Karla had her heart set on getting married at the enchanting Hacienda Uayamon from the moment she saw it in a photo online. Sounds like someone else I know.
Karla stumbled across Ben’s and my own wedding photos from Hacienda Uayamon in Campeche, Mexico, while Googling “magical wedding venues.” She wrote me and wanted to know everything – the how/what/who of how to plan a wedding there. I had the same experience the first time I saw a photo of a Uayamon wedding online. I knew I had to get married there. I love getting the chance to talk about this beautiful place, so Karla and I began a fun email exchange that would eventually lead to her booking Uayamon, and also hiring us as her photographers.
Karla is a former NBA dancer (with the New Jersey Nets) and was Miss New York USA 2002. She now lives in Los Angeles, working in television and online media outlets as an actress, host and stylist. She is a ball of energy and delight, and we were excited to have such a vibrant, fun person as one of our first brides of 2014.
Karla and Josh did a first look so they could take advantage of the gorgeous pre-ceremony light around Uayamon. The twilight ceremony was filled with emotion and happy tears. And the reception was everything you might expect from a guest list that included people from New York, Los Angeles and Italy, not to mention professional dancers from Karla’s NBA days.
I’ve said it many times, but there really is an indescribable magic about Mexico. The beauty, the food, the kindness and warmth of the people there, the heat, and the allure of being in a wild, tropical place where anything can happen. Hacienda Uayamon, a 19th century former farming village 30 minutes from the nearest town, embodies all of that magic.
“I love that bats were flying through the chapel during our ceremony,”Karla told me. “I loved how remote the location was and all of the creatures that scared and thrilled our family and friends during their stay. I love that it is unlike any place you will ever see in the world. I wanted a unique, interesting, moving, sincere and memorable wedding. We certainly got it.”
As I told her in my emails, it can be difficult planning a Mexico wedding, and you’ll run into many frustrations and roadblocks, but having a wedding there is absolutely worth it. After all was said and done, and she and Josh were back in Los Angeles, Karla wrote me again, and this was the first line of her email:
“Erin, it was SO worth it.”