Costa Rica has quickly become one of the top locations in the world for a destination wedding. The beautiful and tropical atmosphere mixed with the friendly, laid back culture is the perfect recipe for a week long holiday to celebrate with family and friends. I’ve had the pleasure of visiting Costa Rica now for a third time in less than two years and it is, hands down, one of the most unique, beautiful and amazing places I’ve ever been!

Los Suenos Resort and Marina is a 1,100-acre master planned destination resort community and encompasses a private 600-acre rainforest reserve; a 201-room five star Marriott hotel; over 500 luxury residences, including single-family homes, lots, condominiums and lavish villas; a full service 200-slip international marina; an exclusive Beach Club for residents; an 18-hole championship golf course, and much more. We’ve partnered with Stay in Costa Rica, a luxury property management company on the resort, to plan and design destination weddings at their properties. They have dozens of amazing, multi-million dollar homes and villas that overlook the rain forest and bay. Stay in Costa Rica offers unique and luxurious accommodations for your guests and an experience of having your wedding in the most unique setting! The Marina offers a ton of activities and experiences– from sailing, fishing, to shopping and unique dining. The spa at the Marriott Resort within Los Suenos is world class and renowned. I can’t gush enough about how beautiful and amazing this place is!

We have to wish a heartfelt congratulations today to Mandi and Dan, who are to be wed on the beach this afternoon amongst 50 of their closest family and friends. At sunset, we’ll have cocktails on top of the mountain overlooking the rainforest and bay during sunset. An authentic Costa Rica dinner is being prepared by our incredible chef, Jose. We can’t wait to get the day started. Congratulations Mandi and Dan! Pura Vida!!!! XO

As we conclude our beachside shoot in Costa Rica, take a look through the lens of the incredible Buzz Media!

Enjoy!xoxo

Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica from Buzz Media Company on Vimeo.

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

I’m so excited to share with you part two of our beautiful and colorful,Playa Hermosa beach side photoshoot in Costa Rica. You can see the beginning of the shoot here. At the end of the day, the skies opened up and it started to pour! The images Carla Ten Eyck captured are simply STUNNING!

Enjoy!xoxo

Be sure to check out all of the behind the scenes action! Part I, Part II, Part III

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

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

{ suitcase & shoe painting from anthro; costa rica rain forest, vintage travel posters,  pretty girl in a bed of colorful flowers, and vintage camera from we ? it; paper suite from martha stewart weddings; red and white striped shirt with skirt from anthro }

Our final destination took us to the beautiful country of Costa Rica– and we were inspired by the natural lush rain forest and fun, vibrant patterns. Costa Rica is an amazing country to have your destination wedding– rich in culture, nature, and the good life, Costa Rica has become one of my favorite places in the world. The air is clean, the water clear and the rain forests dense with colorful vegetation. Having been to Costa Rica twice last year, I was really inspired by the surrounding nature and Anthropologie’s newest catalog. Don’t they go hand-in-hand? The 70’s vibe is so stylin’ right now and I just love mixing patterns. I feel like sometimes people get nervous mixing patterns, and while you need to do it well in order for it to work, the end result has a major style impact! The best piece of advice in mixing patterns is to make sure one element is cohesive— color. If you can match tonality of color your patterns can range in whatever style and design you choose!

Now, onto Costa Rica!

{ photography by carla ten eyck }

Our inspiration board came to life with colorful patterns, lots of layers, vibrant foliage and floral design, and a nod to the Costa Rican coffee bean. The White Dress by the shore featured a beautiful tiered Amy Kuschel gown with a flattering silhouette, perfect for getting married on the beach or in the rain forest! Beth Chapman paired it with a dramatic layered green and gold necklace, designed by Kelley Marks for The White Dress.

Our square tablescape donned colorful patterned green linen from La Tavola Linen along with a blue tuscany runner. We used saffron napkins, folded at each place setting and topped with our coffee bean favor. Each burlap sack was wrapped in wooden rings with the guests name on them, created by Paloma’s Nest. It was one of my favorite details of the day! We chose a mother-of-pearl styled Velencia charger from Party Rental, simple toupe stoneware, and wooden handled flatware.

Datura: A Modern Garden created a dense bed of richly colored fruit– mango, papaya, kiwi and pineapple– with a sculptural centerpiece using green foliage, orchids and other vibrant accents. I absolutely love it! Having been with Tony to Costa Rica twice, this centerpiece is a true representation of what you could have for your tablescape. The beauty is these items are abundant, so inexpensive, and can be literally picked from the side of the road!

Coral Pheasant created a dynamic paper story, complete with rich floral patterns and a boxed invitation. The wedding program was hand sewn at the binding. Our friend and amazing colleague love*jenna created this beautiful leaf menu for us for an amazing shoot we did in Costa Rica– and it was the perfect compliment to our tablescape! Planning a wedding in Costa Rica? Look no further than Stay in Costa Rica— a company specializing in high end luxury homes available for rent on Los Suenos resort for your next event.

A HUGE thank you to all of our sponsors and amazing vendors who put together the most amazing event!

Credit Reel

Location & Fashion: The White Dress by the shore
Event Design & Planning: Jubilee Events
Photography: Carla Ten Eyck Photography
Floral Design: Datura: A Modern Garden
Catering: Emily’s Catering
Confections Display & Desserts: Lovely Lollies
Tent: Sperry Tent
Paper Story: Coral Pheasant Stationery
Menswear: Valentino Tailors
Honeymoon: Stay in Costa Rica
Salsa Dancing: Alisa’s House of Salsa
Rentals: Party Rental, Ltd
Linens: La Tavola Linen
Cinema: Jim Altieri’s Vintage Cinema
Beauty: DD Nickel Beauty

{ champagne colored gown/bow: the cherry blossom girl; woman in front of metro sign: classic bride; laduree inspiration: design sponge; ballerina: dress, design & decor; vintage green couch: 100 layer cake; crystal bows: the cherry blossom girl }

Pardon our brief interlude. If you’ve missed the first three posts in our series recapping the destination event, visit {one} {two} {three}.

Remember when Audrey Hepburn said Paris is always a good idea? That’s where our third destination took us! To the land of lights, gorgeous architecture, a romantic strolls along the Seine river, the croissant, cafe creme, onion soup (yum!), and eggs for dinner and the famous french dames such as Marie Antoinette, Coco Chanel and Brigitte Bardot. We were inspired but a muted palette of pink, green, gold and ivory. I’ve been dying to do something inspired by the ballet, too.

We brought in color through linens, flowers, paper and the amazing food display by Lovely Lollies– which was bursting with delicate sweet miniatures and one gorgeous cake. Coral Pheasant designed a perfectly feminine paper story in blush pinks and gold, using lots of tulle embellishments (like the tulle puffs in the champagne glasses and tulle edges on the menu cards). Nichole also designed the beautiful Bon Appetit banner behind Lovely Lollies’ dessert station! I was so excited to feature some of the most gorgeous linens by La Tavola Linen— including the amazing blush rose linen we used for the back drop of the dessert station. It is absolutely gorgeous in person– so romantic and feminine! Our tablescape had several linens incorporated, including a celadon satin linen which reminds me of those dainty Ladurée boxes– along with a very textured and tulle like champagne colored linen from their 2010 collection. Tony and Cat from Datura: A Modern Garden adorned our venetian crystal candelabra with jubilant ribbons and orchids. They also created two charming bouquets– one bursting with feminine ranunculous and the other inside a mother-of-pearl seashell. I loved this option for a mother-of-the-occasion as it quickly transformed from something you carry down the aisle to a side arrangement on a nearby table.

The White Dress by the shore chose a prim tea-length gown with a full tulle skirt and lace details at the bodice. So perfect, no? She was paired with a handsome fellow in a classic tux, fitted ever-so-perfectly by our friends at Valentino Tailors.

We hope you enjoyed your brief stop in The City of Love! Up next, the country where Pura Vida reigns supreme.. Costa Rica!

xo!

Credit Reel

Location & Fashion: The White Dress by the shore
Event Design & Planning: Jubilee Events
Photography: Carla Ten Eyck Photography
Floral Design: Datura: A Modern Garden
Catering: Emily’s Catering
Confections Display & Desserts: Lovely Lollies
Tent: Sperry Tent
Paper Story: Coral Pheasant Stationery
Menswear: Valentino Tailors

and special thanks to… Stay in Costa Rica || Alisa’s House of Salsa || Party Rental, Ltd || Jim Altieri’s Vintage Cinema || DD Nickel Beauty

For our second destination wedding we stayed right here at home in New England! Inspired by the proper lady-like style and bold colors of kate spade, we set out to design a fun and sparkly party fit for a wedding, shower, or girls night in! To me, kate is infinitely preppy, feminine, classic and, to put it simply, perfect. What could be more New England than that? With her lady-like silhouettes, high heels, bright lipstick and baubles, kate spade embodies everything about my favorite New England fashion icon, Jackie Kennedy— who was the epitome of the classic look with a modern twist.

{ photography by carla ten eyck }

We were so inspired by the bright colors, simple patterns, chunky jewels, color blocking, a bit of sparkle and tailored fabrics. Some things we took literally from the inspiration– like the button candy escort cards oh so expertly designed by Coral Pheasant Stationery + Design. I loved the stripes in the models skirt, so we brought that in the linen on the table by using a wide stripe linen set on an angle. We paid attention to fabrics and textures too– especially the silk shantung that kate loves to use in her dresses and parlayed that into a pretty fuchsia napkin. In Coral Pheasants‘ paper story, Nichole was inspired by confetti and sparkle, attaching a little clear envelope to the invitation with some silver and pink confetti. So playful and pretty! Each place setting at a hot pink handmade crepe popper with confetti inside for celebration. We also used these AH-MAZING silver sequin chair backs from our friends at La Tavola Linen to carry through our sparkly confetti inspiration. We also chose a bright yellow charger at each place setting accompanied by my own personal kate spade china in black and white polka dot. The glassware I chose was super feminine and reminded me of the kate spade pattern Belle Boulevard.

Datura: A Modern Garden created blocks of color in the center of the table with shades of pink roses and daisies and yellow billy balls in glossy black square containers. Super tailored, colorful, and compartmentalized. Pretty! You’ll even notice some silver sparkling rocks used through out the arrangements, too. The arrangements were in varying heights and tightly arranged together, connected by some curvy curly willow. The bouquet was even color blocked with yellow daffodils, pink roses and a collar of greenery. A hint of sparkle from a vintage broach on the stems which were wrapped in black satin ribbon.The White Dress by the shore pulled together a super preppy look for their bridesmaid with a Coren Moore bridesmaid dress perfectly color blocked in shades of blue, yellow and white with a bright pink cardigan.

Big thanks to all the amazing vendors who contributed to this gorgeous destination. What’s up next? Why Paris, of course! xo!

Credit Reel

Location & Fashion: The White Dress by the shore
Event Design & Planning: Jubilee Events
Photography: Carla Ten Eyck Photography

Floral Design: Datura: A Modern Garden
Catering: Emily’s Catering
Tent: Sperry Tent
Paper Story: Coral Pheasant Stationery
Menswear: Valentino Tailors

and special thanks to… Stay in Costa Rica || Alisa’s House of Salsa || Party Rental, Ltd || Jim Altieri’s Vintage Cinema ||  Lovely Lollies || DD Nickel Beauty

{ from L to R: blue cups with orange wedges unknown; woman in blue sun hat in field from cherry blossom girl; two photographs of beautiful bride in romantic gown unknown; tri-pattern from unknown;  yellow paper suite from creature of comforts and designed by maemae;  flowering branch by orchard cove photography; yellow tulip arrangement from wedding chicks with photography by stacey reeves; blue vintage european car in capri from travelshots; limoncello from wedding chicks with photography by stacey reeves }

Our first destination took us the the island of Capri where we created an inspiration board (above) rich in the colors of blue, yellow and green. We encouraged you to be inspired by this color palette along with diverse patterns, smooth finishes and rough textures. We also recommended finding inspiration in regional Almalfi Coast dishes, robust with fishes, lemon (!), handmade pasta, cheeses, and fresh local vegetables. And of course, wine! This was translated into the inspiration below…

Beth Chapman of The White Dress by the shore displayed two beautiful gowns as options for the bride– one inspired by the beautiful dress in our inspiration board with whimsical detailing on the shoulder, and another with interesting geometric details through out. The bridesmaid dress was a vibrant yellow paired with blue baubles. Valentino Tailors chose a classic grey suit with blue and yellow striped tie. Perfect!

We brought in the geometric patterns through linens, floral design, fashion and in our paper story. I love the rich textures we used throughout– natural linen, rich woods, gnarly twines and cheese cloth. Datura: A Modern Garden really blanaced the floral design by doing something completely different– using clear glass baubles/orbs, they created an artfully connected arrangement using tulips and orchids, garnished with citrus. The table was a long and inspired by family style dining with white irish linen cloth to the floor and matching napkins. Our table runner brought in some color and pattern in robbin’s egg blue from La Tavola (we also used this gorgeous linen on our highboy tables). Each place setting had a glass charger that reminded me of seaglass with square ocean blue plates. They were dawned with a menu “box” designed by Coral Pheasant, using a fun geometric pattern from the paper story.  The favor for each guest was a block of delicious Parmesan cheese, wrapped in cheese cloth and tied with a natural ribbon– one of my favorite details! Our dark bentwood chairs had robbin’s egg blue grosgrain ribbon looped along the backs which had both texture and some playfulness! Datura created a rich bouquet in shades of yellow with curly willow branch details. Coral Pheasant designed a beautiful invitation suite utilizing our colors of yellow, blue and green. Emily’s Catering served up a scrumptious Mediterranean ceviche and caprese salad finished with a shot of lemoncello.

Don’t you just want to run to Capri right now and get married? Major thanks to all our fantastic sponsors who worked so hard to see this destination come to life! Up next: New England. xo!

Credit Reel

Location & Fashion: The White Dress by the shore
Event Design & Planning: Jubilee Events
Photography: Carla Ten Eyck Photography
Floral Design: Datura: A Modern Garden
Catering: Emily’s Catering
Tent: Sperry Tent
Paper Story: Coral Pheasant Stationery
Menswear: Valentino Tailors

and special thanks to… Stay in Costa Rica || Alisa’s House of Salsa || Party Rental, Ltd || Jim Altieri’s Vintage Cinema ||  Lovely Lollies || DD Nickel Beauty

For the last post of 2010 I thought we’d end on where our adventures began this year with the final installment from our New Orleans Shoot! You can see the beginning of our shoot here, and the second feature here. There were so many beautiful and gorgeous details — from the dramatic linen draping on the table, pinned with fabric, paper, and real flowers– to the amazing desserts designed by Sucre. I especially love the escort card display on someone’s front door shutters, which was styled on a whim as we were looking for the right backdrop!

Enjoy! xoxo

Credit Reel

Photography: Carla Ten Eyck & Co. (Katie Slater & Sara Code-Kroll too)
Design & Styling: Jubilee Events
Location: Royal Street & The Cornstalk Hotel
Fashion & Styling: The White Dress by the Shore
Floral Design: Datura: A Modern Garden
Hair & Makeup: Jennie Fresa & The Beauty Library
Cinematography: Vantage Point Films
Musicians: Dr. Jazz and the New Orleans Sounds
Confections: Sucre
Groom’s Tux: Perlis
Shoes: MADELiNE Shoes & Poetic License Shoes
Paper: Posh Paperie
Calligraphy: Elizabeth Porcher Jones Calligraphy
Custom Headpieces & Floral Sashes: Twigs and Honey
Vintage Jewels: Karen Lindner Designs
Jewelry: Haute Bride
Linens: Gala Cloths
Custom China & Napkins: Sarah Drake Design
Pink Candelabras: Nachtmann & Riedel
Champagne: Pommery Gold POP Champagne
Cake Stands: Iacoli & Mcallister
Vintage Birds: Orange & Blossom
Vintage Umbrellas: Bella Umbrella