S5E14: An Eco-friendly Destination Wedding in Mexico | Married Human
This eco-friendly destination wedding in Playa del Carmen, MX, almost didn't happen - or so she thought!
While vacationing, Jessica thought that Greg had not only decided not to propose but that he was going to break up with her when they got home.
Spoiler: she was wrong!
Guest: Jessica, The Baby Making Podcast
Background
How did you two meet?
My husband Greg and I met at his CrossFit gym, CrossFit Arioch! Over time, we grew to be friends first and then later started dating!
What was the first thing you noticed about your partner?
I noticed that we had the same sense of humor - a little dark, a little immature! Being with someone who was funny and shared my sense of humor was a wish for the future that I didn't really know I wanted until I met Greg.
Tell us about the proposal!
Welllll, I'm definitely part of the percentage of people who were like "are we breaking up or getting engaged?" We went on a trip to Arizona over Thanksgiving in 2019, where we spent four days hiking, brewery hoping, and exploring. On day two of the trip, we hiked Camelback Mountain - it was easily the hardest hike I had ever done, but it had the most beautiful summit view. So naturally I woke my favorite hiking outfit in case it happened at the summit. We got to the top, had lunch, had our celebratory trail beer, and NOTHING. All week I had been thinking "are we breaking up when we got home?" bu tried to enjoy every part of it despite it.
Our last day was Thanksgiving and we had planned one last short hike before heading home in the morning. I had surrendered to the fact that, at most, we'd break up and at least, I would come home not engaged. We got up to the summit of the mountain to have our lunch and trail beer and there was a woman with her golden retriever up at the top. Of course I got distracted talking to this lady and petting her dog, Parker, and didn't notice that Greg had walked away. Once they left, I went and sat back down where we were having our drinks, he called me over to where he was and said "I was waiting for your to be done hanging out with Parker" and got down on one knee and proposed!
Wedding Details
Wedding Date: June 25, 2021
Location: Sandos Caracol Eco Resort, Playa Del Carmen, Mexico
What are your top five moments from your wedding day?
1. Our Ceremony - our very good friend Duane married us and it was the best decision we ever made. While it was a short 20 minute ceremony, it was so personalized to us and had a lot of funny moments
2. Hearing the song I walked down the aisle to that I had listened to for months and soaking it in that it was finally happening
3. Getting ready with my bridesmaids - it was very surreal to have all of my people in the room at the same time for my wedding day, but I can literally play the tape back in my mind of how much fun we had (and now I'm crying!)
4. My Father Daughter dance - my dad was crying before he even got to the dance floor, so it made for a very emotional first dance. Our song was an acoustic version of Friday I'm In Love by The Cure and we had listened to it countless times as kids so it was the perfect song
5. Our reception was A BLAST! It was everything I hoped it would be and I will have so many life long memories!
Is there anything you’d change about the wedding planning process?
Probably nothing - I was very intensional about not wanting to go overboard with the planning and keeping it pretty laid back. In a past life I was a wedding planner and knew exactly what I did and didn't want, so going with a destination wedding where they plan pretty much everything for you was right for us.
Is there anything you regret not incorporating into your wedding?
Not having a videographer. We wanted to keep our budget super low so we cut videography right off the bat -- in hindsight I would've spent the extra money and wanted the video more than enough times to make it worth it!
What was your wedding planning process like?
The wedding planning process was fairly easy - the resort does most of the legwork for you! The only snag was with the travel agent we chose for our guests, we had to make the tough decision to change our agent but it was the best one we made.
What was the most important decision you made?
The most important decision we made was that we didn't want the process to be stressful and that we didn't want to let everyone else's thoughts or opinions sway what we wanted for our day.
We also had clay figurines of our dogs made for our cake (which was a sprinkle covered funfetti cake) and I'm so glad we did, it’s such a great keepsake
What’s your favorite (and least fave) thing about your significant other?
My favorite thing about my husband is that he puts in 110% into everything he does, once he puts his mind to something he gets it done. My least favorite thing about my husband is that he's the messiest person I've ever met, coming from someone who's messy!
What’s the best thing that’s happened in your lives since getting married?
Nothing that I can pinpoint, but I think we've actually gotten a lot closer since our wedding. It was the one time we were able to celebrate us and I think we learned that we can continue that everyday.
Resort/Venue: Sandos Caracol Eco Resort | sandos.com | @realsandosweddings
Travel Agency: Hola Weddings | holaweddings.com | @holaweddings
Photographer: Ana Lozano Photography & Samuelefanta Photography | @ana.lozano.photography @samuelefante_photography
Dress: Paloma Blanca Mikella Bridal | palomablanca.com/mikaella/ | @mikaellabridal
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