From the Designers

Our inspiration for the shoot came from our real life couple Michelle and Alejandro, who are avid surfers. Costa Rica is known for some of the best surfing in the world and with this shoot, we really wanted to highlight that! We also wanted to do something casual, relaxed, and beach side that captured the easy going and romantic nature of our couple. A lot of what we pulled together was simply based on inspiration when we went to set up that day. Finding that instinct and intuition of the natural landscape really influenced our design. In our tablescape, my favorite spontaneous elements are the centerpiece of braided fronds, which was the brilliant idea of our floral designer. I also love the paper chargers created by Posh Paperie, that we intermixed with real leaf detailing on the tiffany blue napkins. The hair and fashion was inspired by runway and an anthropolgie catalog we received a few weeks prior. Overall it’s colorful, light, carefree, and playful, much like the beautiful country of Costa Rica. — Candice Coppola, Jubilee Events

The opportunity to work in Costa Rica was a dream come true! The lush jungles, stunning beaches and rich culture inspired me to keep the attire very natural. The accessories that we used were made from wood and shell. We brought in a small touch of sparkle, because every bride needs some! The bridal gown by was by designer Augusta Jones. I selected it because it had a very organic feel to it. The silk chiffon fabric was perfect for the beach setting and the touch of metallic embroidery at the neckline had an ethnic feel that made it perfect for Costa Rica. The bride’s jewelry and headband selected for the shoot were by Maria Elena. Both contained accents of mother of pearl.The bridesmaid was outfitted in a satin yoryu dress by Vineyard Collection. I loved the vibrancy of the color of the dress, but also the amazing flow that the fabric had. We accessorized the dress with wooden bangles from ben amun to bring in a natural element.–From Beth Chapman of The White Dress by the Shore

This trip to Costa Rica was so inspirational in too many ways to list! The hair and makeup was inspired by a combination of the relaxed beach environment, the casualness of the couple, and the gorgeous styling of the event and the bride. It’s so important as a hair and makeup artist to understand the full vision of an event, so you can create the perfect finishing touches! Beachy, unconstructed waves for the hair really reflected the personality of the day and flowers tucked in the hair made the perfect accessory. For makeup, rich, vibrant color was the only way to go! Costa Rica is such a colorful place! I highlighted the eyes with bold shades of violet and teal and kept the lips soft in shades of pale coral and peach for balance.–From Deanna Nickel of DD Nickel Beauty

Before our actual shoot happened and was in motion I tried very hard not to have any preconceived ideas as to what I wanted to do or not do. I wanted to wait and see where we ended up- be it the rainforest or the black sand beaches of Playa Hermosa and let my surroundings inspire how I would photograph Michelle and Alejandro. Lucky for me these two were such naturals in front of my camera and so in love. For the most part I let that dictate a lot of the feel that I was going for in my images- and let the story line come naturally. We had a variety of weather that day,and I used it all to help set the tone but really and truly it was Michelle and Alejandro’s clear, obvious love that came through- whether we were shooting in the sun or the bone drenching rain!

My favorite image is from what we all thought would be the end of our shoot for the day- the skies had opened up and everyone scurried about packing the vans, stowing the musicians and instruments- and Michelle and Alejandro had already fled to the top of the beach to leave. I stopped them and, well since they were already soaking wet? I just had them enjoy being with each other, all wet and in fancy clothes! Michelle’s makeup held up PERFECTLY- and everything just jumps out of the frame at you- their skin tones, the drops of water all over them, the way Alejandro’s white linen shirt just clings to him, it’s all natural, real and completely romantic!–From Carla Ten Eyck, photographer

So much of the landscape in Costa Rica is dense and lush with saturated tropical colors and thick, waxy flowers. This beach was the antithesis of that, breezy and simplistic. I knew the florals needed to be a reflection of that. Most exciting to me was having the opportunity to work with new flowers, many that I’d seen only in photographs, still more that I couldn’t even identify! I chose to create bouquets that moved in the wind, a cascade for our bride and a fan bouquet for her maid. The inspiration for the floral jewelry came from the turquoise stones offset with shades of orange and yellow croton foliage and green shampoo ginger. Local fruits became the focus of the florals for our tablescape, melons and oranges simply accented with braided palm fronds. Fan palm provided just the right touch for the chair backs and gorgeous yellow and green flax foliage (clipped from the back yard of our posh accommodations!) accented the large driftwood pieces used to mark our ceremony. My favorite part of this shoot, as always, was the collaboration between the incredible group of artists and visionaries.–From Tony Palmieri of Datura: A Modern Garden

We absolutely loved being a part of this innovative & inspiring shoot, with such an amazingly talented group of people. Candice is really the one who came up with the inspiration board & colors that she wanted to incorporate. We took her initial storyboard and ran with it! We came up with a fun and funky pattern to use on several of the pieces, and designed an adorable “postcard style” save the date. The mustard yellow and moss green were a perfect combination for all of the paper goods, and the mix of a funky script with a block font made for a clean but fun look. To incorporate the “beachy” aspect, we pulled in shells filled with moss for the placecards to rest in. This was one of our favorite shoots ever to be a part of! Thanks to the amazing team who made it come to life.–From Elizabeth Seaton of Posh Paperie

More to come! xo

Credit Reel

Photography: Carla Ten Eyck Photography
Ceremony + Reception Location: Los Suenos Resort, Costa Rica
Event Design & Planning: Jubilee Events
Model Styling & Accessories: The White Dress by the Shore
Flowers: Datura: A Modern Garden
Cinematography: Buzz Media
Beauty: DD Nickel
Furniture & Rentals: Eventos Boadicea
Invitations: Posh Paperie
Shoes: Zappos
Linens: Gala Cloths
Ring Bowl & Ribbon: Paloma’s Nest
Calligraphy: Primele
Jewelry: Ben-Amun
Paper Flower Garlands: Kate’s Paperie