We’re a little bit smitten with Tessa and Kevin’s Akumal private villa wedding. We knew they were special when they got excited about sunrise. THEN they won us over with ice cream for breakfast! Add to that a strong love connection and a long bridal veil…. Happy, happy dancing for everyone! We asked Tessa and Kevin to tell us more about their sunrise elopement in gorgeous Akumal Bay.
Del Sol: You guys had many unique elements of your Akumal private villa wedding – top of the list – you chose to elope!
Tessa: “Both of us come from big families, so eloping in Mexico was a big deal. We wanted to celebrate our marriage together without any the extra stress of coordinating and planning a big wedding. We had a family celebration after we got home with both of our families and had a blast.”
“It was a perfect day. We had our dream wedding because we were able to focus exclusively on each other. We both love our families dearly, but we chose to make our wedding day about us.” – Tessa
Kevin: “I’ve never been out of the country, and I wanted to take this opportunity to do just that. The issue would be getting family to join us. It wasn’t something that was feasible for our families, and so the elopement happened more from circumstance. We definitely wanted pictures and video though to show them!”
“Having a wedding without the families there is unusual. We were not dismissive of our families, but we also enjoyed not having to cater anything to anyone else. It could just be the two of us, without anyone else’s input. It was not something we necessarily were preferring, but it was nice to be alone also!”
See the full wedding slideshow:
Del Sol: We were so happy to collaborate with you and Manda from Turtle Bay Weddings on the design of your Akumal elopement. You were all up for having fun! We were so excited that you loved the idea of the sunrise. Photographically we love the LIGHT and the fact that there is no one else around. However, as an EXPERIENCE to be married as the sun rises is something that we believe feels incredibly special.
“Sunrise made it look magical, and for us, it was. When you guys proposed the sunrise ceremony, we were excited at the idea of such a unique experience!” – Tessa
Kevin: “Sunrise was a nice touch! I know pictures look best at sunrise and sunset, so it was a natural positive progression. Sunrises are always beautiful!”
Tessa: “I will never forget how handsome Kevin looked or how happy I was to be standing there with him.”
Del Sol: You chose to have a Mayan ceremony, talk to us about that.
Tessa: “Kevin and I loved the idea of a ceremony that was less traditional, as we were having an unconventional wedding. Neither of us are religious, so having the Mayan ceremony resonated more with us. We were also happy to do something that was unique to the culture we were visiting.”
Kevin: “Most wedding ceremonies I’ve discovered are based on a couple’s relationship in regards to a deity, and that’s not what we are celebrating. A Mayan ceremony seemed to give the most focus to the couple themselves and how they will discover their own future together.”
offering flower petals to the ocean was part of Tessa and Kevin’s Mayan ceremony
Tessa: “Saying our vows was a powerful experience for me. The words and meanings behind them still gives me goosebumps.”
Kevin: The most amazing moment of the day for me was when Tessa came down the steps for our ceremony. She looked magical. I also loved watching her give her vows to me.”
Del Sol: We loved as well that Manda came up with the awesome idea of doing away with wedding cake and having ice cream for breakfast instead!
“We were beyond thankful to have Manda as our coordinator! Kevin and I are not big cake fans, so when she suggested the decadent “Ziggy Piggy” we were completely on board. Who can say no to ice cream for breakfast?!” – Tessa
Kevin: “We don’t care much for cake, and so a wedding dessert became ice cream. There was more of it than I expected!”
Looking for an alternative to wedding cake? Who can say no to ice cream – especially for breakfast!
Del Sol: You have all these years know each other but it feels like you just met. How do you keep this energy of brand new “WOW” love!
Tessa: “Speaking for myself, I can not help falling in love with Kevin even more every day. It is easy because every day he is a better person!”
“Tessa makes love feel effortless, we get each other and we are very giving and loving toward each other. We can be dorky with each other sometimes, and we share most values and interests. We like making each other happy.” – Kevin
Kevin: “We share many of the same values and interests, which is a big help. Disagreeing is hard when you want the same things. It’s also about not taking the other person for granted. You have to keep doing things that shows the other person that you still feel about them how you felt in the beginning, if not more.”
“It’s also important to have an internal locus of control, so to speak. I am concerned with making myself happy, and making it easy for my wife to be happy. Each person has to work on themselves a little every day in order to evolve into the kind of person who is a positive person who gives, and who will create their own happiness.”
“It doesn’t take much to make Tessa happy, and I love to see her smile. She is very kind and thoughtful, and I’m very grateful to have an intelligent and responsible wife. I found a quality woman!”
Del Sol: How was your experience with Sol and the del Sol team?
Tessa: “We loved our Del Sol team. Sol was awesome. We loved getting to play!”
Kevin: “Sol was excellent. She was non-intrusive. Half of the time I didn’t even know she or her assistant was there. Overall she got a lot of pictures in different settings. We got our beach wedding!”
Del Sol: Why did you choose to go the independent wedding route with Akumal Sunrise Villa and Turtle Bay weddings?
Tessa: “Manda, our wedding coordinator, recommended Akumal. We chose an Akumal Sunrise Villa elopement instead of a resort because we wanted our ceremony and honeymoon to be more intimate, we could not have been happier!”
“We loved waking up each morning to the sound of the ocean, enjoying our coffee in with just the two of us on the beach, and the freedom of having our own house.” – Tessa
“Our caretakers, Irma and Mario, made sure everything was clean and well stocked. Manda was so incredible and helpful! Manda alone was enough reason to choose Akumal over any other place. We also LOVED the Turtle Bay Cafe.”
“We loved waking up each morning to the sound of the ocean, enjoying our coffee in with just the two of us on the beach, and the freedom of having our own house.” Akumal Private Villa Wedding
Kevin: “We wanted to have a setting that was different from what we see every day in Colorado. We also both love the beach, and we wanted to have a beach wedding, and to be able to dip our toes in the water without freezing.”
“Tessa has had experience with the all-inclusive resort, and after staying at a private villa, I’m in full agreement with her assessment. We avoided tourists, and full beaches. We also rented a car, which eliminated tour buses. We had the freedom to come and go as we pleased, and we were also close to Turtle Bay Cafe, which we ended up eating at every day.”
“We got to wake up every morning with a window looking directly onto the beach. We got to have coffee with the sunrise and see turtles in the bay. I even caught a lobster!” – Kevin
“Manda coordinated our wedding and our stay, and she was also helpful with finding us a tire shop when we had a tire blowout. Mario and Irma also took care of the villa. Every morning we had a freshly raked beach.
Del Sol: How was your experience in Mexico – bearing in mind the recent travel advisories against Mexico?
Tessa: “There are dangerous places in every country. We traveled up and down Riviera Maya several times by ourselves in our car and never felt unsafe. Akumal in particular has the small town charm.”
Kevin: “It was fine. Never once did I feel unsafe. I would check your final destination and the surrounding area and make sure there isn’t consistent high crime there. Plus if you are going to be in a tourist zone, like we were, then there will be a lot more security. Otherwise, statistically, you are no less safe in Mexico than you are in your own city.”
Principal Photographer: Sol Tamargo
Akumal Private Villa Wedding Coordinator: Turtle Bay Weddings – Manda Harman
Akumal Private Villa Wedding Venue: Akumal Sunrise Villa
Want to elope – get inspired by looking at more elopements in our portfolio
Fell in love with Sunrise? Check out our sunrise archives
Find more information and details about reservations for Sunrise Akumal Villa here.
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