Roslynn and Andrew's Intimate Mexico Wedding with a Terracotta Colour Palette by FineArt Studio

Today I am taking you off for a bit of sunshine as we head to Mexico for the glorious wedding of Roslynn and Andrew. The couple were looking for a destination wedding to give their guests a total holiday experience instead of a local wedding and decided on Talum as their perfect destination. They chose an idyllic setting right next to the beach, that gave them an intimate location for their beautiful ceremony and a gorgeous outdoor reception area for their party. They filled their day with stunning flowers, pampas grass and roses and used a colour palette of terracotta to bring the natural element into their decoration. The whole day was planned to perfection by Tulum living weddings and captured beautifully by FineArt Studio.

Surrounded by the love of our closest family and friends, our wedding day unfolded in a breath taking, serene setting, where every moment felt like a dream. The peaceful atmosphere and natural beauty created the perfect backdrop for a celebration of love that we will cherish forever.

Roslynn and Andrew were married on 30th March 2024 at Arcadia Hidden Arches, Tulum in Mexico. ‘As fate had it, we met a lovely woman named Mindy out at lunch while traveling in Tulum, Mexico. She let us know she was a wedding planner and gave us her information. Months later, after getting engaged, we were exploring venues in Denver (where I’m from) and Milwaukee (where my husband is from). We were torn on which location to choose because we did not want to upset any family members for prioritizing one city over the other. Then we remembered our chance encounter with Mindy. “What about Tulum? It would be neutral for both families and then we could plan a whole vacation around it.” We met with Mindy on multiple occasions, and she showed us Arcadia, nestled away in a jungle. It looked so romantic and dreamy. I was instantly set on having out wedding there. We had 30 guests. We had invited many more with the expectation it would be smaller due to the remote location. It ended up being the perfect size and we were able to interact with all guests in this intimate venue. It took 10-11 months to plan. In hindsight, I would’ve allowed more time to plan. Luckily, our girl Mindy was able to pull something beautiful together in a short time.’

How they met
We met on a Memorial Day kayaking trip in Lake Powell, Utah through a mutual friend. On our third day, the winds picked up and they stopped allowing boats on the water. There we were (without life vests) miles away from our drop off point. Water patrol took notice and had to rescue us for a nominal fee of $120. We returned home to our respective cities (Denver and Milwaukee) and had a good laugh about the entire experience. We kept in touch as friends at first, then Drew started sending me all these gifts (daily Starbucks delivered to my doorstop, a puzzle he had custom made of a picture of our trip). I was on a flight out to see him by July where I was immediately introduced to Drew’s entire family. Then we started traveling back and forth between Denver and Milwaukee until I eventually moved out to Milwaukee in November. We have been together for two and half years.

The proposal
Drew and I planned a trip to London/Paris for my birthday where Drew had planned to propose to me under the Eiffel tower. He even had an Eiffel tower engraved on the inside of my engagement ring. However, the first leg of our trip from Milwaukee to Philadelphia was delayed and we missed their connecting flight to London. We were stranded in Philadelphia for the night where we hit a few landmarks and drank in the Patty’s Pub that inspired It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. When we were finally on our flight to London, I hinted at a potential engagement, to which Drew played coy in attempt to keep the surprise. This inadvertently led me to begin to think “Oh no, maybe this trip isn’t going to be what I thought it was going to be…Maybe we’re not getting engaged?” Realizing that this thought was causing me a fair amount of emotional distress, Drew decided that waiting any longer just didn’t make sense, so he pulled the ring out of his backpack, and proposed to me right there on the plane, on our flight over the Atlantic Ocean. I of course said yes. We boarded our flight in Philadelphia as boyfriend and girlfriend and landed in London as fiancés.

How did you allocate your budget?
I worked closely with our wedding planner and utilized the great tools on theknot.com for budgeting/planning purposes. Since we decided to have a destination wedding, we planned a mini vacation for our guests, which resulted in planning for five different events: Welcome Party, Group Catamaran Cruise, Rehearsal Dinner, Wedding Day, and Day After Brunch. Many of our vendors allowed us to secure with an upfront deposit where we were able to make payments over time. This really helped.

Where did you splurge and where did you save?
We splurged on a renting Casa Carolina, a beautiful villa located in Tulum Beach with its own private beach. This is where our immediate families stayed and where we hosted the Welcome Party and Day After Brunch. For our wedding day, we splurged on bringing in a violinist, beautiful flower arrangements, a cigar roller, and furniture so all our guests would be comfortable. Our wedding planner really helped us keep the food and drink costs down for the Welcome Event, Wedding and Day After Brunch.

How did you choose your photographer?
Our photographer and videographer (FineArt Studio Photography) was highly recommended by our wedding planner as she had worked with them on many events.

The dress
My wedding dress was Alena Leena. My accessories were Untamed Petals. My shoes were Jeffrey Campbell.

The suit and bridesmaids
My husband’s got his Luchiano Visconti sport coat and pants from Nordstrom. My Maid of Honour and bridesmaid picked out their own dresses (one was Eliza J and one was Free People). We wanted our guests to be comfortable, so we did not have a dress code for any event.

Theme or colour scheme
Terracotta colour palette. Green teal, sage, terracotta orange, taupe.

Flowers
Terracotta rose, touch of pampas, dried flowers, small protea, orange protea pincushion, white cymbidium. We used Pentaflor and they did an incredible job with all the arrangements.

Decoration
The venue came with some decorations already- pottery and plants. We brought in additional furniture for a lounge area, mixed vintage candle holders, cylindrical vases with candles, floral centrepieces, bud vases, hanging pampas grass arrangements, up lighting for the trees.

Food
Mexican family style BBQ. We wanted the cuisine to be local.

Wedding cake
We got a small two-tier wedding cake. First tier: Vanilla dulce de leche with cream cheese frosting. Second tier: Chocolate raspberry with cream cheese frosting. Our wedding planner decorated it with some spare flowers from our floral arrangements and added Día de Los Muertos bride and groom figurines. I also got a miniature cake for my bridesmaid as we were also celebrating her birthday! Lemon and cream cheese frosting.

Entertainment
For our Welcome Event, we brought in a Mariachi band. For our wedding we got a violinist for our ceremony (Bitter Sweet Violin). We had a DJ for the cocktail hour and reception where we created the playlist ahead of time. We also brought in a cigar roller.

Who supplied the stationery?
We ordered it off the theknot.com.

Where did you go on your honeymoon?
We took a short flight from Mexico to Belize where we honeymooned for 8 days.

Did you have any personal touches?
Or things that you did yourself? My sister-in-law made a beautiful scrapbook documenting both of our lives leading up to and after meeting one another. She also included sections for loved ones we had lost so they could be there with us in spirit. We had this on the entryway table as our guests arrived. Additionally, we had to have some pictures of our adorable dogs at the wedding!
Our wedding planner helped us pull together guest bags for when our guests arrived in Mexico. These included detailed itineraries, some essentials for Mexico (sunscreen, water, Pepto Bismol), Mexican blankets, chocolates and handicraft. We arranged transportation to/from the airport and all events to ensure all our guests could relax during their time out there.

Special moments
Walking into our wedding venue and seeing how the finished event had come together. Saying our vows. Dancing.

Advice for other couples
You spend all this time planning an event and it is over in the blink of an eye, so make sure you take in every moment. Don’t stress, everything will come together just fine.

Biggest surprise
Before the ladies started getting ready, my husband had a Vimeo video made for me to congratulate me on the big day where I had some celebrity guest appearances (Jesse Palmer from the Bachelor, Pippin from Lord of the Rings, Perd Hapley from Parks and Rec, Dot Com and Grizz from 30 Rock). The makeup artists were not able to make it day of the wedding. Fortunately for me, my sister and cousin stepped in to save the day and all the makeup turned out beautiful.