Everything You Need to Know about your Destination Wedding in Mexico
Playa Mermejita, Oaxaca, Mexico
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These prices can vary significantly depending on whether you are getting married at a resort or renting an epic Air B&B & planning your own party! If you’re getting married at a 4.5 star resort in Cancun (a typically touristy area), you should expect to spend around $5000-7000 at an all inclusive hotel.
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Typically January & February tend to be the most popular months for destination weddings. Despite being winter months in Mexico, the temperatures are still very warm.
Mexico is a very big country, so it’s worth doing your own local weather research based on the area in which you’re travelling! -
October & November are deemed ‘the off season’ for travellers in Mexico, so you might be able to scoop up a discount if you’re hoping to save some money on your destination wedding!
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Well if you’re anything like me, you’re always keen to travel! The recommended time frame is around 3-4 days for guests. This gives everyone time to adjust, settle in & prepare for celebrations! A post-wedding hangover pool day is always recommended as well. After that, guests can go their separate ways!
Calais & Graham
I did feel it was fitting to blog one of my all time favourite destination weddings back in early 2020 (before shit hit the fan), because it was the last time I traveled outside of the country…
so! WHAT FEELS LIKE 17 YEARS AGO, BACK IN FEBRUARY 2020, I HAD THE SUPREME HONOUR OF PHOTOGRAPHING THE COMMITMENT CELEBRATION BETWEEN TWO OF MY VERY DEAR FRIENDS. GRAHAM & CALAIS, WHO DECIDED TO ELOPE NEAR PUERTO ESCONDIDO IN OAXACA, MEXICO SURROUNDED BY ALL THEIR NEAREST AND DEAREST.
Where to begin… and who even reads these? … to all four of you who are going to make it through to the end of this post, thank you…
Calais and I met over a decade (!!!) ago when we were just wee spring chickens in the midst of our twenties while serving at The Strathcona Hotel. We immediately hit it off. To be honest, my memory of our early friendship is foggy, but very likely there was booze, laughter and dancing. Her partner, Graham, and I met each other somewhere in that mix. Shortly after our summer stint at The Strath, Calais was accepted into grad school out East in Ottawa; I was gutted to have our friendship cut short. You know those kindred spirits you encounter, and if given the time, you’d most certainly be best friends? well that was Gray and Calais.
Luckily, due to THE connection we established early on, we continued to see each other every year or two whenever they came to visit the West Coast. That’s just the type of people Gray and Calais are, they’ll always make time for you, even when you’re a seemingly unimportant, distant pal. They feel like the old friends you have where there’s no awkwardness to your reintroduction, just right back where you left off. On their last visit to Vancouver Island, about a year before their commitment ceremony, they asked me if I would go to Mexico with them to photograph their elopement! Pinch me.
Fast forward to arriving in Oaxaca - now officially my favourite state in Mexico. I could (and will) write an entirely separate blog post on my love for Oaxaca in all it’s culture-rich, Mezcal-infused glory, but I’ll save that for a separate dreary Canadian winter day. Their celebration was to be held in a tiny beach town along the coast of Oaxaca called Zipolite, which I immediately fell in love with. There was something so endearing about this place, it wasn’t overly developed, still possessing its authentic charm, the food was next level, and barely anyone spoke English. Perfect.
The days prior to the party were full of preparation and excitement, a bunch of us were staying in an absolutely over the top Air B&B, called Villa Calypso, while another crew stayed just down the road at Casa Faro, where the ceremony was to take place.
Their ceremony was the most unique I have ever experienced, completely and truly catered to them as a couple, with out a hint of meaningless tradition (f*ck the patriarchy was an underlying theme). They had an altar set up paying homage to their cat back home, performed a tea ceremony uniting their families, ceremoniously split an orange like Rafiki in The Lion King, and they read aloud a list of 10 promises to each other followed by their vows. NO ONE had a dry eye.
There are a million more stories to tell - the following day’s pool party infused by weed chocolates and all the leftover booze from the wedding, among others, but this is getting longer than intended. After I sit here reflecting on this time celebrating the love between Calais & Gray, I’m filled with so much gratitude. I feel lucky to bear witness, and document, the profound levels that love can reach.
