LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS

TULUM WEDDING, TRAVEL, LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS

12 Tips for Planning a Destination Wedding

February 17, 2017

Wedding planning can be incredibly exciting—it’s finally time to decide how you want to celebrate your love and make things official. But it can also be extremely time consuming and stressful, especially if you are planning a destination wedding from afar. After spending 8 months planning our wedding in Tulum from our hometown in Chicago, I’ve put together my top 12 tips to help ease the stress and make the process go more smoothly. Continue Reading…

MEXICO, TULUM, TULUM WEDDING, TRAVEL, LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS

A Caribbean Dream: Our Tulum Wedding

July 2, 2016

After our first visit to Tulum, we instantly fell in love with the calming energy, delicious food, hospitable locals, and all the natural beauty that makes this Caribbean paradise so unique.

When we began thinking about our wedding, we knew we wanted to incorporate travel and adventure, as these had become a foundation of our relationship. We also knew we wanted something small and intimate, and a place all our closest friends and family would love. Tulum checked all the boxes and helped in making our decision an easy one. The idea of saying our vows surrounded by the white sands and turquoise waters, and then dancing the night away under the Caribbean stars with plentiful mezcal and guacamole sounded like an absolute fairytale to us. So that is what we decided to do!

After lots of research, we found a perfect private property right on the beach, and directly next to one of our favorite hotels, Sanara. The property accommodated exactly the size wedding we were looking for, and provided the perfect intimate setting.

Thinking back on our wedding weekend feels like a dream. As you get older and busier, it seems to be more and more difficult to get large groups together in one place, let alone together on a tropical vacation! We feel like the luckiest couple in the world to have shared this experience with our nearest and dearest. It was everything we imagined and so much more, truly a dream come true.

LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS

Wedding Portraitbooth!

May 13, 2016

Our amazing wedding photographers, Sean and Aaron, also run an equally amazing company called The Portraitbooth Co. Here is the inspiration for the idea according to Sean:

“Portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz used to tour with the Rolling Stones, and in a constant attempt to capture them at their best, she realized that they would go on stage, give it everything they had, and come off stage sweating, full of adrenaline, and never looking better. So she set up a back drop and some lights, and would take photos of them just as they got off stage. This is what I want for your wedding. So we set up a large gray backdrop and one light right next to the dancefloor. Weddings are a big deal to everyone involved, even the guests, and this allows me to get photos of all of them, looking their best, full of life and energy. Whether it’s one person or 25, it can accommodate most groups, and still make everyone look amazing.”

I mean, WOW. Kind of gives you goosebumps, right!? This turned out to be one of my favorite ideas for our wedding reception and made our wedding in Tulum even more fun than we already knew it would be. When I look at these and see everyone having a blast, it brings back the best memories of the most crazy and fun day ever! They truly are timeless. Thank you Sean and Aaron!

For more information and to book The Portraitbooth Co. for your wedding, click here.

MEXICO, TULUM, TULUM WEDDING, TRAVEL, LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS

Snapshots from Tulum: Wedding Addition

May 1, 2016

Things were quiet hectic the last several months as I was completely immersed in planning a wedding! On April 16th, Joe and I made things official in one of our favorite places on earth: Tulum, Mexico.

We decided for our big day, we wanted to celebrate with a small gathering of our closest family and friends and found the perfect venue: a private property right in the heart of Tulum beach. The wedding was wonderful and magical and everything we hoped for. The days leading up to the wedding were so busy, I barely had my camera out, but below are a few snippets from the week after the wedding we spent lounging and relaxing after a crazy, busy weekend.

A couple of photos from our pre-wedding shoot at Coqui Coqui. We can’t wait to see the rest! Continue Reading…

LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS

4th of July Surprise

July 14, 2015

The 4th of July is always one of the most fun holidays of the year, but this year it was one of the best weekends of my life.

For the last 3 years, we’ve spent the holiday weekend at Joe’s family lake house. This year we decided to do the same, only to my surprise, we made the trip in that pretty little white number below! After a relaxing Friday, Saturday the 4th was no different: the day was spent sunbathing on the dock with ice cold drinks and good music, followed by an afternoon grilling a proper Independence Day feast. Together with family and friends, we finished our last bites and headed back down to the dock for fireworks. The sun was just beginning to set, and to kick things off, we all agreed sparklers were the best way to get things started. Each of us had one in hand, jumping and dancing around the dock. And then, to my complete surprise, I looked over to see Joe down on one knee with what he referred to as “a special sparkler just for you” :) After some tears, lots of pictures, and one very important YES!, we celebrated with Champagne and of course fireworks. It was the perfect weekend and one I’ll never forget. But best of all, I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life adventuring through it all with my best friend.