Beverly and Ado opted for a destination wedding in beautiful Playa Samara, Costa Rica. One of their wedding planners, Barbara Broutin of FourNineteen Weddings gave us some insight into their planning process. “Beverly is originally from the East Coast, but had been living in Costa Rica working as a teacher in Monteverde (the gorgeous cloud forest!). On a trip to Samara Beach, she met Adonay, who is Costa Rican and originally from the area (even though he hasn’t lived there for a while)… When they were looking for a venue, they both could only think of having their wedding in Samara, where they met. A gorgeous little beach town, it is fun and laid back and the perfect place for all the guests (most of the 85 guests were travelling from the US or from other places in Costa Rica) to get together and celebrate. They wanted to have the wedding at a private villa, and armed with a list of possible options that could accommodate them, they went to Samara and spent a weekend scouting locations.”
“They finally settled on Villa Malinche, a hilltop home with a beautiful view of farmlands and ocean, which was still close enough to town but far away enough to offer them absolute privacy (plus, with various houses on the property, all of the bride’s family was able to stay on site). The actual property is quite off the beaten path, and getting there is quite an adventure, with one of the roads leading there passing through a river. The main challenges getting married in a remote location in Costa Rica is generally transportation.”
“This wedding was a collaboration between my company and Events & Weddings Costa Rica, and it is always awesome to work together with Sam! When I first met with the bride, she had a very set idea of what she wanted in terms of design. Her inspiration was the fabric she chose for her bridesmaids’ dresses, a really cool tropical zebra print in light green and light blue (yes, it doesn’t sound so nice in writing, but the fabric was actually really nice!). Based on this, she wanted the flowers to be hydrangeas in green and blue so we centred everything around these colours and the softness of hydrangeas.”
“Beverly’s mom Marshall loves birds, so Beverly wanted to honour her mom with something bird related, so we came up with the idea of using origami cranes as seating cards and hung them from branches forming a tree.”
“Table names were Costa Rican terms of endearment (with their translations into English). The food, as the couple wanted, strongly reflected Latin cuisine, with ceviche, plantains, black beans and grilled meats and fish. Dessert was coconut flan served in half coconut shells, beautiful and absolutely delicious.”
“With Beverly being from the US and Adonay from Costa Rica, they made an effort to infuse the wedding with local flavour without going overboard as quite a few of their guests were locals… The ceremony and cocktail hour music was a local guitar trio out of nearby Nicoya town. Favors were locally made marmalades (lemon, ginger, passion fruit and dragon fruit), placed in bags stamped with “Love is Sweet” and it’s Spanish translation El Amor es Dulce.”
“The wedding was catered by Jean Luc Taulere, an 8th generation chef, who made the most amazing food! He customised a menu according to what the couple wanted. The cake was a bit of a point of difference between the Bride and Groom, as they both wanted a cake, but could not agree on the style. The groom did not want a “girly” cake, and the bride didn’t want it to be “too plain”… They finally decided on a square cake with simple ribbon decor in their wedding colours that was just the perfect compromise.”
Congratulations to the newlyweds!
Destination Wedding Photographer: El Velo
Wedding Vendors: Venue: Mar Azul Estate, Design + Coordination: FourNineteen Weddings and Events and Weddings Costa Rica, Floral: Artflower, Officiant: Marcelo Galli, Rentals: Oceano Rentals, Catering: Jean Luc Taulere, Cake: Victoria Zoch, Ceremony Music: Jorge y Los Peninsulares, DJ: DJ Rambi
