Tropical Destination Wedding in Aruba featured on Destination I Do: Maura & Adam- Konsider It Done - Aruba - AZ Arizona Wedding & Event Planner, Designer, Coordinator Planning in Scottsdale, Phoenix, Paradise Valley, Tempe, Gilbert, Mesa, Chandler, …

Maura and Adam were married last summer in Aruba at the beautiful Hilton Hotel. Their colorful, intimate wedding has since been featured on Destination I Do, along with some tips/insight from the bride’s perspective for planning a destination wedding. Since we were lucky enough to get to plan along side them for almost a year, site unseen, we figured we should share a bit about the actual planning process.

M & A knew from day 1 that they wanted to have a destination wedding, they just didn’t know exactly where. With them each spending a lot of their life moving around the US, they knew the majority of their friends and family would have to travel to the wedding, regardless of where it was held. Their theory was, why not make it a place that could also be somewhat of a vacation for those willing to travel. After jointly doing a bunch of research, they settled on the Caribbean. Aruba was the perfect place- it’s beautiful, warm, and not a part of the hurricane path. Only issue- they’d never been there and neither had we. We were going to have to plan this wedding completely sight unseen and cross our fingers that all would go to plan once we arrived on property. They opted to go with a Hilton property, knowing we’d be in good hands vs the unknowns of going with a small boutique hotel in another country that none of us had ever visited. When planning vacation only, we are big, big fans of unique boutique hotels, but when planning. a wedding, we all felt more comfortable with a big name property. Also, knowing that it wan’t the easiest (or cheapest) place to get to, we took into consideration cost for guest accommodations.

Since most of their guests were coming for 5-7 days, they wanted to ensure they got to spend quality time with everyone making the trek. They had several different gatherings throughout the week, beyond just the wedding. We had arrived a couple days before the wedding to walk the property and meet our on-site contacts. We also opted to stay a few days after the wedding considering we’d never been to Aruba before. Once the “work” was done, we really got to enjoy the island. It was so fun getting to spend so much time with both the couple and their guests while also sorta being on vacation. It was the perfect mix of work and play.

Now, for the design of this wedding, we knew we wanted to keep it cohesive to the location. It helped that the tropical style weddings have become fairly popular over the last couple of years. The hotel preferred that we used several of their vendors of choice to make it easy for all parties involved- flowers, cake, linens, rentals, musicians, officiant. We opted to use several of our fav go-to vendors from AZ for things like photography, attire, stationary. Both Maura and Adam are pretty low- maintenance and chill people so they didn’t have too many strong opinions on specifics for the day, plus they knew there were going to be a lot of unknown circumstances (ie- getting through customs with items for the wedding, weather, property layout, supplies on the island, etc…). Because of all of this, we tried to keep the setup and decor pretty simple. We opted for a bright color palette that complimented the tropical features of the island. The way we brought in these colors was mostly via the bouquets that ended up really stealing the show against the emerald green, floor length bridesmaid’s dresses. The guys went a bit more casual but sported some rad pineapple ties that paired well with their blue linen pants. We really wanted to highlight the incredible greenery seen everywhere around the island, so we used a lot of palm fronds and monstera leaves…bonus- this stuff was cheap and already on the island so we knew there’d be no problem getting some for their big day. Our groom did have one request throughout the planning- tiki torches. Amazing request, right? We knew we had to make this happen for him so we made sure to have them front and center during cocktail hour adorned with bougainvillea to dress them up a bit. They blended perfectly with the local steel pan drums artist and the killer sunset. Sometimes with a smaller, more intimate wedding, assigned seating isn’t always required. We knew we wanted an excuse to use monstera leaves (hand lettered with first names only) as placemats, so we opted for those assigned seats after all. The couple used a local map of Aruba (that they purchased upon arrival) as their guest book with plans to frame it once they got back home to Arizona.

There was really only one issue on the wedding day. THE WIND. Our on-site contact from the resort had mentioned several times via email that it’s sometimes windy on the island. We all assumed that meant there would be some slight wind here and there, on the beach, near the water. NOPE. We showed up to wind averaging 30mph and gusts up to 45mph at times. Ya’ll…. that is A LOT of wind. It made for a few issues during setup. I’ve never had to use an entire thing of Glue Dots at a single wedding before (it took 6-10 per placemat). It didn’t help that the reception was held on the pool deck which was basically a wind tunnel. Centerpieces were being knocked over left and right, napkins were a joke, and even the table linens were trying to make their escape (while fully set). It was unlike anything we’d ever had to manage before, but in the end, it all worked out.

Maura & Adam- thank you for allowing us to help you through this process. We loved the time we got to spend together, both in Arizona and Aruba. We have loved watching Max grow up the last couple of years but we especially loved watching Max steal the show on your special day. Aruba will always hold a special place in our hearts now that we got to experience it with you guys. Cheers to more happy years of marriage and many more island vacations. We love you guys!!!