An Epic Destination Wedding at Hacienda Siesta Alegre

Or as I like to call it… The wedding that had it all.

Victoria and Mario’s wedding was nothing short of amazing. It was beautiful, romantic, fun and full of surprises. After ten months of intense planning and design we made sure every single detail of this event exceeded the expectations of the couple and their guests.

Elba Gale reached out to me back in July 2022 asking for help to plan her daughter’s wedding. Their family is from Puerto Rico so they wanted their guests to have the full Puerto Rico destination wedding experience: good food, good music, beautiful views and a very fun time. She also made sure I understood how important it was to make this wedding as unique and amazing as Vicky and Mario deserved it. Now let me tell you a little bit more about Vicky and Mario…

Vicky and Mario are two of the most beautiful souls I’ve ever met and together, they’re even more beautiful than apart. They’re adventurous, kind, loving and so much fun to be around. And to make this wedding blog post even more interesting, we’re including the words of the bride herself. Here’s what she shared with us when we asked her about her love story with Mario:

The Love Story

“Mario and I met through his cousin and best friend, Matt (who was Mario’s best man at the wedding). Matt & I taught at the same school and Mario and Matt were roommates. We always joked that Mario was a ghost roommate because we never saw him around – he was in law school and always studying. Then one night, a bunch of us went to Matt’s apartment to hang out and Mario had just finished finals- it was the first time we met. We all played some made-up game and Mario and I argued about the rules and who was winning the whole time haha. After that Mario was never a ghost. He showed up to all our students’ football games and science fairs and all our teachers’ happy hours. The rest is history 🙂“
-Victoria Lamar (The Bride)

When did you know he was the one?

“For me, there wasn’t a light bulb moment. I knew I loved him early on in our relationship but didn’t think I believed in ‘forever’ – Mario neither. Over our 9 year relationship, we spent almost 5 of them long distance due to my work taking me across the country every other year. We never put pressure on our relationship or eachother – we always said, “we will just stay together for as long as we want to.” I knew he was the one when we chose each other over and over and over.“
– Victoria Lamar

The Day-after session in Old San Juan by Phosphilic

Ok, now let’s get back to the wedding

Everything in this wedding was intentionally designed and beautifully executed. Vicky wanted a colorful wedding with Spanish influences and a tropical modern touch. After our first meeting I knew that Anabel from Stem Events was the ideal floral designer for this wedding; and I was so not wrong. She executed the couple’s vision to perfection.

The most memorable moment of the wedding

“I really thought it would be the party. (LOL) In all honesty, that’s what I was mostly looking forward to. And even though the party certainly did not disappoint, my favorite moment was the ceremony.

Mario and I wrote our vows together the morning of our wedding while all our bridesmaids and groomsmen were hanging out by the pool at the hacienda (we know, we are such procrastinators!), and getting to share the vows we wrote felt so true to who we are. Additionally, having Mario’s grandfather officiate with a ceremony he wrote for us – next to our dearest friends – in front of our families – it was just a magical moment.

Mario and I spent so much time thinking about everyone else when planning our wedding because we really wanted it to feel like everyone’s celebration. The ceremony was just for us and that was perfect.”
– Victoria Lamar

The party that did NOT disappoint

As a destination wedding planner myself I’m used to couples asking me to bring in many local favorites to entertain their guests. However, this couple literally wanted the whole deal. Piragua with liquor, cigar roller, live music, good cocktails and amazing food were only a few of the things that made this party one of the best wedding receptions ever. I mean… There was even a tequila tunnel! (Don’t worry, I didn’t know what it was before this party either LOL)

What stood out about our services?

“You really took the time to get to know me and Mario and my mother. It really felt like we were all a team. The fact that you really got to know us and built relationships with us made it so easy for me to trust you – of course I was going to have the wedding of my dreams, Alexa knows exactly what I’ll love.
The day of the wedding was executed PERFECTLY. I didn’t have to worry about a single detail. Your team anticipated literally everything – and made sure our GIANT bridal party (i think we were like 20 bridesmaids/groomsmen total? Plus the parents!) were fed and dressed and exactly where they needed to be every step of the way. I was simply BLOWN away by how perfect everything turned out.”
– Victoria Lamar