Couple: Catherine & Zach
Wedding Venue: UNICO 20˚87˚ in Riviera Maya, Mexico
Photographer: Kaleigh Turner Photography – http://kaleighturner.com/
Destination Wedding Specialist: Alison Mull
Dress Designer: Pronovias
Dress Boutique: Lace Bridal Couture
Shoes: Nine West
Bridesmaids Dresses: Lulus.com
Menswear: Joseph A. Banks
The story of how you met/fell in love:
We met working in a surgical/trauma ICU. We later reconnected through the dating app Bumble where Zach asked me on a date. The rest was history! We went to Paris together where he surprised me and asked me to marry him while we were standing on top of Sacré-Couer.
Did you always know you wanted to have a destination wedding?
I always knew I wanted a small wedding. We both have huge families so a destination wedding was our way of making it small without offending a lot of people at home. We also both love to travel so it made sense for us to include travel in our wedding.
What made you choose your resort/destination?
We chose Mexico because we love the culture and beaches. We chose the resort with the help of our wedding specialist Alison. Amenities and food were a big deal to us and UNICO seemed to have it all!
How did you personalize your ceremony and reception?
We brought our own pastor. I chose how I wanted the gazebo to look and they types of chairs I wanted for the guests. I also chose the songs for the violinist that was provided. I had unlimited choices at the reception. They have huge catalogs with options for add-ons for the decor and dance floor and lighting. I also chose all my flowers, music, food, photo booth, etc. They had everything a normal wedding has to offer except, even better, the resort comes with a wedding planner to coordinate it all for you!
Need more real wedding inspiration? Visit our website and Pinterest!
RELATED: Top Mexico Wedding Resorts
The funniest or most unusual moment was when…
What we weren’t expecting but was a great surprise was how amazing the service was at the reception. The food was buffet style but there were servers waiting to carry your plate to your table for you. They then continued to serve you throughout the night, we chose open bar concept but the servers would bring your next drink to you on the dance floor before you could even think to walk up to the bar! They somehow remembered what each person was drinking and stayed on top of it. Everyone was amazed.
The most memorable moment was when…
We had a choreographed first dance to the song Paris in the Rain by Lauv. It was under the string lights of our outdoor reception and it was just so much fun 🙂
Three words that sum up your destination wedding experience are:
Unforgettable, Extravagant, Easy
Besides the wedding itself, what was your favorite part of your trip? Did you do any activities with your guests?
Our rehearsal dinner was a wine and dinner sunset cruise that we set up through the resort! It was gorgeous and everyone loved it!
If you could travel anywhere for your one-year anniversary, where would it be and why?
We are hoping to go back to the resort we got married at. It was just so amazing and we want to experience it all over again. UNICO has discounted spa treatments so that helped win us over too. 😉
What would be your biggest piece of advice to future couples planning a destination wedding?
DO IT! And utilize this company. Alison took so much work off of my shoulders and really made sure every guest was prepared and had their questions answered. She helped me from my very first questions down to getting guests HOME from the wedding afterward. She never left anyone hanging and made sure all plans were in place.
You can also take a look at Catherine & Zach’s wedding video >>
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