Annie and Eric - Casa Carol Ann

Annie, Eric and 114 of their closest family and friends flooded into the city of Puerto Vallarta two weeks ago for a week-long celebration of their nuptials! The event was long-awaited, and when I say long-awaited, I mean loooong-awaited. Believe it or not, this couple has been together since - take a deep breath - eighth grade! Needless to say, we knew that this wedding has to be extra special, a true celebration of their love that has already, at such a young age, stood the test of time (and puberty!)

The couple choose a palette of tonal greens, touches of navy blue and a few pops of orange incorporated into just specific areas of the wedding! The mood was lively and fun, the setting was elegant and romantic - it was a perfect day!!!

A few of our amateur photos of the event to keep you appeased until we are able to get our hands on some of amazing photographer Jay Reilly's professional shots! Enjoy!

First, the pre-ceremony cocktail reception in the villa entrance terrace!






Following an hour of mojitos and mingling, guests were ushered downstairs to the main terrace for a ceremony that Annie said she hoped "would make everyone cry!" In preparation for the tears but also knowing this was a huge celebration, we brewed up a "Ceremony Essentials" table equipped with everything their guests needed for the ceremony - personalized tissue holders (for the tears), hand-painted maracas with their monogram logo (for the kiss) and Hershey's kisses (for fun)!






The huppah required for the Jewish wedding ceremony took center "stage", and hanging vases with white orchids surrounded the entire terrace, dangling above pillar candles that lined the railing. At the last moment, lush white rose petals were placed on the aisle, as well as a bit of a bribe to keep the flower girl moving toward the front!





Guests found their dinner table assignments in wooden boxes, customized with photos of the couple - from start to finish!



The dinner area setup was a bit more serene than the cocktail area - the "pops" of orange were absent, and a soft romantic vibe took over the entire villa living and dining areas! Annie liked the idea of different shape tables and varying centerpieces - of which fruit could play a part! We also used childhood photos of the couple to create personalized table numbers! So . . . this is the dinner area we came up with (daytime and nighttime shots!):














Following dinner, guests were invited back downstairs for cake, an amazing dessert buffet, cigars in the cigar lounge and relaxation in the transformed ceremony-terrace-now-lounge-area! (Sorry, my photos of the dessert buffet are really amateur!)







For professional shots of the bouquets, and some behind-the-scenes insight, visit us here.

From the bride and groom:

We're back in Chicago and its cold and raining - Eric and I are so sad to have left Puerto Vallarta so soon and are a bit depressed from ending the most amazing weekend of our lives. Words can not express how incredible everything was and how thankful we are to you both - as well as the entire Dazzling Details team. Every detail was better than the next and you truly exceeded every expectation we had. Thursday & Friday night dinners could not have been more perfect and were the best kick-off to the most amazing wedding ever.

The wedding was truly unbelievable. It was everything I pictured and more. We honestly can not thank you enough and I plan to tell everyone and anyone that will listen how amazing Dazzling Details is.

Thank you again for all of your hard work and for making our vision come to life and giving us the a better wedding than we could have dreamed!

Best, Annie & Eric Block

Carrie & Patrick - Casa Carol Ann

Carrie and Patrick exchanged vows at lovely Casa Carol Ann this past weekend! The couple requested a traditional and classic event with pops of color! Here is a peek at Saturday's event. (Photos by Roberto Aceves.)











Congratulations Carrie and Patrick!

Ira and Will - Casa Carol Ann

From the moment I met Ira and Will, it was obvious that they are a fun-loving couple and don’t take themselves too seriously (despite being attorneys)! And as anticipated, they were really fun to plan with!

A whirlwind planning trip to PV in November resulted in a very fun and family-centered February wedding at Casa Carol Ann! This was our first experience working at Carol Ann, and we absolutely fell in love with the house as it offers a couple contrasting elements that make it unique and set it apart from other PV villas:

The entrance to the villa is very reminiscent of San Miguel de Allende or Guanajuato – two of Mexico’s most well-known colonial towns. The carved doors, brick walkway, old stone fountain and lush gardens all make it seem a page out of a colonial tale.

A few steps away, the inner portion of the villa is much more Mediterranean in style! And the lower terrace offers a taste of “beach Mexico” – a beautiful view of the ocean and town, a lovely pool and a large rustic and beautiful palapa! From the terrace, there is an incredible view of the city of PV and yet, the villa is set close enough to the beach that the waves can still be heard!

Ira and Will wanted to create a bright, festive and fun event with deep reds, gold and subtle touches that honored Chinese tradition. We knew, after having met them, that their good-nature and oh-so-obvious carefree, positive outlook on life had to be reflected into the celebration as well!

The entrance to the house was draped in elegant chiffons and hanging rosebuds . . .



. . . and guests stepped through the wrought iron gate and into a colonial-style garden ceremony which we kept pretty traditional at the request of the couple. Thousands of rose petals were used to surround pillar candles and fill the beautiful fountain and a live harpist strummed classical music nearby.


Downstairs in the reception area, an elaborate lounge area invited guests to mingle and enjoy the spectacular view from the terrace, and the personalities of the bride and groom unfolded in a few special details that were incorporated into the décor!


We asked Ira and Will to send us their favorite pictures of themselves together and turned those photos into the focus of their reception décor. We worked tirelessly to convert the photos to black and white, leaving only slight “pops” of color on each one. The beautiful glass appetizer table showed off several of these photos in frames.

Anticipating that their guests wouldn’t sit for long, the couple wanted the bulk of their décor budget to go into the overall reception area, keeping dinner tables fairly simple. Centerpieces were created out of painted PVC piping (!), and each wrapped with one of the couple’s photos printed on clear labels - a budget-friendly and very personal touch! Circus roses, red roses and orange lilies peeked out of the top of the handmade vases!



The biggest challenge of working at Casa Carol Ann was dealing with the extremely low ceilings in the dinner area.We pondered this situation and really tried to come up with an idea that would incorporate the ceiling into the dinner décor in a positive way so that guests didn’t feel claustrophobic and enclosed! What we came up with did the trick . . . and looked beautiful!

Here’s the Before and After shots of the dinner area:


We built hanging candle chandeliers that were suspended from the ceiling above the center of each table, providing an elegant and romantic glow from the low ceiling at dinnertime!


A couple final details made the evening extra special for this couple:

1. We utilized two beautiful stone niches underneath the stairway to honor the groom’s passed mother. Her photo was displayed surrounded by flowers and candles.


2. Dinner seating assignment cards mimicking the tablecloth design were displayed in gold-wrapped chocolate truffles.


3. A beautiful cake added a touch of whimsy to the evening, and the slices were served next to individual chocolates in the shape of the Chinese wedding symbol: “double happiness.”



4. As a favor for guests, we created Ira and Will’s wedding soundtrack – “Will & Ira Take Mexico, the soundtrack” - a compilation of the songs heard throughout the day – from a recording of the harpist’s processional song, to a few numbers performed by the Latin guitarist who wandered among the crowd during cocktail hour to a special (and surprise) song that the bride sang post-dinner for the groom. The cd cover, of course, was one of the very photos displayed on the dinner table centerpieces.


This was truly a fantastic event - from beginning to end – and so very much fun to plan! Congratulations to Ira and Will – we know that they will laugh their way through life together!