Jessica and Jon “Romo” met and fell in love most serendipitously. Jessica is a Technical Recruiter (someone who recruits Software Engineers for jobs with different companies), while Romo is a Software Engineer. Romo ended up in Jessica’s list of interviewees, and well– we’ll allow the bride to tell you more.

“Seven years ago, I was recruiting Romo for a job and we had been emailing the day before,” Jessica says. “Even through email, he was so witty and charming. I knew I should wear my best pencil skirt when we met in person the next day! We met at my office that day and it was love at first sight! We went on a date that same evening and the rest is history.”

From then on, the couple has been known as the party hosts to friends. After Jessica said “yes” to Romo on a sailboat in the company of some dear friends (who would soon be their bridesmaid and groomsmen), the couple began planning a wedding that would reflect their life-of-the-party personalities. What better way to celebrate in ultimate style than to host a destination wedding?

“We live in San Diego and Cabo is only a 2-hour flight,” the couple says. “We visit Cabo often, in fact, Romo used to live in Cabo for a year.”

While the destination felt quite familiar to Jessica and Romo, they decided on hiring a planner to help navigate the difficulties of planning a wedding abroad. Enter: the fabulous Bonnie of Bliss Events!

“Bonnie and her team not only knew all the right vendors but went above and beyond! They even drove us to different venues and helped us with our welcome party booking. Honestly, a wedding planner is the way to go for any destination wedding, particularly a planner who lives/plans weddings in the destination you choose,” the couple says.

Friends of the couple (most of whom live in and around San Diego) were ecstatic to get the chance to party it up in a fun and easy to get to location. However, convincing far away family to travel such a distance, and during a pandemic, wouldn’t be as easy. “And, we did have some family unable to attend due to this,” Jessica tells us.

To ensure they could optimize their time with attending guests, the couple requested everyone stay at the same boutique hotel the ceremony and reception would be, El Ganzo. Although there were a few hiccups in travel logistics (some guests traveling from San Diego to Tijuana to fly out from that airport got stuck in long lines at the border and missed their flights), everyone arrived in time to take part in most of the wedding festivities. 

“We did not do plated dinners or assigned seating, which made it feel intimate and allowed for more socializing/dancing,” the couple says. 

Jessica and Romo’s favorite moments of their Cabo wedding truly made the experience unforgettable. 

“We did have two favorite moments! One was our first dance, we practiced for months and had a whole mashup routine planned. After the slow song, cold fireworks went off, leading to our fun mashup dance. The fireworks were Bliss Event’s idea and turned out amazing! None of our guests knew, so it was a big surprise. However, the real MVP was our Officiant and Maid of Honor, Alissa. Our original officiant backed out, so Alissa stepped up and officiated our wedding. I told her she did not need to do a maid of honor speech AND officiate our wedding. However, Alissa insisted she wanted to do her speech. She completely shocked everyone when she rapped to Ice Ice Baby, changing the lyrics to be about our love story. It was the best performance we’ve ever seen!”

Hosting such a successful destination wedding full of joyous celebration, Jessica and Romo share their key advice for couples hoping to do the same. “I’ll say it a thousand times, work with a wedding planner who lives in the destination of your wedding,” the bride says. “They know the vendors, how that destination operates, etc.”

Vendors: Photographer: Photo By Julieta; Wedding Planner: Bliss Events; Ceremony/Reception Site: Hotel El Ganzo; Florist: Bliss Events & Arete Florals; Stationery: US Creating; Hair & Makeup: Neysa Impala of Blanc Bridal Salon; Gown Designer: Essense of Australia; Rentals/ Production: Baja Boutique Rental Company; DJ/Sound: Alex DJ Cabo Events