 |
|
|
 Vallarta Living | May 2005 
Destination Weddings Double As Vacations
 Julie Carson - PVNN
| | Getting married in Puerto Vallarta Mexico is not only cheaper than having a traditional wedding ceremony at home - but it also gives you and your wedding guests an excuse to party in paradise! |
Puerto Vallarta - I was never someone who dreamed of a big wedding - or any wedding, for that matter. My motto: Give me the honeymoon, and spare me the frothy, white dress. So when my husband proposed, I said yes - on the condition that we spend an afternoon with a judge and just a few close friends, then run off for a week at the beach - but he wanted something a little more formal.
In the end we compromised. We got married on a beach in Puerto Vallarta, with 70 or so guests, in an event that ended up being cheaper and easier than a traditional wedding, but still unforgettable - with fireworks, mariachis, even a cake fight! Two years later - as my husband and I traveled back to Puerto Vallarta to witness two friends tie the knot on a secluded strip of white sand - I realized I was attending more and more weddings that felt like vacations.
In fact, 10 percent of the 2 million American couples who marry each year plan so-called "destination weddings" - a 200 percent increase in the past decade - according to Condι Nast's Bridal Group Infobank and Modern Bride Magazine. I can understand the trend. Watching the sun set on my friends' no-fuss ceremony in Puerto Vallarta, I realized there is no better way to watch two people start a life together than celebrating the marriage in a setting so spectacular you don't even need to decorate.
Lots of tequila doesn't hurt, either. I thought my wedding was memorable only to me. But friends and family who attended still talk about the weekend at the cliff top villa in Conchas Chinas, where we watched whales swim out to sea over breakfast, then spent the reception dancing on a terrace overlooking Banderas Bay.
After attending the wedding in Puerto Vallarta as a guest, I realized that destination weddings can be a gift for those invited. We used our friends' celebration as an excuse to take a much-needed vacation, and the weekend at the Velas Vallarta Resort and Spa, where the wedding was held, turned out to be much more enjoyable than any of us expected.
Between a welcome barbecue and the wedding reception, we snorkeled, napped on the beach and mingled with other guests. Toward the end of the reception, with everyone sweaty from dancing, several guests went for a midnight swim in the ocean. That's the great thing about weddings in unusual places . . . unexpected things happen!
At our wedding, a Mexican tradition of having the guest of honor take a bite directly from the cake, usually ending up with a face full of frosting, became an excuse to begin hurling bits of chocolate on the dance floor. I left the party for a few minutes to wash my face and returned to find most of the guests covered in cake, and either heading to the well-appointed restrooms to wash up or heading towards the pool to cool off.
While some people might be mortified by the thought of a food fight at a wedding, it was clear from the beginning of our ceremony - when I walked down the aisle to Elvis Presley's "It's Now or Never" - that our wedding wasn't exactly traditional. Which brings me to the next benefit of marrying in an unusual setting: It's easier to get away with doing things your way.
In both my wedding and my friends' wedding, acquaintances performed the ceremonies, which made the events casual and personal. Someone who knows you personally can speak from the heart. A member of the clergy hired for the occasion or justice of the peace coming in for an hour may barely remember your name. The drawback in having a friend officiate was that Mexican law only recognizes civil wedding ceremonies; I ended up getting my afternoon with a judge after all.
Another advantage to having a destination wedding is that requiring the wedding party to fly to another country will likely trim your guest list to the friends and family you really want to invite - as opposed to your father's former co-workers. And you get to spend a long weekend - not just an evening or afternoon - catching up with the people you love the most.
Many hotels will plan the entire event for you - right down to music and food. Some will even give you a weekend free to come down and discuss plans. Before we got married, we spent about two hours giving instructions to our hotel, then spent the rest of our pre-wedding weekend in Puerto Vallarta reading on the beach.
In Mexico, especially if you stick to the smaller hotels, you can put together a spectacular wedding - one that would cost tens of thousands of dollars in the United States or Europe - for around $5,000 USD including food, drinks, music and decorations - and your guests paying for their own airfare and rooms.
I initially felt bad about asking people to fly down to Mexico. But I sent out e-mails with suggested vacations they could tack on before or after the wedding, and everyone seemed happy to have an excuse to spend a long weekend on the beach. The best part of my Puerto Vallarta wedding was that, blaming the warm beach climate, I got away with wearing a simple evening dress - instead of a frothy, white gown. I didn't even have to wear shoes!
Tips for Gettin' Hitched South of the Border
If you're planning on getting married in Mexico, be sure to check local marriage laws. In Mexico, you aren't legally married until you visit a judge, so many Mexicans have two weddings, one religious, one civil. Some hotels can arrange for a judge, and most foreigners can have a Mexican marriage certificate authenticated for use in their home country. But it may be easier to just get legally married by a local judge at home - using a translated, foreign marriage certificate might work at embassies, but you'll get blank looks from most other government officials.
Many hotel chains and large resorts have on-staff wedding planners and some of the smaller hotels will often assign a staff member to help you with all of your wedding planning. Or click HERE to check the Vallarta Weddings section of BanderasNews for more information, advice, wedding ideas and a list of professional Puerto Vallarta Wedding Coordinators. |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us