Catherine & Richard hosted their Costa Rica destination wedding in the north – at the Four Seasons private beach club. These two are certainly globetrotters – they are from the US, living in Hong Kong, and held their wedding in Central America.
We asked Catherine to share some of their decision making process with us to help you better plan for your big day. On selecting the location? “Richard and I love Costa Rica. The country has so much to offer in terms of beauty, adventure and local culture. We took a trip there shortly after we got engaged and to this day, it was our best vacation together. We went horseback riding on the beach (twice), zip lined through the rainforest, took road trips along the coast and of course, basked in the sun on the beautiful beaches. We wanted to have our wedding somewhere that was not only special to us but also someplace unique that most of our guests probably had never been to.”
“Since we live in Hong Kong, we wanted to incorporate some Hong Kong/Chinese elements into our wedding. Our tables were named after our favorite neighborhoods in Hong Kong and above the names on the cards, we printed the Chinese proverb “The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.” For us this represented both our recent move to Hong Kong and of course, the beginning of our journey as husband and wife.”
“We also brought Chinese fans from a local vendor in Hong Kong that we placed on our guests’ chairs during the outdoor ceremony.”
“We wanted to write our own vows but unfortunately my husband has trouble taking anything seriously. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised when he started belting out lyrics from a country song by Toby Keith (and believe me, he sounds nothing like Toby Keith). It felt like he was squawking (I mean singing) forever and I’m sure I turned 10 shades of purple but he had all of our guests cracking up and he did make up for it with a few sweet words at the end. Unfortunately, I had to say my vows after him and it was a tough act to follow.”
“We hired a local cigar company so our guests could enjoy local Costa Rican cigars. We had someone from the company rolling cigars during the reception.”
“Rather than giving our guests favors, we made a donation to the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute in honor of my mother who had passed away that year after a 7 year battle against breast cancer. We placed frames on each table to let our guests know we made this donation in her memory in lieu of favors and to honor her, we included the words “The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it.” by C.C. Scott in the frames.”
“To surprise our guests, we had local fire dancers perform on the beach. The band announced that we had a surprise for everyone and they should head down to the beach. We had chairs set up and once everyone got settled the lights went on, the music started and flame-throwing, tightrope walking performers started dancing and throwing fiery batons to each other. The show was amazing. Everyone expected fireworks and was really surprised.”
And as we often do, we asked the bride and groom for their advice for you! “Don’t stress! This may be the only time you’ll ever have all of your family and friends from both sides in one place at one time and the time will fly, so savor every moment!”
Congratulations to the newlyweds!
Destination Wedding Photographer: Jeremie Barlow Photography
Wedding Vendors: Wedding Location: Playa Prieta Beach Club, Four Seasons Resorts, Event Planner: Events & Weddings Costa Rica, Other: Cirko Vivo, Cake Designer: Construcciones Dulces, Band: Groupo Expresso, Equipment Rentals: Costa Mesa, Makeup Artist: Jorge Sagot, Officiant: Marcello Galli
