Welcome to John and Elizabeth’s wedding day which was filled with surprises and heartfelt moments. From a romantic proposal in Turkey to their weekend-long wedding in Antigua, Guatemala their wedding story is nothing short of magical.
Be sure to dive into the enchanting details of their day which include striking yellow and lilac styling, stylish outfits, twinkling lights, personal details and a very special first dance. Get prepared to be swept away by the love and joy of John and Elizabeth’s incredible day.
Thanks so much to Daniel Lopez Perez Wedding Photography for sharing with us these sensational images.
Antigua Guatemala Destination Wedding
The Proposal
With Elizabeth being the mega-trip planner that she is, John wanted to surprise her with the most special trip of all time. After keeping his secret for months, John finally told Elizabeth where they’d be headed: Turkey!
After a lovely day in Istanbul and almost missing their flight to Cappadocia, John told Elizabeth he’d been ‘swindled’ into having two photoshoots – the horror! (Elizabeth obviously knew soooomething was up.) As they waited for the photographer on their terrace overlooking the lovely valley of Cappadocia, a proposal happened just across the way.
At this point, John was panicking. Luckily, our fantastic photographer, Enus, told us the best photos would be overlooking a beautiful area called Red Valley. Heading to the valley, Elizabeth was banking on the proposal happening early the next morning and could only think about how they were going to be late for their dinner reservation. Little did she know, as they danced over the sunlit valley, John would propose to her, and she would say yes!
The Vision
When planning our wedding, I didn’t want to feel limited to one color scheme or theme since we would be in two totally different venues.
With our ceremony and cocktail hour being held in the 300-year-old ruins of Capuchinas, I didn’t want florals and décor to take away from the stunning structures and naturally beautiful gardens we would be in – so I stuck with neutrals, rattans, dried pampas, rugs down the aisle, and a grounded floral arch where we would say I do. I wanted our guests to take in the dramatic domes, detailed columns, and history that our venue held.
On the opposite hand, after our first time visiting Antigua, I knew Guatemala was all about excitement, culture and color – so for our reception which took place in the courtyard of an old President’s home, Pensativo House, I wanted to go bold and dazzle with wildflowers, colors, hanging lights, and details.
Our flowers were peach, purple, yellow and green, and looked nothing like you would see in the United States. I took a risk with blush velvet chairs, paired with two long wooden tables and wanted it to feel like a magical fairytale. The entire weekend was about including local food, textiles at our rehearsal dinner, traditions, and having our guests experience what it was like to truly be in Guatemala.
Budget
Budget was 30k but when it was all said and done (including welcome lunch, rehearsal dinner, welcome party, and wedding day) we spent around 50k. Just the wedding day on its own was probably around 38k.
The Venue
For the ceremony and cocktail hour, we were in Las Ruinas de Capuchinas – a 300-year-old monastery that was wrecked by active volcanic earthquakes and rebuilt over time. We were married in the indoor nave, which featured dramatic domes, and were able to take couples and individual photos in the double decker courtyard area with incredible staircases, a fountain, and was covered in Bougainvillea. The cocktail hour was in the garden with a dramatic crumbling wall as a backdrop, and beautiful greenery.
In order to get to our reception venue, we had all guests take tuktuks (a local mode of transport in many Central American countries) across the cobblestone streets. Pensativo House was an incredible home to an old president that features 27 rooms, a rooftop, and a courtyard with fountains and purple flowered vines stretching up the walls. It has ornate arches, is bright, and flowers across all areas of this open concept hotel. We stretched icicle lights across the entire courtyard that twinkled as our guests danced the night away.
The Ceremony & Music
John and I are both huge music people and wanted the vibe to fit the moment. We also love electronic dance music and wanted our entire day to feel genuine to us! We started off with acoustic versions of some of our favorite dance songs during our ceremony, played love focused songs during cocktail hour and for our dance floor treated it like a mini music festival with sparklers and confetti.
Our first dance song was to Feel Good, by Gryffin, and we had a full dance which was so much fun to learn prior to the wedding.
Your Outfits
For my dress I wanted something classic and chic that would stand the test of time, so I chose a Sarah Seven gown, but I added details with my 3D custom veil and French lace gloves for dinner. My second look was a full silver sequin mini dress to be on the opposite end of the spectrum.
Since Guatemala can be warmer, we decided John should wear a khaki linen suit to match the florals of our ceremony, which was done custom from Suit Supply.
Your Photographer & Filmmaker
Our photographers, Dani and Mishka were actually the reason we chose Guatemala – through their photos I fell in love with Antigua and their work!
Videographers: Kai Weddings
The Styling & Decor
Being engaged for almost two years I had quite a bit of time to focus on details. I handcrafted every single menu with pressed flowers across the weekend, added our pets to napkins and our monograms wherever I could. We had a custom welcome sign that also doubled as a flower box, used a mirror with a cutesy welcome message, customized fans for the ceremony, and brought in pillows to fit the vibe.
John and I actually did not have a cake and did mini desserts instead! A laugh I had about the evening (which could have been a mistake in some eyes) is that we had planned to do an espresso martini tower and totally forgot as we were dancing the night away!
The Honeymoon
John and I knew we wanted a unique honeymoon full of adventure. One of our favorite things to do has always been traveling together.
En route through Dubai to experience the luxury and fine dining of the Middle East, our next stop was trekking with the silverback gorillas in Uganda. We spent two days hiking through the jungle and observing these massive and magical animals. Next up we headed to Kenya and stayed at a conservation lodge and spent 5 days on safari – seeing so many majestic animals in the wild was so incredible. To end up our journey we headed to Zanzibar, Tanzania, and spent time scuba diving and relaxing on the beach. We had the best time!
Memorable Moments
John and I both agreed our favorite part of the day was walking down the aisle. In the beautiful ruins we were married in there were massive wooden doors, probably about 15 feet high. I played my favorite Odesza song, the reprise version of Higher Ground, with the doors closed for about a minute, and opened them when the main chorus started. It was so magical.
John and his mom finished their dance with a flash mob – it was such a cute moment for them, family and friends to join in and kick off the dance floor.
For our welcome party we also had fireworks – we loved a little surprise for our guests!
Finally, one of my favorite things that we did was feature local coffee and had a full coffee cocktail bar – it was a great way to keep the energy up and have a variety of beverages for drinkers and non-drinkers!
Advice For Other Couples
At the end of the day, your wedding is about you! Make it as big, small, detailed, or dramatic as you want. You and your partner will always remember this day and what was most important to you. And of course, once the day comes – don’t sweat the small stuff. No one will notice a mishap anyway – you might not even! Fully be in the moment and let the day flow…it will go so fast!
Wow wee, how incredible!
John and Elizabeth, thank you both ever so much for sharing your epic Antigua, Guatemala wedding story.
Further Reading
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