San Jose del Cabo Wedding at Acre Resort

This San Jose del Cabo Wedding at Acre Resort was a Baja dream. Whales. Warmth. Saguaros. Ocean. Fish tacos. Margaritas! Y mucho amor.

M & C knew they wanted to take their friends and family on an adventure, Cabo and Acre held significance to them, and they wanted beauty and a bit of lux to celebrate their nuptials. But they also knew they wanted an extraordinary wedding ceremony. Their initial inquiry explained they were looking for something meaningful and impactful that showcased their relationship and their love for each other. They also asked would I’d be willing to travel to Baja in February? Um….  yeah. For sure. I’ll never say no to that.

We chatted, they did their homework, we met and chatted some more, we co-created a beautiful ceremony outline, I wrote and wrote and wrote, we emailed 1000 times. And finally, on a cold February day, with all ceremonial items in tow, I hopped on a plane for their San Jose del Cabo wedding.

My first stop upon arriving to San Jose was Acre Resort itself. I had been warned that the road to Acre could get kind of gnarly, and I wanted to make sure I could drive myself up. And fyi….  for sure the road probably gets nasty in the rainy season, but I got up no problem with my little rental car. For those of you wondering, yes, Acre is really as beautiful as it seems.

I felt… um… a bit under dressed with my “been on the road” clothes and dusty baseball cap walking up those stairs, but I was greeted by warm smile and friendly faces and knew I’d feel right at home during the ceremony.  The lands are lovingly tended, a balance of neat and orderly and wild nature, and it is just a spectacular location for a wedding.

After a productive rehearsal day, helped by M & C’s fantastic wedding planner Emmanuel Vega Events, the first order of wedding day was a big hug upon arrival! We were all really excited for this ritual rich storytelling wedding ceremony.

Their flower goddess started us off right. I find the adult flower peeps trend to be delightful and if you pick the right one, you’ll get a good dose of exuberance to begin the ceremony.

They were beaming as they walked down the aisle together (which is a trend I’d like to see more of.)

I was pretty happy to see them too.

I began the ceremony with some ceremonial smoke. I found a beautiful large shell whilst walking Baja beaches, and it turned out to be the perfect size for a little bit of charcoal and a whole lot of sweet smelling plants and resins. The ritual burning of plants, herbs and incense is enacted worldwide in places of worship, ritual and prayer. It is a rite of cleansing and purification, it invokes reverence and a sacred feeling, and it alerts our psyches that something special is about to take place.  And, it also just feels (and smells!) really good.

The ceremony proceeded with a whole lot of saying thank you…. for their families, friends, the abundance and good fortune….  I shared their story, (helped by a Rupi Kaur reading by a friend,) highlighting what brought them together and what they found in each other. Snippet:

“You chatted, and soon enough, well….. you dropped it. No matter how cute those profile pics, the timing just wasn’t quite right. And although one of you may have ghosted the other, algorithmic destiny was not done with you yet and mutual Instagram follows kept you in each other’s orbit-ish. Three years after that first swipe, with the help of a story wishing pride-going folks to “have fun and kiss cute boys,” you finally met in person.

But we’d be remiss to skip over the three year gap from first swipe to first date… because it feels like that pause, before you even got started, was the way life was going to work it’s magic on you. The algorithms got the match right, clearly, but you both had your own stuff you needed to work through before this would manifest.

it has been one of the greatest and most difficult years of my life. i learned everything is temporary. moments. feelings. people. flowers. i learned love is about giving. everything. and letting it hurt. i learned vulnerability is always the right choice because it is easy to be cold in a world that makes it so very difficult to remain soft. i learned all things come in twos. life and death. pain and joy. salt and sugar. me and you. it is the balance of the universe. it has been the year of hurting so bad but living so good. making friends out of strangers. making strangers out of friends. learning mint chocolate chip ice cream will fix just about everything. and for the pains it can’t there will always be my mother’s arms. we must learn to focus on warm energy. always. soak our limbs in it and become better lovers to the world. for if we can’t learn to be kind to each other how will we ever learn to be kind to the most desperate parts of ourselves. ~rupi kaur

For you two, each in your own way, there was a sort of learning to be kind to those desperate parts of yourselves so you could be kind to others so you could in turn be kinder to yourselves. You needed to go through some tough relationships, refine your values, grow your self love and self confidence. Finally, once you had done good internal work, you came back together, at the exact right moment in your lives. This time, with vulnerability and courage, knowing yourselves to be deserving of kind and respectful love, and ready and willing to soak your limbs in that warm energy.”

After much storytelling, I incorporated a community inclusion moment….  I love how the photo below captures the joy of turning the spotlight on the guests for a bit. It’s a wonderful experience where the couple gets to connect with everyone present.

And then there was our final feat of strength before sharing vows…

“To make sure you are ready to hold all those ebbs and flows with equanimity, it’s time for one last “feat of strength” before you cross the threshold of marriage. As a final test… taking our inspiration from a yoruba wedding tradition, we will have you taste something bitter, sour, spicy and sweet. These flavors are standing in for the full spectrum of emotions and states of being you might feel as you navigate your humanity and married life together.”

Finally, having gotten present to everything that came before, it was time for vows… We slowed down, got re-centered after that arduous feat of strength. When you work with me on a custom ceremony, you definitely don’t need to write a whole book for your vows. But it can be really moving to share some authentic, honest and real words with your partner. And I love helping marriers get there. It can be a lot of emotion, for sure, but I might suggest you hug it out, if you need to.

And then… rings. For me, this is the ritual moment when you actually marry each other. With the action of placing the ring on your partner’s finger, you are saying, “Right here, right now, I marry you.”  So I love to help you fully take in that moment, as these two did below.

We closed with final thank yous, final bestowing of good juju and the recognition of marriage. Celebration, hugs and kisses all around!!!

It really was a breathtaking day, a perfect San Jose del Cabo Wedding at Acre Resort. Yes, a destination wedding will always feel a bit epic, for sure. But if you match that with a thoughtful, robust, inclusive and interactive ceremony? It just infuses the day with so much meaning and beauty. The wedding day transforms from being merely a display of the pretty things you put together into a full expression of your love, your gratitude, and everything that you hold most important.

Gorgeous photos: Ashley Tiedgen Photography
Exquisite event planning: Emmanuel Vega Events
Venue: Acre Resort in San Jose del Cabo
Ceremony & Cocktail Hour Music: Arturo Sotomayor

I high recommend all of them!  The photos speak for themselves, the ceremony backdrop and party area were so freaking beautiful, Acre is Acre, and the live music was exceptional.