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How to Plan a Mexico Destination Wedding (+ Sangria)

Saying I Do in Mexico?

Are you, your bestie, your daughter or anyone you heart thinking of saying I Do at a gorgeous Mexico destination wedding?  If so, stick around. I’m about to make your life so. much. simpler. 

Four thousand seven hundred forty-five days.

No, its not the number of hours I spent hanging off a cliff with just one banana as sustenance in my most recent life adventure.  Nor is it the number of gelatos I would have eaten in Italy in April had COVID-19 not sabotaged that plan. 

No, 4,745 is the number of hours I have spent pouring my heart into planning curated Mexico destination weddings which, in total transparency, at times equates in excitement and stress to hanging from the edge of a cliff.

Kristin Crawford, wedding planner in action! Photo by Alex Good

Needless to say, I’ve learned a few things in those four-thousand-plus days, and I’m ready to divulge.  I want you, friends, to know what I know about planning a celebration in Mexico.  I want to share what I have learned by trial and error through 15 years of professional event planning

Why?  Because I truly want to help make your planning experience simple and much less stressful than that cliff scenario above. 

Why should you listen to me?

When I entered the Mexico destination wedding industry 15 years ago in Puerto Vallarta, I did so with limited knowledge, one very simple photo shoot under my belt and less than a year of actual real-life experience with another company. 

I was young, ambitious and just knew that there were couples out there who needed ME, my limited talent and my flourishing creativity to plan their wedding.  Bless my naive little heart. 

I’m glad, though, that I jumped in head-first and never looked back, and I am SO glad that there were couples who despite my lack of … well, pretty much everything, hired me anyway.  The learning curve was immense, but fast-forward to today. 

Kristin Crawford, wedding planner. Photo by Elizabeth Lloyd

My heart is still young(ish), my ambition runs wild, still have the thriving creativity, but NOW, I also have a playbook full of tips and tricks that I want to share with you, and this time, its backed up by a decade and a half of solid experience. 

Coming on Thursdays . . .

So, I’ll see you here for my new Thursday Dazzle Sesh every other week. 

I’ll share from my playbook with total transparency:  how NOT to alienate your wedding planner during the first phone call, how to sidestep a few inevitable wedding planning challenges, how to know if a smaller, more intimate wedding is right for you, how COVID-19 may change destination weddings (like it changed my gelato plans).   

Have a specific question?  Do tell.  I’m an open book, and I’m here to serve.
Cheers to the next 4,745 days of sharing with you everything I learned during the first round.

*Cue the toast with my killer sangria. This is a celebration, after all! Sharing that sangria recipe below, (and I promise, it is the ONLY recipe I’ll share as I’m much stronger at wedding planning than I am in the kitchen.)

Dazzling Sangria for Wedding Planning Bliss

Ingredients:

  • 1 bottle red wine
  • 2 shots of rum or brandy
  • 2 Tbsp sugar
  • chopped strawberries, mandarins and blueberries (or any other damn fruit you’ve got in the fridge!)
  • lemon or lime slices
  • Diet Squirt

Muddle chopped fruit with sugar and rum/brandy shots in a pitcher to extract fruit juices. Add 1 bottle of red wine.
Fill glass with ice. Serve 1/2 sangria + 1/2 diet squirt and BLISS!

Love Kristin

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Kristin has enthusiasm and passion for throwing beautiful weddings!

Kristin will make your dream wedding a REALITY! The best possible decision I made for my wedding (other than choosing...

Bride and groom exit their ceremony to a petal toss at their destination wedding in Punta Mita, Mexico

Melissa + Omid

The Dazzling Details
5
2020-05-14T20:47:31+00:00

Melissa + Omid

Bride and groom exit their ceremony to a petal toss at their destination wedding in Punta Mita, Mexico
Kristin will make your dream wedding a REALITY! The best possible decision I made for my wedding (other than choosing my wife) was hiring Kristin as the Wedding Designer/Coordinator. Kristin's enthusiasm and passion for throwing beautiful weddings made the entire process of having a destination wedding much easier to deal with. On the design side of things, Kristin listened to what we wanted even when we couldn't adequately put it into words. The end result was a wedding design that our guests still cant stop talking about till this day. It was both colorful and classy, and very creative. On the coordination side of things, Kristin is a superstar as well. I am extremely disorganized and somewhat of a procrastinator. Kristin had a very intuitive system for organizing all the tasks that we had with the varying deadlines that they needed to be done. She would also ever so softly nudge us when we needed nudging. When we had issues with the hotel room block contract, Kristin went above and beyond by stepping in to mediate and resolve any language barriers. Kristin works with only the very best vendors with proven track records of consistent quality. As a result everything from the food, to the flowers, to the DJ was simply incredible. On the day of the wedding, Kristin and her team were consummate professionals who ensured that our special day went off without a hitch. I can say without a doubt, that you will NOT regret making the decision to go with The Dazzling Details for your wedding!

I knew Kristin was the person I wanted to plan our wedding.

Kristin changed my view on a destination wedding as soon as we first spoke. I loved the idea of our...

Bride and groom hold hands during their wedding ceremony under a beautiful floral arch in Sayulita, Mexico

Caitlin + Jake

The Dazzling Details
5
2020-05-14T20:52:03+00:00

Caitlin + Jake

Bride and groom hold hands during their wedding ceremony under a beautiful floral arch in Sayulita, Mexico
Kristin changed my view on a destination wedding as soon as we first spoke. I loved the idea of our family and friends being together for a weekend and celebrating our marriage but I was worried we would end up at a big hotel that lacked the intimacy and character that really represented who we were as a couple. As soon as I spoke with Kristin I knew she was the person I wanted to plan our wedding. She was extremely organized, creative and seemed as excited as we were to plan the event which were all very important to us since we were planning a wedding in Sayulita while living in Los Angeles. Our wedding ended up far surpassing any of my dreams and all of our guests expectations. Not only were the design, lighting, flowers, FOOD!!!, and venue more than I had ever hoped for, Kristin was so amazingly on top of things and supportive on our wedding day. I truly can’t imagine going through the process with another planner. Thank you so much for everything you did for us Kristin. Our guests are still telling us it was the best wedding of all time!

Kristin truly listened to what was important to us.

Working with Kristin and her team is absolutely amazing.  She is so professional, has fabulous interpersonal skills, has incredible vision...

Bride looks romantically at her groom right after their first look at their destination wedding in Punta Mita, Mexico

Tracey + Eddie

The Dazzling Details
5
2020-05-14T20:57:33+00:00

Tracey + Eddie

Bride looks romantically at her groom right after their first look at their destination wedding in Punta Mita, Mexico
Working with Kristin and her team is absolutely amazing.  She is so professional, has fabulous interpersonal skills, has incredible vision down to every last detail. From the very beginning she combed though venues to find the perfect location for our sandy beach wedding.  Kristin truly listened to what was important to us on our wedding (food, people and music) and put it all together perfect. Our food service was ahhhhhmazing, dancing was perfect and most of all our friends and family said this was the best wedding they had ever been to. I wish I could go back to our wedding day and relive it! It was so stress free and laid back, but extremely well executed. Most of all, Kristin made us feel comfortable about our 7 month old who was going through his stranger danger phase during our wedding. We had all hands on deck for our little guy which really eased my mommy anxiety and let me focus on our wedding. I would hands down recommend Kristin to anyone looking to have their wedding in Mexico. No task was too small or big to be made perfect by dazzling details.

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Bride and groom have a first look beneath a beautiful tree at their destination wedding in Punta Mita Mexico

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The Dazzling Details
5
2020-05-14T21:00:42+00:00

Koryna + Greg

Bride and groom have a first look beneath a beautiful tree at their destination wedding in Punta Mita Mexico
Kristin and The Dazzling Details team made our dreams come true! First, I want to start by saying that I am quite wedding crazy and super into the details. I was very nervous that by opting to do a destination wedding in Mexico that I would have to sacrifice some quality or aesthetic that fell short of my vision. I can honestly say that not only did Kristin and her team deliver exactly what I envisioned, but they surprised me with additional details I didn't think of (didn't think this was possible!). Throughout the course of the 10+ month wedding planning process I probably emailed Kristin 2-3 times a week with all kinds of crazy questions, scenarios, what if's etc. and she not only walked me through every scenario but relieved my stress and gave me so many visuals so I could have a better idea of what to expect. She helped with getting a room block and communicating on our behalf when we requested her to, and always went above and beyond her contracted responsibilities. A lot of the visual details like flowers, tables, cutlery do not get decided until just a few months before the wedding so that was a lingering stress for me- however, wow did Kristin deliver! The flowers at both my rehearsal and wedding were exactly what I wanted and she captured my exact vision. The day of the wedding was seamless! Im fairly certain she probably got 2 hours of sleep between my rehearsal and wedding day. In fact we ran through a lot more tequila than anticipated at the rehearsal so instead of going home that night, she headed to the liquor store to get extra for the wedding day. The transportation was always early, the caterer she pairs up with is AMAZING...

They nailed it!

Kristin and her team are truly amazing. We were a bit concerned on how the planning process would go for...

Large wooden tables with greenery and pampas grass with among candles and glassware for a destination wedding reception in mexico

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The Dazzling Details
5
2020-04-24T14:59:02+00:00

Amy Lynn Miles

Large wooden tables with greenery and pampas grass with among candles and glassware for a destination wedding reception in mexico
Kristin and her team are truly amazing. We were a bit concerned on how the planning process would go for a destination wedding but the entire planning process was organized, easy, and stress free. It was the wedding of our dreams!
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The Dazzling Details