Tell us a little about yourselves!
We have been together for a couple of years now, starting out as friends. Once the pandemic hit, we were spending a majority of our time together due to everything being in lockdown. It was then that we realized that we really enjoyed that time and that something was sparking. Ben is from Detroit and is a super creative person and is very talented artist and singer. Anthony is a southern gentleman from Arkansas that likes to stay busy with house projects. We compliment each other really well and have a lot of the same complimentary interests.
Why did you decide to get married where you did?
When we started looking at venues, it was easy to see that our ‘perfect venue’ in terms of price, location, and availability wasn’t going to be found in Michigan. We wanted something somewhat casual, fun, but we wanted it to be beautiful – and were considering a Sunday brunch wedding, even. Then we randomly did an online search of all-inclusive resorts in Playa del Carmen, and found Sandos Playacar. We had previously been to Tulum in 2021 and fell in love with the culture and the natural beauty down there, so Playa was a great option for us.
How many guests did you have?
65.
Tell us about your outfits.
We opted to match one another to bring everything together. At first, we thought we wanted to wear different suits but upon trying on the suits at Suit Supply and considering the weather in Mexico in May, we opted to match. We also wore matching white Cole Haan sneakers.
What was the most important aspect for you, in terms of planning your wedding?
We wanted to keep the wedding about us and be sure that everyone had a really nice time. Once we decided on the destination wedding, we really wanted to be sure that we were able to spend as much time with all the guests in Mexico as possible.
Were there any elements that were important for you to incorporate?
We both love music so when we started dating, we created a shared playlist that we could each put songs into that reminded us of each other. Being able to incorporate these was important to us both. We also wanted to be sure that we had a great photographer that we connected with so that is why we chose Samantha Sutarova. She was actually referred to us from someone that was not available for the surprise proposal shoot. Sam made us feel so comfortable right off the bat, it was a no brainer to take Sam with us down to Playa.
Any tips for couples getting married, particularly during the pandemic?
Consider the top things that are most important to you – ours was fun and really great pictures that captured the energy of the day. Also, going the all-inclusive route was amazing because they handled everything onsite through some inspiration pictures that I had sent. Another great thing was that guests did not have to spend additional money once they got to the resort. I think often times, weddings tend to not end up being about the couple and more about who are we supposed to be entertaining here (ie: parents friends/clients/ etc). Going the destination route, allowed us to alleviate any of that.
Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about?
I would certainly suggest Samantha Sutarova to anyone that is looking for photography – she was quite splendid and really took the time to connect with us. We hung out with them a couple of different times just to get to know one another before the big day.
I also cannot recommend the staff and resort at Sandos Playacar. They truly went above and beyond to make our special day so perfect. So, if you are looking for a great destination option that is not going to break the bank then I highly suggest them.
Photographer : Samantha Sutarova @samanthasutarova | Ceremony Location : Sandos Playacar Beach | Reception Location, Flora + Cake : Sandos Playacar Garden | Celebrant : Close Friend Lou Corey | Entertainment : The Caribbean trio, MC and DJ provided by Sandos Playacar | Wedding Co-ordinator : Ferndanda Perez Rico with planning by Anthony | Stationery : Lucky Lady Paper @luckyladypaper | Suits : Suit Supply @suitsupply | Wedding Rings : Metals in Time @metalsintimejewelers | Shoes : Cole Haan @colehaan