Wild, Lush, and Entirely Theirs: Sarah & Keith's Wedding at La Valise Tulum

Love Story

Sometimes the right person has been right in front of you all along — it just takes courage to say so. Sarah and Keith had known each other for years, sharing quiet glances and an unspoken pull before hesitation finally gave way. Then one of them took the brave step — reaching out with vulnerability and honesty — and the other met that openness with the same courage. Everything changed.
What made their connection different from anything before was the freedom it carried. "Coming from relationships where we couldn't fully be ourselves, we both approached our relationship with a rawness, realness, and a preparedness to accept each other as we were." They listen deeply, forgive quickly, and celebrate each other's imperfections. Keith navigates the intense world of litigation; Sarah runs their household with the same dedication and describes it as the most demanding and rewarding role she's ever had. "We're a team that works hard and loves even harder."
The proposal was as quiet and intimate as they are. A normal morning, Sarah just waking up — and there was Keith, ring in hand. No cameras, no crowd. "There were no cameras or crowds — just a beautiful, private moment in the place we feel most at home. I was completely caught off guard and still half-asleep, which made the surprise even more magical. It was the best wake-up call of my life."

About Your Wedding

The vision was never about tradition. It was about transportation. "We wanted a full-on jungle experience: deep emerald greens, exotic textures, and the feeling of a hidden paradise." The goal wasn't a beautiful wedding in the conventional sense — it was an atmosphere so contagious that fifty people would forget themselves entirely and simply have the time of their lives.
"We went with a Jungle Oasis concept. The idea was to step away from the typical formal wedding and create something really immersive, lush, and high-energy. We filled the space with tons of vibrant greenery — like Monstera and palms — to give it a wild, overgrown feel. Honestly, the main priority was just making sure it felt like an adventure and that everyone had a blast."
The color palette reinforced every decision: deep green, black, and purple — dramatic, tropical, and entirely unconventional. A palette that didn't whisper. A wedding that didn't either.

Morning Details

The morning began inside La Valise — a property that already feels like a secret, tucked into the Tulum jungle, with an atmosphere that makes even an ordinary hour feel cinematic. The jungle outside the window, La Valise holding them both before the day began. Sarah got ready in their room at the property, the lush surroundings visible from every angle, the day building quietly around her. There is something particular about getting ready in a place like this — where the setting itself is part of the experience, and the boundary between indoors and out barely exists. The morning was unhurried, intimate, and already beginning to feel like the adventure they had planned.

Bride Getting Ready

Sarah knew from the beginning that she didn't want something mass-produced. She found her dress at an intimate boutique in New York — a curated experience that suited the kind of bride she was. "I knew I didn't want something mass-produced, so I went the boutique route to find something that really fit the tropical, high-energy vibe of the wedding. It felt like such a curated experience — it didn't take me forever to decide once I saw the right one; it just clicked with the whole 'Jungle Oasis' vision we had."
Hair and makeup were handled by Daniel Perez Astorga of The Artist Riviera — a name well-known in the Tulum wedding world for work that is as editorial as it is wearable. The florals, designed by Maria Limon, carried the same lush, tropical energy as the venue itself — an extension of the jungle rather than a decoration placed within it. The overall look was bold, considered, and exactly right for the day ahead.

Groom Getting Ready

Keith prepared for the day at La Valise, the same property that held them in the hours before they became husband and wife. A litigator by profession — someone accustomed to high-stakes rooms and the pressure that comes with them — the morning offered something different: stillness, anticipation, and the particular calm of a day you've been building toward for a year. Whatever the morning looked like in detail, the outcome was a man who arrived at his first look exactly as he needed to be — present, ready, and about to see his person for the first time on their wedding day.

First Look

The first look happened outside at the pool area of La Valise — the jungle surrounding them, the water beside them, the Tulum light doing what Tulum light does at that hour. A pool, a jungle, and the moment everything became real. There is a specific quality to first looks in places like this: the natural setting removes any sense of staging, leaving what remains entirely unfiltered. Whatever passed between Sarah and Keith in that moment belonged only to them — and to the photographs that captured it.

Photoshoot Before The Ceremony

Ceremony

The ceremony took place at La Valise — the same property that had hosted their morning and their first look, and would host their reception. No formality, no script that felt borrowed from someone else's day. Just them, the jungle, and the words that mattered. The Tulum setting provided everything a ceremony needs and more: shade, beauty, the sound of nature, and the particular stillness that comes from being somewhere genuinely extraordinary. Fifty people gathered in that space to witness a couple who had already chosen each other in every way that counted — and were now making it official, in the most beautiful setting they could imagine.

Wedding Venue & Decor

La Valise Tulum is not a conventional wedding venue — and that was exactly the point. Boutique, jungle-set, and defined by an intimate atmosphere that larger properties can't manufacture, it suited Sarah and Keith completely. "We went with a Jungle Oasis concept" — and the venue met that concept more than halfway, its natural architecture of palms and Monstera and open-air spaces doing the decorative work that no amount of imported styling could replicate.
The color palette of deep green, black, and purple ran through every element of the decor — dramatic without being heavy, tropical without being predictable. Maria Limon's floral design extended the jungle inward: lush, sculptural, and entirely coherent with the setting. The overall effect was immersive in the way Sarah and Keith had always intended — not a decorated room, but a world you walked into and didn't want to leave.
The second venue, Nutulum, added another dimension to the celebration — a different setting within the same Tulum landscape, extending the experience beyond a single space and giving guests the sense of moving through a full evening rather than staying in one place.

Couple's Advice

"Our advice is to focus on creating an experience that truly reflects your personality as a couple. We wanted our wedding to feel more like an unforgettable party than a traditional ceremony, with great energy and no boring moments for our guests. At La Valise Tulum, the incredible hospitality, amazing food, music, and attention to every detail made that vision come to life perfectly."

Reception

They skipped the first dance and threw a party for everyone instead. The reception at La Valise Tulum was exactly what Sarah and Keith had always wanted it to be — high energy, no formality, and an atmosphere that made fifty people feel like they were at the best event of their lives. The venue's kitchen delivered on the promise of incredible food; the music carried the evening from dinner into dancing without a single dull moment between.
Planner Angelina Cardenas Events held the entire day together — the logistics, the flow, the vendor coordination — with the kind of seamless precision that only becomes visible when you consider how many moving parts a destination wedding in Tulum requires. "At La Valise Tulum, the incredible hospitality, amazing food, music, and attention to every detail made that vision come to life perfectly." The team around them — from The Fashion Wedding behind the camera to Maria Limon's florals to Daniel Perez Astorga's work on hair and makeup — delivered a day that felt cohesive, considered, and completely alive.
The kind of reception where no one checks the time. And no one wanted to leave.