Fashion. Beauty. Lifestyle

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

My Fairy Tale Wedding | Puerto Rico (Part 1)



Our Puerto Rico Wedding: We Said I DO!

Sunday April 23 2017 was the beginning of our journey. Antero and I said I Do in a beautiful rustic bed and breakfast in the mountains of El Yunque Rainforest in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. It was a dream come true. I am so excited for the our new beginning and the next chapter of our journey. I have to be honest guys I am a very private person when it comes to those that I cherish the most in my life so I am a little nervous even typing this post however this is my way of opening up and sharing my day with you guys! 

I knew early on in the wedding planning process that I wanted to get married in Puerto Rico. Both Antero and I families were born in Puerto Rico and I felt in my heart to celebrate our culture and roots with our family and friends. When we visited Puerto Rico 2 years to look at wedding venues we instantly loved the Hacienda Siesta Alegre Inn. We toke a risk on the weather however although it rained to me it made the night even more magical! Our small ceremony consisted of about 60 guests including close family and friends and I felt the love from each and every one there. 

Location: Hacienda Siesta De Alegre Rio Grande Puerto Rico

This was supposed to be the ceremony space however due to the rain we had to move it to a smaller intimate location at the Hacienda. I am so glad that the photographer toke this beautiful photo and I wanted to share it with you guys for anyone interested in having a destination wedding at this location. It is breathtakingly beautiful. Your surrounded by the El Yunque Rainforest and very little decor is needed since your backdrop is nature.


This area of the Hacienda is where the reception toke place. Guests were seated on both sides of the dance floor under a terrace. The dance floor has a beautiful fountain that our florist decorated with rose petals inside of it. The Hacienda decorate this area with beautiful Christmas lights all around the space and at night it creates the most romantic ambience. 

The Ceremony + Reception


Funny Story about our Pastor! A couple months ago my mother decided to visit a new church that was closer to her home. I happened to be in town that weekend so I went with her to Sunday service. It was a small church so the pastor immediately noticed that we were new faces and introduced himself. During our conversation he mentioned that he came from Calvary Chapel in San Juan Puerto Rico and now his son in law is the head pastor there. I immediately asked him what his name was and  it was our Pastor (Jason Dennett)! In that moment the world felt so small and a blessing from God!





The Hacienda provides the most gorgeous bridal suite the morning of the wedding. It has a beautiful queen size canopy bed with Old World Spaniard decor. Another quick story about my dress. It was the first dress that I tried on at the first boutique I visited! The lovely sales woman picked it out gathering wedding details from me. My girlfriends and I grabbed a few other dresses and honestly I didn't have confidence in the one that the saleswoman picked out. She asked me try my choice out first and if you don't like it then we can keep looking. She was very sweet and to please I said okay! When I tried the dress on instant chills and tears filled my eyes. It was perfect but not what I envisioned or predicted. I actually tried another another dress afterwards and I didn't get the same feeling. When I found out that the dress she chose was Maggie Sottero I knew this was meant to be! The esthetic of the dress is classic and the lace is delicate but stunningly simple and fit perfect with the theme and ambience of our wedding day. Although the way it looks now......Lord does it need to be dry cleaned like three times! LOL!


Heels: Badgley Mischka (click here) /


Reception Decoration and Florals


For an affordable rental fee the Hacienda provides these dark wood long table and chevare chairs. I wanted the table setting to be elegant but simple. I coordinated with my florist, Lorraine's Flowers and expressed that I wanted white hydrangeas, white roses, and hints of greenery. She created a beautiful arrangement and added the votives candles to create the perfect touch of romance. 


We also coordinated to have a white linen napkin and inserted in it the dinner menu and she added the greenery touch as well. On the table in front of each guest was there place card and our thank you 
gift. I ordered via Etsy leather luggage tags and attached a thank you card.


The menu cards and table number signs were ordered via Minted.com who I also ordered my save the dates and the invitations. They are amazing to work with and I highly recommended them for anyone interested. If you need further information please don't hesitate to contact me! For the ceremony we ordered via Etsy again custom hand fans which came in handy since it was warm and humid that day.

Wedding Place Cards: (here) / Seating Chart: (here) /
Menus: (here) / Guest Luggage Favor Tags: (here) /
Wedding Fans: (here) /


I actually made the Find Your Seats sign! It is my proud DIY moment! I ordered on Etsy a template and once I filled it out I went to Staples to have it printed on hard white card stock. Antero and I then went to Home Goods and found the white wood frame and viola! We bubbled wrapped it like crazy in  our luggage and thankfully it arrived to Puerto Rico in one piece. 
Sidenote: It did not make it back however in one piece :/









I hope you guys enjoyed my Part 1 of our wedding day as I enjoyed re-living the moment while writing this post. If there is any tips I can give to upcoming brides is the savor the moment. It literally comes and goes so quickly. However when you have a destination wedding it feels like your celebrating your love for the days leading up to your wedding day, the wedding day and the days after. Antero and I felt blessed and so loved the whole 8 days we were in Puerto Rico. I look forward to working on a destination wedding tip and advice post so please leave me any questions you may have for me!

I do want to use this time to thank a few people. First and foremost our amazing wedding coordinator, Tatiana Ramos (Mia Eventos) who worked with me every step of the way. She was so kind and helpful and my wedding day was stress free and ran beautifully all because of her and her assistant. She is amazing and I wish her luck in all her future endeavors. Our florists Lorraine Patricia (Lorraine's Flowers) was a gem to work with and brought me my dream wedding. Our photographer Nilka Gissell was the coolest and best photographer! She delivered gorgeous pictures and was so fun to work with. Our DJ Eric (SBN Entertainment) kept the party going and we had a ball bc of him! Pastor Dennett would delivered a beautiful service and made me cry like a million times! LOL! The Hacienda coordinator Norma Perez for all her hard work and kindness and the Caterer Rebecca Molina (Food Design). Her food was delicious, her service was professional and she was helpful and wonderful! 
I also want to thank our families for all their help and our amazing guests! Thank you for coming to Puerto Rico to celebrate Antero and I! We love you and you all are a blessing to our lives!

Stay tuned for Part 2! #BaezWedding17



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12 comments

  1. Your wedding was so beautiful and you looked stunning! Love the theme and diy projects you made ��

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  2. Everything looks amazing and I love the venue! Did you have any guests that weren't from Puerto Rico? If so, where did they stay? We are highly considering selecting this venue for our own destination wedding, but are concerned about lodging for our guests. Thanks so much for sharing your wedding details! :)

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    1. Hello Roxanne! Thank you for reading the post and your sweet comments. We did have some guests that traveled to PR from the US. My husband and I rented a large home 7 mins from the wedding venue for our immediate family. Other guests rented hotels near the venue such as the Wyndam Rio Mar or Gran Melia Resort. We didnt have enough guests to contact the hotel for special rates and we couldn't accommodate shuttle because everyone was spread out. Let me know if you have any other questions :)

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  3. After reading this blog, I can say that another great writer in the making already.
    wedding photography sydney

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much! I appreciate you coming to my blog and leaving a comment! Have a great day!

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  4. Aww soo beautiful! Truly enjoying your blog! Would you happen to have any updates info on the vendor for your wedding fans? Link did not work TIA

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    1. Thank you so much! Send me an email and I can send you information on the vendors that I used!
      alana.marie02@gmail.com

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  5. You have NO IDEA how much your blog post and youtube video has helped me! We plan to have our wedding in PR and there doesn't seem to be much content online for real, raw details on planning and pricing. Thank you so much for sharing. Your wedding looked phenomenal and you truly did embrace the PR culture.

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    1. awww your so welcome hun! I love to help anyone that is planning a destination wedding and more specifically Puerto Rico where I can help in detail. Let me know if you need anything. Happy Holidays!

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    2. love love love your blog
      omg you inspired me; your wedding looked amazing
      were in the beginning stages of planning our wedding in Puerto Rico and its so hard to plan and price every thing from NYC due to the lack of information provided on the internet!

      thank you so much for sharing and giving us some insight

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  6. Omg Thank you so much for sharing!!! I am currently considering PR but it has been up hill to plan things with vendors :( Since my venue is just the salon and I make it my own. Could you please give me the details of your wedding coordinator?

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