Chris and Alyson said I do in a less common spot in Mexico for a destination wedding, but one we want to visit after seeing their amazing wedding photos! The couple wed in Sayulita, Nayarit, Mexico with brightly colored décor and a nod to a big fiesta with a little love to their home of Portland too!
We chatted with the couple’s wedding planner, Mishka Aznoe de Morales of Mishka Designs, who shared with us the details of their big day. “Alyson and Chris wanted a wedding that was quirky, chic with modern touches. Alyson loved Jonathan Adler and patterns … and birds! Bringing their Portlandia style down to Sayulita, Mexico quickly converted the wedding into Sayulitalandia! At one point, they said, “When we say quirky, we mean Portland!”
The event took place at Don Pedro’s Palapa in Sayulita with a ceremony on the grass overlooking the ocean and long reception tables outdoors for the party. How they selected the location they did? “The couple wanted their guests to enjoy time out in the sun, on the beach, a relaxing, fun, memorable vacation.”
“I worked closely with Chris on the wedding website but the final result was all his own – and it was really incredible – colorful with amazing details – probably one of my favorite wedding websites of all time and made even more personal because Chris designed and put it together himself. They used paperless post for their invites and the whole set went together beautifully.”
We asked their wedding planner what unique challenges they faced in a space like this. “It’s a small town – and runs on a small town vibe – so it’s laid-back, relaxed “easy-going” = which is great but also means that vendors tend to be late. If you want things to run smoothly (and on time – ha!) it’s good to have a coordinator there to keep things running on track. And relax a bit.”
“I had a few surprises up my sleeve through-out the evening … one was making sure we had a donkey adorned with colorful pompoms at the kiss – Alyson and Chris had been teasing me that they MUST have a donkey at their wedding and I couldn’t think of a more appropriate time to bring out our little “joke.”
“Since the goal was to infuse Portland meets Mexico, I added-in details that were Mexican but with a bit of a twist to them. For example, we made white papel picado lanterns to hang over the dance floor which looked great and Mexican festive in the day but inside were colored light bulbs – so it gave the lanterns a completely different look at night. We used paper flowers for their chuppah but my sister-in-law hand-painted them specific colors so that they would go with the rest of the quirky vibe Alyson was looking for.”
“I also found a beautiful hand-crafted, bird ring dish from Etsy which we used as the cake topper but which I knew Alyson could use later on after the wedding.”
Congratulations to the newlyweds!
Destination Wedding Photographer: Paulina Ulloa
Wedding Vendors: Wedding Venue: Don Pedro’s, Planning, Event Design & Florals: Mishka Designs, Catering: Plush Catering, Cake: Charme, Wedding Website: Chris Trombley
