Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico - Considering Puerto Vallarta for your destination wedding? Consider including some of these Mexican wedding traditions in your ceremony.

With so many romantic and picture-perfect venue options and a wide variety of cultural and culinary delights, Puerto Vallarta is a great choice for your dream wedding.

As you plan your personalized ceremony, you might consider incorporating some local Mexican wedding traditions:

• As the bridal party reaches the wedding ceremony location, it's considered good luck for onlookers to wish the couple well and take their pictures.

• Mariachis can welcome guests and/or play you out at the end of the ceremony. They are also available to serenade your guests at your wedding lunch or dinner.

• Delicious local foods add a Mexican flair to your celebration.

• You can arrange for a romantic fireworks display over the water as husband and wife share a first dance.

• As part of the ceremony itself, here are a few symbols of a Mexican wedding:

El Lazo or Hand Binding

El Lazo, also called a 'Unity Lace,' symbolically joins the bride and groom. It can be as simple as a beautiful ribbon or rosary, a wreath of orange blossoms, or elaborately decorated with beads, jewels, silver filigree or crystals. After the vows are spoken, the Lazo is placed in a figure-eight around the shoulders or necks of the couple to represent their linked future together - the joining of two lives.

Another version of this symbolic joining is Hand Binding, in which the fabric or ribbon is tied around the couple's hands in an infinity circle.

Las Arras

In a long ago tradition, the groom presents the bride with a gift of 13 coins. Historically, the coins have represented the groom's commitment to support his bride, and her acceptance symbolized her promise to take care of him. In a more modern adaptation, the bride pours the coins back into the husband's hand, signifying that each is vowing to care for the other. The coins are usually presented in a beautiful box or tray to be blessed by the officiant. Then the groom pours the coins into his bride's hand and gives her the box in which to place them for safekeeping.

Sand Ceremony

The sand ceremony is not particularly a Mexican tradition, but it is beautiful and fitting for a beach wedding. The bride and groom each hold a container of colored sand. One after the other, they pour half their sand into a third container. Then together they pour the rest of their sand into the new container, representing the blending of their lives. Children of the bride and/or groom can participate by pouring their own sand to add to the sense of individuals coming together to form a new family.

These Mexican traditions have evolved with the passing of time. But one thing is true: Mexicans believe in the value, solidity and sacredness of marriage. And someone once wrote, "These sentiments combined with beautiful traditions form unforgettable weddings."