Mexican Wedding

The dream wedding of Victor and Elizabeth is the inspiration for this Mexican wedding theme. All about gorgeous red, from the shoes to the lips, and, of course, the sweet red tea that started the whole romance!

The beautiful garden setting is ideal for the details and meaning that were put into this wedding shoot. The vintage luggage stands for their “together journey” and the delicate place settings are just divine with the backdrop of greenery.

A wedding in Oxford can totally pull off this wedding theme. With locations like a walled garden or a spacious courtyard, the setup we see here can be easily re-created. How about getting married under an outdoor gazebo?  

Details for a Mexican Wedding

When it comes to Mexican weddings, the day is all about family. Guest lists are long, and they may often include more than 200 people. A Mexican wedding is traditionally an hour-long mass followed by a fiesta that can last into the wee hours. In fact, the reception for a Mexican wedding involves not only a special introduction of family members at a sit-down meal, but there is also dancing, too.

A Mexican wedding typically involves a great bit of tradition. From kneeling pillows to el lazo, a Mexican wedding honors centuries-old tradition. El lazo is presented to the couple by the best man (padrino) and the maid of honor (madrina); this is a part of a unity ceremony in Mexican weddings. Mariachi bands are also a tradition at Mexican weddings.

Food for a Mexican Wedding

At a Mexican wedding reception, some of the most common foods involve chicken or pork, spicy rice, and beans. The wedding cake is much different from other cultures. It is typically soaked in rum and resembles more of a fruit cake to those in Western cultures. Another staple at Mexican weddings is the Mexican wedding cookie.

Any number of foods involving chicken and pork as well as tortillas are appropriate for a Mexican wedding. This involves enchiladas and quesadillas, or even soft tacos. Fajitas are another staple of Mexican wedding foods.

The Mexican wedding cake is often multiple dried fruits as well as nuts. Some people add crushed pineapple as well as coconut to the recipe. Mexican wedding cookies, which tend to resemble Pecan Sandies cookies, are another staple of Mexican weddings.

Wedding Dresses & Accessories for a Mexican Wedding

While some modern Mexican brides choose a dress that is more Western culture than traditional, there are some brides who choose the Huipil dress that Frida Kahlo made famous or more of a Spanish-influenced dress.

The Huipil dress is a type of design. The Huipil dress usually features a long, flowing skirt and a square-cut top. The top is a blouse made from rectangles of brightly-coloured fabric. The huipil is typically up to three pieces of rectangular cloth that are held together by ribbons or even embroidery.

Some brides opt for more Spanish-looking dresses, which include a dress that resembles what a flamenco dancer might wear or even something inspired by a matador’s outfit. Lots of ruffles are a feature of this type of dress.

Colour Palette for a Mexican Wedding

A Mexican wedding typically features bright, vibrant colours for both the bride and her party. Some Mexican brides choose a traditional American wedding gown for themselves, saving the vibrant colours for members of the wedding party. Other brides may choose a Frida Kahlo-inspired dress with rich embroidery or a dress influenced by Spanish ancestors. No matter what type of dress a Mexican bride chooses, bright colours should be a focal point.

Red is one of the most popular colours in Mexican weddings. However, yellow is another colour that is used frequently in Mexican artwork and in design. Other popular colours in Mexico include orange and purple, as well as blue and green.

What to Look for in a Venue for a Mexican Wedding  

Many traditional brides will opt for a church venue, but, one can still utilise a number of options when looking for a wedding site. Hotel convention rooms are a nice option, and banquet halls are usually large enough for a Mexican wedding. Resorts are also great options for a wedding venue.

You’ll want to consider certain things no matter what venue you choose. You’ll want enough space to accommodate all your expected guests, and, if you have elderly guests or those who might have a few accessibility needs, be sure to discuss this with the venue representative. If the venue says they will make certain accommodations for you or your guests, get them in writing.

It’s always a good idea to ask the venue representative about any amenities included in the rental of a venue, including furniture, accessories such as an arch or arbour, and the use of any audio/visual equipment the venue owns. Having access to these items could make some extra room in your wedding budget.

Budget for a Mexican Wedding

A budget for a Mexican-inspired wedding need not break the bank. If you can find a venue you love that offers a few extras, you can stretch your budget on other items. This can save you money in the long run, or it can help you to have everything you need without going over-budget.

One important element in crafting your budget is to list some must-have items that you definitely want in the wedding. Some brides allocate a great deal of the budget to their dress, while others put more money toward the decor. Put the most money toward the things you really want, shop for items you can repurpose – and save some dough on – and then take the savings and put that toward the can’t-live-without items!

Bridesmaid Dresses for a Mexican Wedding

Brides have a couple of different choices when picking out the bridesmaids’ dresses for the big day.

Some brides opt for dresses in the same colour – which should be bold and bright – with beautiful, traditional embroidery decorating the dress. You can even choose a light-coloured linen dress with bright-coloured thread for the embroidery.

Other brides opt for matching dresses in bright reds, purples, teals, or yellow that have the same design as the bridal gown, long dresses with ruffles and off-the shoulder sleeves.

Still, other brides will allow the bridesmaids to choose dresses that match different colours of the wedding with a similar design, even if it’s not exact (for example, all bridesmaids wear a knee-length dress with capped sleeves but in different colours).

Menswear for a Mexican Wedding

If you’re going for tradition, then the groom should wear a guayabera, which is a traditional Mexican shirt. Grooms can wear either black dress pants or linen pants.

The guayabera is a linen shirt with four small patch pockets. It also has two rows of very fine vertical pleats. In Mexico, these are considered as formal as a tuxedo.

Traditional weddings in Mexico may also call for very formal attire for the men of the wedding party, including the groom, provided he isn’t wearing the traditional Mexican wedding shirt. Men should always wear dress slacks and a collared, button-down shirt. However, men in a Mexican themed wedding can also wear a suit. Colour is at the discretion of the bride and groom.

Reception Decor for a Mexican Wedding

When decorating for the Mexican wedding reception, be sure to remember bright colours mixed with elegance. Decor should inspire a happy, festive mood.

The reception area can be filled with long, rectangular tables. Consider utilising brightly colour napkins when setting the table, and a really neat centrepiece may involve a repurposed birdcage filled with candles. Tables can be decorated with bright pink or teal blue lace linens and old wine bottles with candles floating in them.

Wedding Cake Ideas for a Mexican Wedding

Brides have lots of options when it comes to the wedding cake. Tiered wedding cakes may be decorated with brightly coloured fondant, flowers and greenery. Stenciled artwork in purple, orange, and pink add to the beauty.

Icing coloured in bright red, yellow, teal, and purple are added to a tiered wedding cake. Top these beautiful, eye-catching cakes with daisies or sunflowers.

Fondant can also be used to decorate a Mexican inspired wedding cake. Use carnations or garden roses to top and decorate. Use fondant to give the appearance of Spanish tile, which makes a gorgeous wedding cake.

Mexican Wedding Inspiration

This festive and colourful Mexican themed wedding inspiration shoot is guaranteed to put you in a ‘fiesta’ kind of mood! Jason from Jason Tey Photography, Maeline of Wedding Day Flair, and Olivia at Olive Farm Designs collaborated to recreate a very  special love story. Because, you see it’s not just any styled shoot, there is a sweet tale behind the inspiration for these images:

From Jason of Jason Tey Photography: “The shoot was inspired by the love story of my little brother Victor and his wife Elizabeth and was built around the concept of what their wedding could have been had they gotten married today. Victor moved to America (from Australia) and one day whilst on his lunch break, Victor noticed Elizabeth at work at a carousel in the local shopping mall and strolled over, introduced himself, and asked her to join him for an iced tea… but she couldn’t leave the carousel.”

“Every day for two weeks, Victor visits her at the merry-go-round during his lunch break and brings her a drink, sometimes iced tea, sometimes milkshakes. Six weeks after meeting Elizabeth they get married in a humble outdoor ceremony surrounded by friends and family. The food is catered by a local Mexican restaurant.”

From Maeline of Wedding Day Flair: “My vision was to re-create a wedding the couple never had in Australia by truly representing their culture and love journey and to share their story with family and friends. I chose vintage tables and chairs because it added warmth and character to the whole design. I personally custom-made the dinner table overlay with red, green and yellow spray paint over a hessian fabric! Flowers that adorn the dining table, side tables, and bridal bouquet included: Water lilies, Gladioli, Asters, Succulents, Prickly Pear and Cacti.

Using white tissue paper and white ribbons, I hand-cut the Mexican Papel Picado flags for our cake and dessert table as well as our tea and fries table. Last but not least, I spray painted a small horse for the table display. It represented where the couple first met at the carousel filled with gold and coloured horses!

For the hot fries and tea-table, we envisioned this table to have sweet red tea representing the tea Victor brought to Elizabeth at the carousel. This table also had hand-made paper cones containing hand-cut fries, representing their journey in Mexico and struggles in making a living to support themselves. The travel luggage was an added touch to represent their journey home. George and Gina Designs helped us create beautiful stationary tags and signs in Spanish for our drinks and fries. They also created invitations, place cards, menus, and table numbers based off of information from the actual invitations and menus at Victor and Elizabeth’s wedding.

With our dessert table, Cupcake Cravers created a 3-tier classic vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream covered in coconut shavings and handmade sugar succulents. Being summer in Australia, we decided to include Ice lollies from the palette as treats, which added lots of flavour and colour to the table!”

From Olivia of Olive Farm Designs: “The headpiece consists of two blooms which were created from hand dyed petals in silk organza & silk satin. The petals were individually hand pressed with old school millinery tools & were hand sewn together. Vintage millinery leaves and black tip pearl stamens completes the piece!”

From Linda of No.9 Bridal Couture: “The dress was made using an ivory, English lace over vanilla coloured pure silk taffeta. The bottom of the gown was tiered using the scallop edge of the lace to give a Hispanic look to the design while the flowing sleeves incorporated a 70s vibe.”

Be sure to check out our other fabulous shoot from this dream team of creatives here!

Credits: Photography: Jason Tey Photography //  Styling & Design: Wedding Day Fair // Fashion Styling & Creative Direction:  Olive Farm Designs // Venue: Melville Rose Nursery in Carmel, Western Australia // Floral Design: Flower Opera // Paper Goods: George and Gina Designs // Cake: Cupcake Cravers // Furniture & Decor Rental: Her Handpicked Harvest // Ice Pops: La Paleta // Tea: The Seventh Duchess // Wedding Gown: No. 9 Bridal Couture // Jewelry: Mosquita // Shoes: Lolliette // Groom’s Attire: Poplin & Panache // Hair: Identified Hair // Makeup: Grace Buckley Makeup Artist // Models: Tanya Jade & Karl Tabucanon.