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Our wedding artwork was created by an artist I went to school with, Sam Crosby, who is so incredibly creative and so much fun to work with! We shared ideas with him that leaned into Colombian colors and traditions, and he ran with it. He came up with the idea of drawing our dog, Otis, with a fruit basket on his head (something you see in the streets of Cartagena), and we loved it so much that we ended up using that as our logo all over the wedding materials. Actually, we loved it so much that we both got the artwork tattooed when we got home from the wedding!
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Since our wedding required everyone to travel, we wanted to make it really feel like a vacation, so we took our wedding guests out to the Rosario islands one day! Everyone met at the docks in their beach gear and were given towels printed with our wedding logo. It was a blast and felt really special to have a laid-back day swimming, dancing, and snorkeling with our favorite people.
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I picked out a swimsuit from a local Colombian designer, Maygel Coronel, for the island day. Their suits are so fun and unique!
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The stickers were another idea from our artist, Sam Crosby. Keeping with the fruit theme, he had the idea of creating custom stickers that resemble the colorful stickers on fruit. They featured different illustrations about us and our wedding and were used on our save-the-dates and invitation envelopes. He also had the idea of printing actual sticker packets for our guests' welcome bags, which turned out to be such a fun detail! People were using them on phone cases, hats, etc - to this day I find them on things and love the reminder.
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The best part of the island day was seeing everyone from different parts of our lives having so much fun together - our friends swimming with our nieces and nephews, all the youngest kids playing in the sand—it was really magical (and the unlimited mojitos didn't hurt either!)
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For the welcome party, I wore a Jacquemus dress that I had been in love with for a while. It was gorgeous cream-colored linen, with very complicated straps, but the extra time it took to put on was so worth it! When I had it hemmed, I kept the excess fabric, and at the last minute decided to tie the long piece of matching linen around my ponytail. I loved how it turned out! Dillon looked so handsome in his linen suit and colorful vintage silk shirt. He also decided the welcome party would be his last night with the mustache before he went clean-shaven for the wedding, so that added to his look for sure!
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Our welcome party was held on a hotel rooftop where many of the guests were staying. It was a small, intimate space, but the view and sunset were incredible—everyone was charged with excitement having arrived in the beautiful Old City! I swear I must have given and witnessed a thousand hugs that night, it was perfect.
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Cartagena has some of the best shopping—almost all of my friends ended up wearing outfits they purchased at local shops, with a few actually having to purchase bags to get everything home!
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Getting ready with my bridesmaids, mom, and mother-in-law! I brought everyone block-print cotton robes to wear since it was so warm, and I wanted to gift something everyone would wear again. The champagne definitely helped ease our nerves about the big day!
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The flowers in my hair came from an Etsy shop! I had seen a photo of a bride with little white flower pins all over, but wanted them to look natural without the risk of wilting. I found someone on Etsy who custom-made these, with each one slightly different in size and shape, which I loved.
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It was pretty overwhelming to have it all come together—the dress, the veil, the jewelry, the makeup, and hair. It was nice to use the photos as an opportunity to sit quietly and take it all in.
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My friends and I love dancing, so after a few nervous (and probably awkward) first group photos, we turned the music way up, and all started singing and dancing (I think the song was "One Day" by Dua Lipa and J Balvin). It totally lightened the mood and is a moment that really stuck with me!
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My bridesmaids all looked so gorgeous—everyone picked out their own white dress, and did hair and makeup however they wanted, so it really felt like everyone got to be themselves. They are each so beautiful and special to me, so getting them all in this gorgeous parlor room just made everything feel over-the-top beautiful!
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My nieces were so adorable and excited to be part of the ceremony. I'll never forget my youngest niece's jaw dropping when she saw my dress for the first time—she couldn't stop touching it! Definitely a core memory.
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Getting around in this dress while keeping it clean before the ceremony was no joke! I think four girls had to help hold the train for me to get down the stairs. It was very extra.
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Our ceremony was held in a 15th-century villa that had the most beautiful little tucked-away corners for photos, like this terrace filled with tropical plants and orchids!
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My best friends—who are either family or feel like family! I was so grateful to have them there with me.
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Dillon and all the boys from the wedding party! While we spent hours on hair and makeup, the boys were in the pool until basically the last minute! But they cleaned up so nicely and all looked so great. They are also the MVPs for keeping their suit jackets on through the unseasonal heat and humidity during the ceremony!
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We held the ceremony in the main courtyard of the villa, which was also where Dillon, myself, and our nuclear families were all staying together. I'll never forget going outside when I woke up and seeing them set up the arch. I still get butterflies remembering how real it felt!
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My dad and I were so nervous waiting to walk down the aisle. I knew we were both feeling so much emotion, that we couldn't say anything out loud without totally losing it! He looked so handsome that day, and it was a dream come true to share that moment with him.
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We wanted the ceremony to feel lush and natural, even in the middle of a stone-walled courtyard. Our wedding planners completely delivered! We picked bougainvillea as the centerpiece florals (since it's a flower that has always been a favorite growing up in California), and they filled the space with color that really popped against the history of the walls.
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Two of our best friends, who are also close friends themselves, officiated our ceremony. It was really special to have them up there—they made the entire ceremony feel so natural and personal. I was absolutely terrified about reading my vows in front of everyone, but it ended up being one of my favorite moments of the whole weekend!
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Confession—we actually practiced this kiss! We had a mini legal ceremony earlier that summer (since that was easier than all the paperwork to get married in Colombia), and since Dillon is a full foot taller than me, in the photos from our legal ceremony my face was completely smashed! So for the real wedding, we wanted to make sure we got the "shot" :)
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The "we did it!" moment. So surreal to have our friends and family applauding behind us.
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I went to school in New Orleans, where a second line parading down the street is a tradition for any celebration. So of course we wanted to include the Colombian version of the tradition—a processional from the ceremony to the reception.
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It was so much fun to take over the streets with our wedding group! It was the best way to ease out of the nerves of the ceremony and into the party.
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While our guests sipped cocktails at sunset, Dillon and I went off to take some photos of just the two of us. Cartagena has an unlimited number of gorgeous, flower-filled streets that made for the perfect backdrop.
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It felt crazy to be walking the streets of the old city dressed like a complete princess, which made for many stares from onlookers and giggles for us!
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After the ceremony, I gave up trying to keep my dress clean and my train off the ground. It was black by the end of the night but gorgeous all the same!
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Since we didn't do a first look, I loved the one-on-one time we got for photos after the ceremony. The villa was empty and quiet, and it was just us and our photographer there soaking it in.
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We were definitely laughing behind this leaf! I felt so silly being posed in so many different ways, but they knew what they were doing because the photos turned out gorgeous.
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The colors of Cartagena made for the most incredible backdrop to our special day. Everywhere you look is a piece of culture and history, which we were grateful to experience in such a meaningful way.
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The dancers and drummers really fired everyone up for the party! You could feel the energy building as we walked the streets, and I'm so happy that we were able to incorporate so much from local tradition.
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Our reception was held on top of the Old City wall, and again our planners completely nailed it! We wanted disco balls and they definitely delivered! I just loved the mix of modern and traditional, just like the backdrop of modern buildings against the Old City walls.
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The printed dance floor was a fun touch that we added last minute. We couldn't believe how it all came together as the sun went down around us and the party got started.
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Our first dance was to "Loving is Easy" by Rex Orange County. Our cousin, who was our DJ and emcee for the night, had the idea of having everyone crowd around the dance floor for our arrival and first dances, and at some point everyone began singing along, so the love and warmth were literally tangible!
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We choreographed a few moves for the first dance and inevitably messed some of them up, but only we could tell! Dillon is a great dancer, so he made it look easy and we just had fun with it.
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Dillon and his mom had the most fun and adorable first dance together. They didn't plan a thing, but just sang and danced their hearts out. It was so pure and filled with nothing short of elation!
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Towards the end of the night, our planners had organized another Colombian tradition, the "Hora Loca" which turned out to be so much more fun than I expected! An entirely new band of drummers, and a group of dancers in costume, essentially took over the dance floor to rile everyone back up. It definitely worked, and after probably six hours already of dancing, they got people going for many hours more.
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My late-night outfit change was a dress by Agua by Agua Bendita (another local Colombian designer.) I actually wasn't planning to change, since I loved my wedding dress so much, but I got to Cartagena and immediately realized I would hate to be carrying so much fabric around all night. I literally bought this dress two days before the wedding right down the street from the venue!
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I barely left the dance floor all night. We all sweat through our clothes, hair, and makeup, but had the time of our lives!
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No one tells you how scary it is to be hoisted above everyone's heads in a little chair! Dillon is a really tall guy, so he had a few extra men helping him and I had one friend basically deadlifting most of my weight. It was a super funny memory of the night, and most of the photos look like we're holding on for dear life.
