Jenny and Travis tied the knot just outside of Playa del Carmen. With a beachside ceremony in the most beautiful palm tree grove followed by a poolside dinner, we knew things could only get better and better as the day went on. Let’s just say that the evening involved Graeme changing from his suit into swim trunks so he could photograph the dancing that became a full-blown pool fiesta.

A sequined gown. A lush floral arch. A Mariachi band. Churros. Tequilla. A dance party in a pool.

You’re gonna love this.

Jennifer and Jason kicked off 2016 well: with a wedding celebration in the golden sands and abundant warmth of Mexico’s Pacific coast. It was a take your breath away kind of place. With a ceremony in the sand beside jewel-blue waters and dinner and dancing under palm tree branches until midnight when the call of “meet you at the disco!” was met with cheers, it was a day we won’t soon forget. A snippet of their wedding awaits below-enjoy!

And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon.

This was a day made of dreams-of a barefoot bride, bluegrass, and a food truck dinner beside the vineyard. A bit of dancing and a lot of talking and catching-up under the stars with a side of ping pong. Enjoy the slice of it we’ve shared here.

Dancin’ where the stars go blue
Dancin’ where the evening fell
Dancin’ in your wooden shoes
In a wedding gown

Where do you go when you’re lonely
Where do you go when you’re blue
Where do you go when you’re lonely
I’ll follow you
When the stars go blue.

You may have the universe if I may have Italy. - Giuseppe Verdi

This is a story of two adventurous souls who dreamed of something a little bit different for their wedding. Both Rachel and Bryce run their own companies and lead very busy lives, so the last thing they wanted to do was plan a big traditional wedding and the one thing they knew they were ready for was an adventure. So, they invited their close friends and family to adventure with them to the heart of Tuscany, Italy. There were twenty-one of us all together and Graeme and I were welcomed as one of their own; invited to sit at the table next to parents and aunts and friends as the wine was refilled and the many candles burned low.

I remember arriving to the villa on Sunday afternoon and being in awe. It was all golden sunshine and heavy wooden doors and passageways and old keys. Nooks and crannies and windows with unbeatable views. It was beautiful and enchanting.

We were lucky enough to share this place with Rachel & Bryce and all their awesome people for four days. Day one was our arrival and a walk around the villa to explore. One the second day, all their guests arrived and enjoyed a wine tour. After their wedding day at the villa, everyone drove out to the Medieval town of Castellina where the legal Italian ceremony was performed in Castellina’s town hall… which was basically a castle. Rachel woredonned her Grandmother’s wedding dress (oxy-cleaned-in-a-bathtub) for the occasion and it was spectacular. You’ll see.

There are so many things we could gush on about Rachel & Bryce and their amazing adventure wedding. We left Italy with full hearts and we’re so excited to share that journey with you. Enjoy.

Arrival at the Villa

The Day Before the Wedding

The Wedding Day

Castellina

Rachel & Bryce also commissioned us to create a stop-motion film of their wedding day and it is brilliant:

Helen & Skye were married in a place where a wander through the dappled light in the forest brought you to a big rock by a lake and where the clouds in the sky were mirrored in the water below. There were many beautiful things about their wedding that we have stored away in our hearts. During their ceremony, a passage from The Velveteen Rabbit was read and it was so lovely that we’re going to leave that for you, here, along with the photographs from their glorious weekend at camp.

“What is REAL?” asked the Rabbit one day… “Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?”

“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.”

“Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit.

“Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”

“Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”

“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”

“I suppose you are real?” said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive. But the Skin Horse only smiled.

“The Boy’s Uncle made me Real,” he said. “That was a great many years ago; but once you are Real you can’t become unreal again. It lasts for always.”

“Weeks passed, and the little Rabbit grew very old and shabby, but the Boy loved him just as much. He loved him so hard that he loved all his whiskers off, and the pink lining to his ears turned grey, and his brown spots faded. He even began to lose his shape, and he scarcely looked like a rabbit any more, except to the Boy. To him he was always beautiful, and that was all that the little Rabbit cared about. He didn’t mind how he looked to other people, because the nursery magic had made him Real, and when you are Real shabbiness doesn’t matter.”

The Evening Before

The Wedding Day

We also had the joy of creating one of our stop-motion films of Helen & Skye’s weekend: