Real Wedding - Mexico City

Dana Cordova is a talented graphic designer from Boston, who married her husband Raul in a traditional wedding in Mexico City to honor his culture and heritage. She was kind enough to send along a few pictures of the wedding and her amazing stationery designs, as well give some advice to all of you planning a destination wedding. You'll find her advice below (and definitely go check out her work, her use of color is inspiring) - thanks, Dana! {Photos by Rodrigo Cassou}


My advice to those planning a destination wedding on a budget (i.e. no planner) is to choose a really gorgeous place that won’t need a lot of decoration so that you have less to do from a far. I couldn’t keep calling the restaurant to discuss linens and cocktail napkins, and I couldn’t bring much with me and shipping was expensive. So the small gift bags and favors we did have we got there at local markets the week prior.

I think more than anything one should pour their energy into helping your guests to really enjoy the trip and it make just as much about the journey as it is about your wedding. I spent nearly a year and half compiling my virtual guide (the free blog platform is great for this) that included descriptions of neighborhoods, attractions, restaurants, clubs, bars and practical info about getting around and safety. The greatest joy for me was hearing that people used my guide (also in printed form in everyone’s gift bag) and that they did a lot of site seeing all around the city—every afternoon we’d sit in the hotel bar or around the pool and people would say how they did this and saw that, and thanks for the tip on the restaurant and you were right that little neighborhood was great. And they all said they would have had no idea where to start without it in such a big and crazy city! I think people really appreciated our efforts and enjoyed themselves so much more—and hopefully felt like the journey was worth it!