TIED THE KNOT AT 11 YEARS! mrsbruff's Cancun Destination Wedding Recap!!! (Seriously Pic Heavy!)

[mrsbruff2b]

David had proposed to me on our 10 year anniversary and we got married on our 11th! Right after we got engaged, he was the one to bring up a destination wedding.  I loved the idea and the rest if history.

 

I learned that when you’re planning a destination wedding, the planning stage is generally smooth and stress-free.  But the stress compounds and shows up when you are there! In the few days leading UP to the wedding, not only do you have to deal with vendors and details (like many other weddings), a destination wedding also demands that you somehow entertain your guests!. At home, you deal with guests on the one day of your wedding, but with a DW, you're juggling last minute wedding planning as well as ensuring that your guests are having their needs met and entertained. Everyone will want to spend time with you nearly every day, it is very difficult to balance this out with private time.  That said, I do not regret it at ALL and I would totally do a DW again!!

We stayed at the Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort in Cancun, Mexico.

 

(Review here: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/products/moon-palace-golf-spa-resort-all-inclusive/reviews/6295)

 

Wedding Date: Wednesday June 20th, 201
Ceremony: 5pm
Cocktail Hour: 6pm – 7pm
Reception Dinner: 7:30pm
Guest Count: 24

 

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The Rehearsal Dinner

We held our rehearsal dinner at a Mexican a-la-carte restaurant.  The food was faboulous though the service was slow. David and I were surprised with big sombreros and some guns hahaha. We waited quite a long time to be seated as well but there were fire dancers in the lobby to entertain us while we waited!

I wore: ASOS Cream Lace Skater Dress paired with Christian Louboutin Rose Gold Isolde 160mm.

 

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Wedding Day - Getting Ready

I am a big planner ... kind of Type A when it comes to schedualing and being on time.  During the planning process, I made sure to put in buffer time for people who I know are going to be late... unfortunately, people were STILL late which pushed our timeline back quite a bit.  I'm a little saddened that be missed some moment shots and detail shots, but overall I am pretty happy with our photography.

Our ceremony wasn't until 5pm. David was staying at the North end of the resort, while I relaxed on the beach until noon.  My hair appointment went well.  For brides thinking of a beach wedding, definitely put your hair UP!! I HATE putting my hair up, but even when I left wisps down, they were flapping everywhere. My girlfriend is a professional Make-up artist and I had the pleasure of having her there on my wedding day. 

Originally, I didn't want the Moms to worry about anything, so I never asked mine to come with me to get ready... but then when I was going to put on my gown, I realized I wanted my mom there. The boys at the north end of the resort... were perfectly fine and stress free hahah.  Aren't they always?

 

My gown: Jayne Lewis exclusive to Becker's Bridal Toronto
My Wedding Shoes: Christian Louboutin Pigalle Plato 140mm in Nude Miniglitter.

 

 

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The Wedding Day - Around the Corner & Gift Exchange

I did not want to do a first look. David and I are pretty traditional so I am REALLY glad we did an around-the-corner session while we exchanged gifts. I was getting neurotic with our timeline... and seeing David's hand peek out from around the corner got me excited again and in the moment. I knew everything would be okay.

I gave him my boudoir photos and he gave me a handwritten letter that melted my heart. 

 

 

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The Wedding Day - Ceremony

Words cannot describe how entirely dreamy and perfect the ceremony was. My brother and I entered on a horse & carriage. I was telling my brother, "I'm good... calm and serene.  I've got this." All the stress about the weather, the planning, the logistics and our guests washed away when our horse and carriage started its way down the path.

Then I heard the music.  I looked at my brother and remembered saying, "Oh my god, I am going to cry." I DID get misty eyed but I did NOT expect to BAWL. When I walked down the aisle to my song, I only hand my eyes on him and I was just letting the tears flow. It was magical!

Our bridal party was perfect.  Bridesmaids and Groomsmen were great!  So were my adorable ringbearer and flower girl!!

We had a civil ceremony in Cancun, so documents and fingerprints are official! =)

 

 

Our recessional song was AC/DC's Highway to Hell. =) We're both total rock people and it fit us perfectly! Everyone was treated to champange and after some time for guest photos, our cocktail hour began.  We hired a Mexican Trio for the hour and they were the perfect addition to the ambience.  The cocktail food?  Easily the BEST food I had at the resort!! All the guests loved cocktail hour!

 

 

We had our first dance on the beach and took some bridal portraits while guests were at cocktail.  We joined cocktail hour at the end so we can also enjoy it as well. I'm really glad we did this having read some bride's regrets on the forum.

 

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The Wedding Day - Portraits (insanely pic heavy, sorry!)

No words.  Just happiness! 

 

 

The Bride and Groom

 

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The Wedding Day - Reception Dinner

Dinner was a lot of fun and I am so happy we chose to have a sweetheart table so that we could share a moment together. The dinner food was definitely not as nice as the cocktail hour but it was okay. We cut the cake (not face smushing!) and said some quick thank yous before the night ended. David and I wanted to make sure we got back to our hotel room for some bubbly and jacuzzing. ;-)

 

 

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The Day After

The weather was terrible after the wedding!! So we never got our chance to do a Trash the Dress session.  Maybe next year for our anniversary (here's to hoping!!) But our lovely photographers did get some great shots in of our wedding details.  I absolutely ADORE there shots!

 

[Speckles121]

LOVE all your pictures..they are amazing!! Congrats!!

[MCree]

BIG Congratulations!  You did a fabulous job . . . everything looked prefect!!!  Where did your husband's suit come from?  Love it!

[mrsbruff2b]

Originally Posted by Speckles121 

 

LOVE all your pictures..they are amazing!! Congrats!!

 

Thank you!

 

Originally Posted by MCree 

 

BIG Congratulations!  You did a fabulous job . . . everything looked prefect!!!  Where did your husband's suit come from?  Love it!

His suit was ordered from Studio Suits! Check the forum for a whole thread dedicated to this topic!  Also, if you take a peak into my Moon Palace Review (at the bottom) I also reviewed Studio Suits~ Hope that helps!

[agm04]

Beautiful photos.  Congratulations!

[AllieH]

love all of your photos!! 

 

[JayKay]

Your photos are stunning! Congrats!

[murmel]

So cute! Best part is that everyone is smiling ear to ear Love it when people enjoy themselves that much!

[mrsbruff2b]

Thank you everyone for stopping by my thread!  I am now posting pics from our at home reception too!

[mrsbruff2b]

We are SO incredibly lucky to essentially have celebrated for a month! After coming home from Cancun, my mother wanted to host a Chinese banquet for family and her friends. We had our at-home reception in Toronto at Casa Victoria.

(Here is my Yelp review)

http://www.yelp.ca/biz/casa-victoria-fine-dining-markham#hrid:pmW_8nhnhx99FCEGmFS_gw/src:self

I've uploaded some of the best images on a Pinterest board!

http://pinterest.com/lunahex/our-wedding/