Tortugas for the ceremony and Casa Hyder for the reception. Both houses seriously delivered.

Penzi helped plan the big day, while Kristen Marie Parker from Branch & Cole took the gorgeous photos! Let’s go to romantic Mexico!

San Miguel De Allende Wedding

red bridesmaids

What a total DREAM already! Love the bridesmaids look like we do? Get the look:

groom

Erik WOW’d in a Marc Wallace Tuxedo and a Paul Smith Tuxedo Shirt.

San Miguel De Allende Wedding

And Victoria donned a breathtaking gown by Inbal Dror which she found at Mark Ingram Atelier in New York. Looking sooo good!

San Miguel De Allende Wedding

San Miguel De Allende Wedding

San Miguel De Allende Wedding

Our Favorite Memory From The Wedding

Exchanging our vows and feeling so supported by everyone right there with us the whole way through (even though my vows were way beyond the commonly advised 3 minute maximum) was such a beautiful feeling. Erik’s groomsmen playing “Be My Baby” as everyone cheered and tossed flower petals in the air during our recessional was both one of my most anticipated and favorite moments ever.

Something we hadn’t even anticipated was walking away from the whole event feeling as if we now have this amazing thing that we can point to as a reflection of our love and the magic of us coming together — our wedding, that one dreamy weekend in San Miguel — a beautiful little gem that we’ll carry with us forever.

San Miguel De Allende Wedding

San Miguel De Allende Wedding

street parade

We told all of our guests to plan on walking between the ceremony and the reception, but very few were expecting the parade with giant puppets and a tequila carrying burro that was waiting outside the doors of Casa Tortugas! We both love a good surprise and parading through those mystical streets of San Miguel at sunset was just out of this world fun!

San Miguel De Allende Wedding

San Miguel De Allende Wedding

San Miguel De Allende Wedding

Pure joy + happiness just emitting from these two!

San Miguel De Allende Wedding

San Miguel De Allende Wedding

I spent hours doing all of the escort and place cards by hand. I’m notorious in my family for having the worst handwriting, but wanted the personal touch of handwritten cards so bad that I practiced for hours until I got to a place that felt passable.

San Miguel De Allende Wedding

San Miguel De Allende Wedding

Honestly…no words. This place just gushes with romance and history! The hanging florals are absolutely amazing!

San Miguel De Allende Wedding

San Miguel De Allende Wedding

We brought all of the clear quartz crystals for each place setting from New York. When Erik got stopped at customs with about 20 giant dusty bags of rocks he had some serious explaining to do! 

San Miguel De Allende Wedding

Our Advice To Those Planning Now

Life is short, have the wedding, and go the extra mile as much as you can! People aren’t exaggerating when they say it’s a lot of work, but if it’s for the right reasons, I can think of few things more joy-and-life-affirming than a really great wedding!

It’s definitely important to maintain good boundaries with other people’s opinions throughout the planning process, but at the same time, be sure to really keep the experience of your guests in mind. Contrary to what so many people say, your wedding day really isn’t ALL about you unless you’re planning on eloping! Not to mention, happy guests are a huge piece of what really make a great wedding truly great!

Finally, candles, candles, candles! They add so much more ambiance and are way more cost efficient than most other lighting options. We ordered all the candles for the reception online and brought them in our suitcases from New York to further cut costs!

San Miguel De Allende Wedding

San Miguel De Allende Wedding

San Miguel De Allende Wedding

Entering the garden where we held the dinner was a truly amazing moment. It was such a crazy feeling to see all of the decorations and flowers that we had been painstakingly planning for so long! To finally see it all in action with all of our friends and family there smiling and enjoying themselves under the glittering lights was just incredible.

San Miguel De Allende Wedding

San Miguel De Allende Wedding

Our Musical Choices

Processional: Classical Spanish Guitar

Recessional: Be My Baby by the Ronnettes and performed by Erik’s groomsmen

First Dance: Fly Me To The Moon (Bobby Womack version performed by a local Salsa Band)

San Miguel De Allende Wedding

San Miguel De Allende Wedding

Magnetic Midnight made this fun headpiece for Victoria as everyone danced the night away!

Want to see the sweetest wedding video ever?? Lalo Vargas captured the deep love these two have for one another, as well as the pure fun in the weekend’s festivities! We love it.

Major congrats to these beautiful souls from all of us at GWS!

photography: Kristen Marie Parker with Branch & Cole // venue name: Casa Hyder, San Miguel De Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico // planning: Penzi // wedding dress: Inbal Dror // wedding dress boutique: Mark Ingram Atelier // hairpiece: Magnetic Midnight // bride's shoes: Stuart Weitzman // bride's ring: Catbird // hair stylist: bride did her own // makeup artist: bride did her own with Charlotte Tilbury Cosmetics // groom attire: Marc Wallace Tuxedo and Paul Smith Tuxedo Shirt // groom's shoes: Jeffrey West // groom's ring: Bittersweets New York // videography: Lalo Vargas // paper goods: Sarah Myers // catering: The Restaurant // desserts: Penzi

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