Where to begin… well, we did some emailing about 6 months ahead to add this "little" wedding onto our annual holiday to Rivera Maya. We were going to be a smallish group and this area means so much to us. I didn't know what we were looking at but we kept in touch and did what we could to secure our key vendors given to us through Gina (Minister, Photographer, Videographer) for our date that kept changing! We were very close to the date actually in traditional wedding planning terms when we were getting deposits over to these people in Mexico (from Canada).
Gina, we brought you the basics; a bride, a groom, their son and some friends and family. We brought our wedding clothes, and our rings and our love, but you brought us "a wedding"!
You created a gorgeous main event that we hadn't dared to hope for even for ourselves, after all we've been together 12 years and have a son and a house etc...we were just thinking about a beach ceremony and dinner somewhere as a group, elegant and not too informal so it would have a sense of occasion and glamour. Well, we met in person on a Wednesday afternoon and we were getting married on Monday and where we landed was so far beyond what we had envisioned and we are thrilled we at how it all evolved. We really want to thank you for making it so spectacular and respecting our budget as well.
My best advice to anyone blessed to be referred to Gina, and through her, her vendors, is just trust her, and get her onboard with your special day. Also as much as you can, don't hesitate to hand over the reigns, you are in such good hands and you won't be dissapointed. The best wedding gift we were given was the first one, Gina's email address! Her problem solving skills are creative and practical and like the improvisation expert she is (she has to be in that business) it's seamless, positive and fun, and always with your best interest at heart. I felt totally in the loop of decisions and changes and that the priority was always what was best for us.
The only regret we had was we second guessed her alcohol estimate and insisted on more wine and beer and Margharitas for our small group than she had suggested, guess what we had left over? Wine and beer and Margharitas. These, however are good problems to have.
I made the decision early on to trust Gina completely, in part because there was a chance I'd be away on business for the full week before the wedding (the first 7 days of our holiday) and would arrive to just in time to walk down the aisle. Thankfully that didn't end up happening but for some reason I stayed with the idea that hey, this is her turf, I already know I love her asthetic from her website and the photos and I feel the she "gets" us so I just did pretty much whatever she suggested and it really paid off for us. Mainly because we got to be stress free in the planning and still enjoy our holiday before and we got to be relaxed "guests" almost at our own wedding. We had an amazing day, and evening and next day actually because we were at Casa Mim. The ideas she put together I would never have be able to arrange and we felt very lucky to have the all those contacts of hers involved. Not one of them dissapointed, quite the opposite actually. So before you think she paid us something for this (hey there's an idea) we'll sign off by saying Gina, thank you, it doesn’t seem like enough for what you gave us, but thank you, thank you, thank you.
Con mucho carino
Anne Coughlan Bulani & Phi Bulani
(and of course the best "ring-burier" in the world Theo)
Bride and Groom - Anne and Phi