A wedding celebration
in Baja, Mexico
Meet the couple…
ALEC & RACHAEL
THE COUPLE
Our sweet friends Alec & Rachael eloped in Puglia, Italy and returned home to San Diego to celebrate with friends just south of the border in Baja, Mexico. Rachael is known in the wedding industry as a very talented floral designer. Because she’s designed hundreds of weddings herself, she wanted their wedding celebration to be on the smaller, more intimate side of things.
The wedding weekend was held at Las Gaviotas, a resort-style beach community made up of multiple vacation homes, a beach front pool, clubhouse and tennis court. Friday night’s welcome party and Sunday’s brunch were held at one of the large, ocean-front residences, and Saturday’s festivities were hosted in the beautiful clubhouse and cocktail hour by the pool.
THE VIBE
1970’s Tijuana dive bar meets disco party. They asked guests to lean into their inner 60s-70s, so Al’s suit and Rach’s jumpsuit was a nod to that era.
THE VENUE
THE PARTIES
Guests checked in on Friday afternoon and were greeted with a casual ocean-front welcome party. Throughout the weekend, there was plenty of downtime for friends to surf, enjoy poolside cocktails or soak up the sunshine. The wedding celebration was on Saturday evening in the heart of the community at the poolside clubhouse. The weekend was rounded out with a Sunday brunch with chilaquiles and fresh fruit before heading back to San Diego.
THE ELOPEMENT
The couple and a few of their friends had plans to go to Europe for the summer. Rachael proposed the idea of eloping in Italy. With Alec’s sister Emily as the officiant and soul mate pal and photographer, Dani, by their sides, the couple shared their vows in a remote location in Pulgia. Rachael shared, “We chose Italy because we'd gone there when we'd first started dating, so it felt fitting to get married there 5 years later. And we both have Italian heritage. Dani chose the location; I wanted her to be able to guide it based on where she'd be most inspired photographically. Emily and I foraged for my bouquet the morning of. Al & I wrote our vows the same day… all having a good cry individually along the way. Everything just felt effortless, raw and beautiful. There was absolutely zero stress and so much tenderness and peace.”
THE RECEPTION
From the bride, “As intimate as we wanted our ceremony to be, we knew we'd want to celebrate with everyone who has meant so much to us in our relationship and over the years. We chose Rosarito because we've been traveling south to Mexico since the beginning together and all throughout dating. It's one of our favorite places in the world. Las Gaviotas is chill and easy (and so affordable). We loved that everyone could stay there and all make a weekend out of it. It was the absolute best weekend that flew by, and it was also so special that so many of our favorite vendor friends got to be a part of it!”
THE DETAILS
For Saturday’s dinner table design, we paired tons of ivory and honey colored candles on wooden pillars with romantic floral arrangements to warm up the monochromatic table. An artist friend of the couple drew images of all the guests to mark their seats—a fun keepsake and delightful discovery.
A design tip from Rachael: “It's easy to get caught up in trends, or wanting your wedding to be "blog-worthy" etc., but the most genuine way to approach an event like this is to just make sure it speaks true of you and your partner.”
FOOD & BEVERAGE
Cocktail hour started off poolside with the Mystic Rabbit, a mezcal based cocktail made with pineapple and lime and the Superbloom, a vodka, aperol and sparkling wine refresher.
Tray-passed appetizers were custom C&C cones, shaved jamón ibérico, charred fig leaf ricotta, & handmade almond macarons, pork belly char siu with a green onion and pepita chutney, and a crispy squash blossom filled with zucchini & pistachio with chimichurri.
We served a Mexican inspired family-style dinner, starting with a summer salad made of burrata, stone fruit, purslane, heirloom tomatoes and crispy sourdough. Mains included an achiote roasted pork shoulder with pickled carrot salad, black bean & vegetable enchiladas with housemade guajillo sauce, avocado and cotija, Rancho Gordo heirloom beans with moruno spices and housemade masa dumplings with fresh corn and pasilla peppers.
Dessert was a true delight: ice cream from An’s Dry Cleaning in North Park. The MIHO Culinary team scooped three flavors of gelato from our custom-made ice cream cart!
THE HIGHLIGHTS
We asked Rach & Al what aspects of their wedding that they’ll remember forever. This is what they shared:
The morning of the elopement, foraging and vow writing.
A moment of stillness with Al, just feeling all our feelings before breaking off into vows and getting ready.
First look at the elopement.
Italians nearby at the ceremony location shouting out "Amore!" and clapping when we sealed it with a smooch.
At the celebration, seeing everyone's reactions to their portraits and place cards!
Watching all of our friends and family enjoy each other so much and have a blast.
Jumping in the pool at the end of the night.
And the FOOD, of course.
Design, Planning, Catering & Bar: MIHO | Photos: Kathryn Caudle & Dani Toscano | Rentals: Adore Folklore & Catalog Atelier | Ice Cream: An’s Dry Cleaning | Florals: Siren Floral Co. & Emily Petros | DJ: Ian Tilghman | Calligraphy: Emily Snyder | Portrait Drawings: Zack Sorenson | Paper Goods: Epoch Designs | Bride’s Jumpsuit: Flora Bridal | Elopement Dress: Sarah Seven | Jewelry: Marrow Fine | HMU Support: KC Witkamp