A Colorful Beach Party Wedding Weekend in Riviera Maya, Mexico

Avery and Tom's wedding celebration on Mexico's Riviera Maya was a vibrant, multi-day experience where thoughtful design, meaningful traditions, and effortless hospitality came together in perfect balance. Drawing inspiration from the resort's earthy architecture and lush tropical surroundings, the couple transformed each event into a world of its own, moving from understated elegance to playful bursts of color while maintaining a beautifully cohesive aesthetic throughout. Every illustrated detail, custom keepsake, and carefully planned guest experience reinforced the feeling that this wasn't simply a wedding — it was a weekend designed to be lived, shared, and remembered. Beautifully documented by our member Camila Urrea, with cinematic storytelling by Efege, every moment was captured with the same artistry and intention that defined the celebration itself.

Our Love Story

The Day We Met

Tom and I met on a dating app in 2017, just two days after I moved to Los Angeles. Our first date lasted eight hours, and Tom is six years older than I am, but he still loves to remind me that on our very first date, I confidently told him I was mentally older than he was. Although our relationship wasn't completely straightforward at first because of our different religious backgrounds, we found our way back to each other during the pandemic. By then, we had both grown in the ways we needed to, and this time, everything aligned.

The Proposal

Tom surprised me with the most incredible proposal during a family trip to the South of France. The day before I was supposed to fly home, my brother insisted we visit an art museum in Saint-Paul-de-Vence. After two weeks of traveling, I did everything I could to get out of going, so looking back, it's a miracle I even had makeup on. Instead, I arrived at Château Saint-Martin, where Tom was waiting for me in the gardens with my dream ring. Celebrating afterward with both of our families made it even more special.

The Engagement Ring

I actually chose my engagement ring years before we got engaged. Around the time Tom and I found our way back to each other, I came across a ring that immediately felt like "the one." I remember thinking that if we ever got engaged, that was exactly the ring I hoped I'd be wearing. One of Tom's closest friends, an incredibly talented jeweler in Los Angeles, brought it to life beautifully. Seeing it for the first time was surreal because it looked exactly how I had imagined all those years before.

Our Wedding

The Vision

From the very beginning, we wanted to throw the kind of wedding weekend people wish they could go back to. Our biggest goal was to give our guests a break from their normal lives and responsibilities for a few days and create a space where everyone could simply enjoy being together.

It was just as important that the weekend felt unmistakably like us. I knew I wasn't going to have a neutral wedding, and I loved using bold colors and thoughtful details to transform each event. We wanted guests to be surprised every time they walked into a new space while still feeling like it was all part of the same celebration.

Our Team of Vendors

Bringing our vision to life took an incredible team of talented people who each helped bring different pieces of the weekend together. We're so grateful to everyone who played a role in making the weekend possible. 

The team at Etéreo deserves a special mention because they embraced every idea we brought them and never made us feel like anything was too ambitious. They were just as excited about the wedding as we were, and their enthusiasm and flexibility gave us the confidence to dream big and bring those ideas to life.

The Location

We always knew we wanted to get married in Mexico, but the moment we stepped onto Etéreo's property, we knew we had found the place. One of the things that stood out to us right away was how thoughtfully the resort was designed to preserve the surrounding mangroves and natural landscape, making it feel unlike anywhere else we had visited. The resort's earthy materials and natural palette became the perfect canvas for our wedding, and some of my favorite design decisions from the entire weekend came from that contrast. We loved that every event could have its own personality while still feeling connected to the surroundings.

The Ceremony

Our ceremony was always going to be the emotional heart of the weekend. We wanted it to feel deeply personal, spiritual, and intimate while creating a moment where everyone could slow down and simply be present. From the beginning, we knew we didn't want a traditional ceremony layout. We loved the idea of a curved aisle leading guests toward a chuppah that felt like a garden.

We wanted the space to feel immersive while still letting the ceremony speak for itself. Our Jewish traditions were incredibly important to us, and our rabbi did a beautiful job of making every guest, regardless of their background, feel connected to what was happening. More than anything, we hoped people left feeling our love.

The Cocktail Hour

We chose to have cocktail hour before our ceremony because we wanted guests to have time to settle in, connect with one another, and take in the incredible surroundings before everything began. We intentionally kept the décor understated because we didn't want every event to compete with the next. Etéreo's architecture already felt like a design moment in itself, with limestone walkways, reflecting pools fed by the natural cenotes beneath the property, and lush tropical landscaping. While our guests enjoyed cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, we were just steps away signing our ketubah with our closest family and friends. We loved that guests could naturally wander between the two, allowing one of the most meaningful Jewish traditions of our wedding to feel like part of the celebration rather than something happening separately.

The Reception

After such an emotional ceremony, we wanted the reception to feel like stepping into an entirely different world. We instinctively knew we wanted a colorful tent, and the contrast of the bright orange tent against the white sand and blue water ended up being one of my favorite design decisions from the entire weekend. We loved watching our guests round the corner and have that immediate "wow" moment before they even stepped inside. Inside, it somehow still felt warm and intimate despite the scale of everything. Once our DJ, Nathan, started playing, it became everything we had ever hoped for and more.

The Special Touches

I've always believed it's the smallest details that people remember most. Once we had our custom illustrations, we had so much fun finding little ways to incorporate them throughout the weekend, giving guests new details to discover from one event to the next. One of my favorite details was our custom deck of cards. It felt like the perfect keepsake for a destination wedding, something guests could actually use throughout the weekend and take home afterward. Our 24-hour snack bar was another favorite. Filling it with all of our favorite treats ended up being such a fun surprise after long nights of celebrating. Watching our guests discover those little details throughout the weekend was incredibly rewarding.

Our Favorite Moment

It's almost impossible to choose one favorite moment because the entire weekend was filled with unforgettable memories. If we had to pick one, though, it would be the pool party the day after the wedding. After months of planning and the excitement of the wedding day, it was the first time Tom and I felt like we could finally take a deep breath and simply enjoy everything we had created. It was so much fun seeing all of the little details come to life, from our illustrated pool floats to the personalized coconuts and custom popsicles. Our friend Daniel kicked off the afternoon DJing before Nathan took over, and somehow the energy picked right back up where the wedding had left off. Weeks later, it's still one of the moments our guests talk about most.

Our Style

The Bridal Looks

Finding my wedding wardrobe took more time than almost any other part of planning. I had a really hard time connecting with traditional bridal style, so I spent months searching for pieces that felt unique and genuinely exciting to me. I knew color was going to be such a big part of the wedding, so I wasn't interested in wearing white all weekend. Finding the gold Andrea Almeida dress for our welcome party felt like the perfect way to kick everything off.

I completely fell in love with Danielle Frankel because her designs feel both timeless and incredibly modern, and I always knew that's what I wanted to wear for the ceremony. One of my favorite looks from the weekend was the Jacquemus dress I wore from the Spring-Summer 2026 "Le Paysan" collection for Shabbat dinner. Looking back, I love how every outfit felt distinct while still feeling like part of the same weekend.

The Groom Looks

Tom wanted to look cool and elevated throughout the weekend, but it was really important to him that none of his looks felt like a costume. He tried what felt like every tuxedo imaginable before ultimately landing on a classic Armani tuxedo for the wedding day, which felt timeless and true to him. One of our favorite style moments happened naturally when Tom picked up my Jacquemus dress in-store and fell in love with a suit he spotted there. We ended up wearing coordinating Jacquemus looks to Shabbat dinner, which felt especially special because it's a brand we both genuinely love.

Our Advice

For the Planning Process

Start earlier than you think you need to. Once we had our venue and the big-picture decisions in place, we thought we could relax, but we quickly realized that all of the small, thoughtful details we wanted to incorporate took much more time than we expected. My biggest advice is to give yourself enough time to enjoy that process instead of feeling rushed at the end.

I also can't recommend enough approaching the planning process as a team. We were so lucky that we both wanted to be involved, which made the workload feel much more manageable and brought us even closer throughout the process. At the end of the day, remember that the wedding is really meant to be a stop on the way to a happy marriage together.

For On The Day

I know everyone's advice is always to try and be as present as possible, but truly try to take a few moments throughout the day to stop and simply look around. Watching the people we love connect with one another and have the time of their lives ended up meaning even more to me than I ever expected. Those are the memories I'll hold onto forever.

For Post-Wedding

One of the best decisions we made was spending a few quiet days together immediately after the wedding before jumping back into real life. We completely disconnected, relived our favorite moments from the weekend, and started talking about our goals and dreams as a married couple. It gave us the chance to soak in such a special chapter before it became a memory. I'm still working on this part myself, but I'd also encourage couples not to let a few imperfect moments overshadow everything that went right. It's so easy to replay the things you wish had gone differently, but I've found it really helps to intentionally replace those thoughts with a favorite memory from the weekend.