Real Bride Diary: Our Wildly Fun, Intimate Baja Beach Wedding

The Dress & Attire

I knew I would be an A La Robe bride long before we ever got engaged. My hilarious wardrobe of silk slips, silk pants, silk shirts & silk robes needed the ultimate item: a sexy, bias-cut silk wedding gown.

My mom, two best friends & I went shopping in my hometown of Seattle where thankfully The Dress Theory stocked my favorite designer. The Claudette gown my mom and I had sent back and forth to each other for months arrived two days prior. It was the first gown I put on, and I never wanted to take it off.

Too lucky am I, that I got to meet with my designer Elizabeth at the beautiful Spina Bride in NYC and wear yet another one of her dresses to our pool party – the sparkling Angel dress.

Needless to say, Jack looked superfly in his dotted suit from The Kooples and beach-friendly Cole Haan loafers (which he’s trekking around in on our honeymoon right now!) He wanted a suit that stood out – it was so rad that he chose something with serious personality.

Getting Ready

Wanting “beachy waves” I took a quick dip in the Pacific Ocean to wash my hair with salt water (thankfully supervised by lifeguard bestie Allyson). My superbabes arrived at the villa and we all relaxed in my suite with just the sounds of the crashing ocean waves and breeze flying through the drapes.

Surrounded by girls encouraging me to be myself, I went basically makeup-free. Netty dabbed a bit of Glossier blush & highlighter, Jenny threw in the lip balm and we called that good. Kendall gave my hair the perfect surfer waves.

Christina volunteered as tribute turning her bathroom into a sauna to DIY steam my dress (it worked!) The final touch was my tiara, a surprise choice from an Untamed Petals sample sale that I will cherish forever. Sparkling, delicate, understated – I don’t know what else to say except that it was perfect.

The Destination

Hailing from Seattle & Texas, meeting in New York, and traveling the world together, we knew wanted a destination wedding. A “Pueblo Mágico”, Todos Santos is a chilled-out beach town in Baja California Sur void of any fussy tourists or resorts. Having spent a glorious week eating street tacos & drinking mezcal the year before, we knew this would be the perfect place for our ruckus party.

Plainly put, Villa Santa Cruz is the best venue in Todos Santos. We rented the entire stunning property for five nights, which allowed our guests to roam about the stunning villa, pool, roof deck, palapa and practically deserted beach. We watched whales swim by during our rooftop cocktail hour (and every other day!) and could see the Milky Way each night. We could not have chosen a more beautiful & special place to say our vows to each other.

“For almost an entire year, Claire kept me from seeing her dress. She wouldn’t even let me see her try on other wedding dresses for work and had me unfollow Bridal Musings for the entire year. When Marko came over the beach dune, dancing with his daughter arm in arm, I saw my beautiful bride in her dress for the first time and I was overtaken with emotion. I even said to the entire group that “the dress was so her, and that she looked so perfect.” I’m embarrassed to have been so forthcoming but I could not hold back my excitement from the exhilaration of the moment.”

– Jack, favorite moments

The Friendors

For such a small wedding we hired very few vendors, most of whom were close friends or soon-to-be. Being a wedding photographer myself it was really important that our vendors knew they were truly welcomed guests, not wedding staff. Long before the wedding, we sent them all proper invites (our handmade Todos Santos guidebooks), gave them seats at our table and made sure they knew all the booze, food and dancing was for them. Vendors work hard to create your dream wedding and they should be treated with the utmost hospitality and care, you can read more on how your vendors should be treated here.

The Important Details

Flying in from around the world, trekking down dirt roads and spending plenty to get to our wedding the most important thing to us was that we treated our guests to a good party. That meant excellent food, plenty of booze and the best DJ.

El Refugio Mezcaleria treated us to a to-die-for, family-style dinner of ceviche, poblanos en nogadas, mole, grilled fish with esquites and so much more. Being purveyors of the finest mezcal in México, the meal was paired with mezcal margaritas & special craft cocktails.

Then, our good friend Rene put on the best dance party we could have asked for. Having been tortured through endless “wedding music” playlists in my work life & seen many-a-party killed by bad tunage it was so important that the music be good and Rene killed it. We danced to plenty of funk, disco, trap, and even got to watch my mom dance to “Pop That Pussy”.

Advice to Other Couples

Throw exactly the wedding you want – don’t let anyone guilt you, convince you or sway you in any way to something that doesn’t represent the two of you – this is your celebration. You have one life to live that’s yours alone, so make it exactly what you want.

“At the end of the night, Roy Orbison’s “Crying” was the final song. I closed my eyes and we danced for the entire track, our minds and bodies connected like they would now be for the rest of time. Even with my eyes closed, it felt like all eyes were on us and that the moment was encapsulated like we were in a sort of beach themed wedding snow globe. When the song ended and I opened my eyes our friends and family were all there watching us as if they were the snowflakes in the snow globe fluttering all around us. That was a perfect ending to a perfect wedding. Then, we headed off to the bonfire to go look at the stars.”

– Jack, favorite moments

The Honeymoon

Guess what, we’re on our honeymoon right now! After we got back from Todos Santos, Jack and I sold our things, packed our bags and took off on an extended honeymoon that will take us months through Southeast Asia, Europe & beyond.

As I write this, we’re eating our hearts out in Chiang Mai, Thailand and by the time this publishes, we’ll be suntanning on the beach in Hoi An, Vietnam. Follow the honeymoon adventure on my own Instagram, adventureclaire.