Throughout the design, you will find lots of local elements that feature local vendors and meaningful elements that adorn this celebration with culture and history. To see the publication click here.
The beautiful blush wedding gown with antique gold appliqués was handmade by a Costa Rican designer enhancing this bridal look with a unique artisan couture.
Every jewelry piece, hair accessories and hand bag were handcrafted by talented local designers that make one of a kind pieces.
The blush and terracotta tones combined with the wood elements and nature, feature the romanticism with the earthy colors that used to tint the houses back in the day when the side roads where not paved.
Another very traditional element found on this design, is the Costa Rican oxcart design. The oxcart in Costa Rica the national symbol of work. The oxcart in the past was the main means of transportation, not only for commerce, but for the leisure time on Sundays when most of couples used to ride around the neighborhoods. Every oxcart is hand painted and has one of the most intrigue designs ever seen which was incorporated on the wedding cake pattern and the matching hand held fan.
Meanwhile, the bespoke escort card wall was made with dry “jicaros”, commonly known as the calabash tree, a flower that is native to Central America. Many of the indigenous community, to this day, make their money by drying and craving and selling those fruits. The “jicaros” are normally dried fruit and halved, then used to make small bowls for serving or drinking, to make maracas and many other souvenirs. The hand carving design is very traditional of Costa Rica, and most of the designs are drying of animal of the forest such as birds, wild cars, iguanas, butterflies, monkeys and many others. This is a perfect nice way to offer a useful wedding favor while contributing with the local community of Costa Rica.
The bespoke invitations enhance beautifully this wedding design with a drawing of the venue and the exact fountain where the wedding reception takes place and once again, it brings back the color palette of the design.
This distinctive wedding photo shoot was recreated by a group of experienced proud local vendors in the wedding industry in Costa Rica, motivated by the desire of showcasing to the world and most importantly, to married couples, a new creative and fresh way to have a wedding look that represents the local culture in a way that has never been designed before.
ABOUT THE LOCATION
Las Catalinas is a new beach town located on the Guanacaste Coast of Costa Rica. A beautiful place composed of houses, shops, restaurants, small hotels and inns, pedestrian streets, plazas, parks interwoven with nature. It is like going back in time. Every street of Las Catalinas, leads to scenic overlooks.
Every home frames incredible views. On one side the town it’s embraced by over 1,000 acres of spectacular tropical dry forest hills and valleys with extensive hiking and biking. On the other side is the Pacific Ocean where we have two of the finest beaches in all of Costa Rica. This one of a kind wedding venue offers by far the best combination of the luxury amenities and services and the traditional look with the ocean, white (Grey) sand and clear turquoise waters.
From the Bride… We’re living in New York, and both originally from China. I went to school in Florida and Key West is always my favorite place in FL. Chandler took me on a trip to Key West last May and proposed on the lighthouse right across the Hemingway Home. In addition, Ernest Hemingway is one of my favorite American writers. My undergraduate thesis is about his short story “The Snow of Kilimanjaro”. As a result, Ernest Home & Museum became our first choice of the wedding venue.
We met at a friend’s game party. It was an adventure game in an escape room in New York and we were in the same game group. I like Chandler’s intelligence, rationality. I’m growing up to a better person with him. We feel we understand each other without more words and we bear with each other’s differences.
Chandler: I like Roxanne for her unconditional care of me, her maturity and faithfulness, her artistic tastes, and her advice that help me be more mature. Being with Roxanne ever day makes me willing to take more responsibilities and be unsubdued by difficulties. She constantly gives me courage and hope. She has become the very reason for my being.
I did some general research about wedding planning and the wedding planners at Key West. I was lucky to get Destination Wedding Studio by my side. They provided me the wedding timeline and recommended vendor lists so I knew what I was supposed to do for my wedding and made my selections of wedding vendors easier. I went through the vendors’ websites and social media accounts, and some wedding website reviews for decisions.
Because we chose Hemingway Home & Museum as the venue, I decided to have my wedding invitations mainly in green to match the color. I contacted an online producer in China, reviewed their wedding invitation templates. I chose one simple template, edited the design and had them print it out. I also got the candy boxes which match the invitation style.
For the theme color, I usually like black & white and most soft colors, so the flowers are in soft colors, and table linen is in light grey. I thought blue could go well with the greens in Hemingway Home, so I had my bridesmaids in light blue, groom in navy and groomsmen in dark blue.
The decor is one of the things I care most at my wedding. Thanks to my planner Peggy for suggesting a long table as my reception table, then I started looking pictures on Pinterest & Instagram for decor inspiration. Those pictures really helped shape my final thoughts about decor – a long reception table decor by hanging top with flowers, branches, glass balls, and lanterns. I sent some pictures to my planner and florist, talked about the ideas and they handled the details for me. Peggy also got the chargers/napkins that match the flowers perfectly.
About the unique wedding cake: I found some book shape wedding cake on Pinterest and decided to have one because I and Chandler both love reading. And we’re having the wedding at Hemingway Home, so Hemingway’s books were the covers.
Most importantly, my bridal veil was made by my designer friend. It became much more meaningful!
My favorite memory of the day was the first dance, the groom and friends’ performance, and dancing after dinner. I was glad to see that everybody was having fun.
From the Bride: We got married at Sunset Key Cottages in Key West, Florida. It is a beautiful private island just off of Key West. It has gorgeous little cottages that look out to the beach and is filled with lush bougainvillea gardens all around. When we got engaged it seemed like a large task to find a great venue for our wedding. I am from Texas and my husband is from the UK but we live in Australia and met 5 years ago in Brazil. We had guests coming from four different countries so finding a “middle ground” that had meaning to us was really important. My family has been vacationing at Sunset Key Cottages since I was a little girl. My parents are Cuban so we love that their culture is so close to Key West. We instantly knew it would be the perfect place for our wedding. It has family history and we loved the idea of giving everyone a vacation to a new place. Sharing a place that we love with everyone we love was a great feeling.
Thank you very much to all the vendors involved to make this Kate and Laurence ‘s wedding such a pretty event. To see more please visit Destinatio I Do magazine
