When we select a real wedding to be published on the blog, we will send the couple a number of questions to get a sense of how their destination wedding went from conception to execution. Occasionally, we’ll get answers from couples that are just so well said in their own words that we’d prefer you hear it straight from the source. This was the case for Bryan and Tara who decided to take their wedding celebrations south of the border.  So, without further ado, we give you Bryan and Tara’s destination wedding story:

Q: Why did you choose to do a destination wedding? 
A: We had heard from countless people that your wedding day goes by in an instant. We wanted a celebration where people could go somewhere and have a true vacation for themselves, which would also ensure we got to spend time with everyone who attended outside of the wedding day.

Q: How/why did you choose the location/destination? 
A: From the moment we started dating, Cabo was our happy place. We visit 1-2 times a year and we have a ritual on our last night where we walk over to Grand Solmar for a goodbye cocktail and sunset. As we were sitting there it just clicked, we need to get married here! We are from different states, with family and friends all over the country, so we knew it would be fun to have a destination point for everyone. The people in Cabo are so friendly, accommodating and fun. Plus you get a venue on the water, what more could you ask for?! 

Q: Did you run into any issues specific to this destination and how did you resolve them?! 
A: If there were any issues we ran into, it was a language barrier and doing the majority of the work and decision-making over email. We even did our menu tasting just one day before the wedding, ha! Oh and… Covid, that wasn’t easy. We postponed once (originally supposed to be in April) but stuck with the new date even though it was still in 2020 and people thought we were crazy. 

Q: How did your family and friends respond to the decision? If any of them had a negative reaction, how did you resolve it? 
A: Before we told our families and sent out invites, we had a serious conversation about being okay with a small wedding, being okay with people saying no. We heard you count for 10% of people not to come to your wedding, and 30% if it’s destination… but let me tell ya, almost every person invited came to Cabo, in the middle of the pandemic, people were ready to get out.

Q: Did you include any do-it-yourself projects in your wedding/reception? 
A: Our table centerpieces were pieces of cactus with handwritten numbers on them, which we thought was cute! We also made welcome bags for every guest (that a group of us put together when we got to the hotel). Each bag was hand-delivered from the bridesmaids with custom “hola” stickers, neon pom-poms, an itinerary card, hangover drinks, Advil, the works. Oh, and if guests used our recommended car service, they had welcome drinks in the car waiting.

Q: What were the travel logistics like for your guests? Did you run into any issues and how did you resolve them? 
A: We had a list of details about traveling on our wedding website, including a car company that we recommended. My plan was to try and coordinate everyone’s arrival so people could ride-share… it worked for some but not all, so that was hectic! It didn’t seem like we ran into too many issues with travel. 

Q: How were you able to coordinate with vendors from afar? Did you run into any issues and how did you resolve them? 
A: A lot was done via email, so sometimes the waiting game was tough, it is a lot easier to get things accomplished over the phone but the vendors were so amazing it ended up all working out. 

Q: Do you feel you spent more or less money by choosing to do a destination wedding? 
A: Less! We did our fair share of venue searching, and I don’t think we could’ve gotten married in a private area on the water, anywhere else. We truly feel our wedding venue is one of the prettiest in the world, and the staff just adds to the beauty of it. The wedding was on the water, without being in the sand. The waves were crashing throughout the ceremony, we were surrounded by rocks rather than hotel rooms, and we even had a private fireworks show, it was just truly perfect. 

Q: How do you think your wedding would have been different had you not held it away from home? 
A: We truly feel like it wouldn’t have been as personal, as fun, or as relaxing. Everyone came to have a good time, they could be on their own agenda, and we got more than just one evening together. 

Q: Overall, do you have any special advice you would like to share with our readers to help prepare them for their day? 
A: Take it all in. Remember at the end of the day it is about you two, nobody else. Stick around after all the guests have gone so you can soak it all in afterward, don’t rush home. Get a videographer, so you can watch videos over and over again to remember the perfect day.