29

Jul

2020

Amanda and Jonathan’s ‘Tropical Boho Chic’ Costa Rica Beach Wedding by Papaya Wedding 

I have the most gorgeous wedding to share with you today, as we jet off to the incredibly beautiful Costa Rica. Amanda and Jonathan chose this stunning location for their wedding as they loved it’s natural beauty and breathtaking backdrop. And what’s not to love? The whole wedding day is a pure delight. I just adore the tropical flowers used, both in the bouquets and the table decorations, the bright bold colours work perfectly against the light sandy beach. The ceremony arbor is so pretty and creates a natural frame against the deep blue ocean.Then night falls and the twinkling fairy lights are the star of the show as the party really comes into it’s own. This wedding not only looks amazing, but looks like a whole heap of fun as well. Massive thanks to Papaya Wedding for the gorgeous photos.

Fun, energetic and warm! Our wedding had a relaxed boho vibe which was highlighted by the lush greenery and landscape of the country. 

Amanda and Jonathan were married on 27th February 2020 at Las Mareas Resort, Costa Rica. ‘We got engaged in Costa Rica in 2018 and loved the natural beauty of the country including the tropical  landscape and bright coloured flowers. When we decided we wanted to get married in Costa Rica, we wanted our wedding to celebrate and acknowledge the vibrancy of the country through our theme, venue and flowers. We purposely chose for the bridesmaids to wear navy to highlight their beautiful tropical bouquets that displayed bright orange, red and yellow flowers and green tropical plants like Monstera’s and palms. It only seemed right to tie it all together with a wedding on the beach! We had 63 guests and we had almost two years to plan our wedding. We wanted to take our time with the planning and ensure our guests had a enough time to save for the trip.’

How they met 
We met in 2011 at Ryerson University in Toronto. We both lived in the same dorm and met at a party on campus. We’ve been together for almost 9 years!

The proposal
We got engaged on March 24, 2018 at Nayara Springs Resort in Arenal, Costa Rica. Jonathan was worried about bringing the ring through customs so he wrapped the ring box in a sock and tapped a note on  the box asking that the surprise not be ruined. “ I was prepared to ask her to marry me right there in the airport if I had to”. Jonathan created a playlist with all our favourite songs and proposed to our wedding song, Green Eyes by Coldplay.

How did you allocate your budget?
We wanted out budget to focus on the party and reception. We both love music, and it was important for us to have a band. We also love the tropical flowers and greenery in Costa Rica, so it was important for us to have tropical flowers and greenery.

Where did you splurge and where did you save?
We were lucky that we didn’t have to splurge too much. Our food and the fireworks for our guests were the only areas where we decided to spend a bit more. We definitely saved on hair and makeup. All of my bridesmaids did their own hair one of my bridesmaids is an incredible makeup artist

How did you choose your photographer? 
Amanda was following the Dreams Las Mareas wedding page on Instagram and noticed that Papaya Weddings was tagged in a few photos posted by couples and the resort. We love Maciej’s photography and the way he is able to capture the warm beauty of the country and the overall vibe of the wedding.

The dress 
My dress was by Essence of Australia from Elizabeth’s Fashions in Georgetown in Ontario. My accessories were from BHLDN. I was a barefoot bride!

The suit and bridesmaids
We wanted Jon and the groomsmen to be comfortable so they wore pants from lulu lemon and mandarin collar short sleeve shirts from Zara. The bridesmaids dresses were Sorella Vita

Theme or colour scheme
The theme of our wedding was Tropical Boho Chic. We got engaged in Costa Rica in 2018 and loved the natural beauty of the country including the tropical landscape and bright coloured flowers. When we decided we wanted to get married in Costa Rica, we wanted our wedding to celebrate and acknowledge the vibrancy of the country through our theme and flowers. We purposely chose for the bridesmaids to wear navy to highlight their beautiful tropical bouquets that displayed bright orange, red and yellow flowers and green tropical plants like Monstera’s and palms.

Flowers and Decoration
Tropical flowers and tropical greenery. The decorations were mainly our flowers and candles on the tables. We also had string lights covering the beach reception. It felt like a fairytale!

Who supplied the stationary? 
Our stationary including the menus, seating chart and ceremony fans was done by Grace Boivin. Lovely Script Co. wrote the guests names on the tables.

Food 
We had a buffet style dinner with surf and turf, make your own bruchetta and green salads.

Wedding cake
Our wedding cake was a two tiered cake. The first layer was vanilla/ coconut and the second layer was vanilla banana. We didn’t get to eat the cake due to an impromptu cake fight at the end of the night

Entertainment
We had an incredible local rock band, Pinky Guaro perform our ceremony, cocktail hour and reception. We also had fireworks light up the sky during our first dance.

Where did you go on your honeymoon?
We decided to stay an extra week in Costa Rica and explore other areas of the country including Arenal and Tamarindo.

Special moments 
For both of us, one of our favourite moments was our reveal. Instead of just keeping the surprise to the two of us, we decided to include our family and wedding party to share the moment with us. Our photographer, Maciej found a beautiful location with trees surrounding a path on the beach. Jon was  facing all of our family and friends and turned around to see Amanda.  Our loved ones were able to experience the tears, love and laughter with us during this moment.
When we got engaged, we saw this incredible local rock band, Pinky Guaro in Tamarindo. After seeing them, we knew we wanted Pinky Guaro to perform at our wedding. We love rock music and wanted to have a live band perform some of our favourite songs. The two singers of the band, Steph and Jesse, performed a beautiful acoustic set for our ceremony and cocktail hour. Keeping with the tropical theme, our bridal party walked out to an acoustic rendition of Island in the Sun by Weezer performed by Jesse and Steph. Steph also officiated our ceremony and did a beautiful job! Later on in the night, the whole band performed at our reception. The band was such a hit and had everyone on the dance floor. Rocking out with the band was one our favourite moments of the day and our guests could not stop talking about how much fun they had!
During our first dance, we surprised our guests with a fireworks display. It was such a magical moment seeing the sky lit up over our beach reception and surprised guests.  The fireworks lasted for around 10 to 15 minutes while the band performed in the background.

Advice for other couples
Have fun and take your time with the planning! On the day of the wedding it fly’s by, so make sure to enjoy every moment and forget about the little things that are stressing you out. It will all work out!

Biggest surprise 
Some of our cousins and family that were unable to make it, sent us videos on the day of the wedding congratulating us! This was a special moment that brought many laughs and tears.

 

Supplier Shout Outs

 

For more information on Papaya Wedding go to

www.papayawedding.com / www.papayawedding.com/blog / FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM

 

 

Why not visit our Supplier Directory

Comments

    Kristina

    I LOVED the proposal! Haha the part about him being ready to propose at the airport if he had to made me laugh. You guys looked beautiful, thank you for sharing your experience. Costa Rica truly has that upside of it is being great holiday destination for your friends & family!

    Reply

Please leave your comment

We reserve the right to remove any comment that we feel is distasteful, rude, hurtful or inappropriate, so please be nice. Remember the weddings featured on this blog are real people and their weddings mean a lot to them. Please be mindful of this and other people's feelings. If youhave a problem with any of the content please contact me directly.

Thank you xx

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.