Dallas Wedding Planner is excited to start a new week featuring the real wedding of Tifani and Russell. This great destination wedding took place in Tulum, Mexico on June 23, 2009. Here’s our interview with Tifani and some great images of their wedding from their Dallas photographer, Celina Gomez of Captivating Simplicity.

Ceremony Location: Tulum, Mexico
Reception Location: Beach front of Dreams Tulum Resort in Tulum, Mexico

How did the two of you meet?
We met by a chance email, we are both a little bit hard headed and got into it over an email… six years later we are married :)

Did you know right away that you wanted a destination wedding? This is funny to me because I never even thought about having a destination wedding.  We wanted to stay in Dallas, and even had a deposit down on the location, cake, transportation and a few other things until I changed my mind.  After a second visit to the venue I was freaking out over drapes and the color of carpet.  Our colors were pink and green for a May garden wedding, and I could not come to terms with the maroon drapes and carpet at the venue.  My mom and maid of honor said I had wedding blinders on when I  booked the place. Then we had to not only think of our budget, but our guests budget.  We had our mind set on the Caribbean (Antigua, St. Lucia etc.) but then found not many resorts are all inclusive.  We then looked into Hawaii, Florida and finally settled on Mexico.

Looks like a great location in Mexico. Beautiful colors at every turn.

Reason for choosing a destination wedding? Not finding the venue of my dreams that had food and location here in Dallas. (There are a lot of wonderful venues don’t get me wrong but what I wanted was not in my price range.  In my mind I would have had a brand new facility built for our wedding to meet my expectations.

What was your favorite part of your wedding day? That it was stress free.  I was at the pool and hanging out on the beach the morning of my wedding.  Then we had an afternoon that was wonderful at the spa.  But the best part was walking down the beach to meet my soon to be husband.

The bright pink and orange colors make for a fun filled day.

Who attended? How many guests were in attendance? Family and friends, it was a small wedding as most destination weddings are.

Did you have any vendors who traveled to your destination or were they all local? The only vendor we had travel was Celina Gomez from Captivating Simplicity.  I must say that pictures were the MOST important part of our wedding, next to the vows and she did an amazing job.  I was so happy with her, that she will be the person that I turn to for family, birthday, and any other photography needs.  She has the best work ethic of anyone I know.

Did you have any other activities the guests were involved with during their stay since it was a destination wedding? We had a bonfire planned for the rehearsal dinner, but had to settle for a dinner because of sea turtle nesting season. They said that sea turtles do not like bright lights.  I was prepared for this because the planner said that it was not confirmed until a week out.  We also had a trip to the ruins and a trip to the city of Tulum planned.

What was easy about the wedding planning process? At times, but it was hard to give control to a wedding planner in another country ( since I had such a hard time here in Dallas it took a few months to really let go….a little never full comfort)

What was difficult about the planning? At times, not knowing what flowers were in season and how they would look, and not having a food tasting were a little difficult.  Planning a wedding thru emails alone was a bit of a challenge a lot of pictures, and samples sent.

In the end I could not have asked for a more wonderful experience, we had a wonderful wedding planner, great turnout, and an amazing resort and experience.  It was such a relaxing day full of wonderful memories! We can not wait to go back for our 1 year!!

What advice would you give a bride planning her wedding? Do what you want, this is not anyone’s wedding but the bride and grooms.  I think I was so worried about pleasing other people that I was so overwhelmed with the planning process, until I finally said this is our wedding what makes us happy?

Tifani and Rusell, thanks for sharing your wedding day with us. We wish you both years of happiness together.  Also, a big thank you to Celina Gomez for sharing some of the wedding day images with us as well.