The brides planned a celebration that brought Brooklyn to Sayulita, then included elements of their favorite cities around the globe.
Kelsey Castañon and Kelsey Hughes Whitaker first met in the spring of 2011 when Castañon was attending Kansas State and Whitaker was a student at the University of Kansas. In 2018, their paths crossed again—this time, in New York City where they both had landed after college. They planned to get together as friends, but the duo admit that their casual get together quickly turned into a date and they’ve been inseparable ever since. With birthdays two weeks apart, the couple planned a celebratory trip to the Philippines in July of 2023. Once they arrived in El Nido, Whitaker proposed at their overwater bungalow at sunset. Seven months later, Castañon planned an elaborate journey around New York City, stopping at significant places like the location of their first date, before proposing in return.
The couple knew they wanted to invite their 70 guests somewhere special for their wedding weekend. “We fell in love through our travels, so a destination wedding felt like the most fitting representation of our story as a couple,” the brides say. When they stumbled across Teitiare Estate in Sayulita, Mexico, they loved the laid-back feel, colorful streets, and mix of jungle and ocean the space afforded. “The moment we stepped onto the property—with all its natural grandness and views, but also its tranquility and seclusion—we agreed it was the perfect venue for us.”
They planned three days of celebrations, including a Friday night welcome party, a wedding ceremony and reception on Saturday, November 9, 2024, and Sunday pool party. The couple envisioned blending elements of their hometown of Brooklyn, New York, with the local charm of Sayulita, Mexico, and details from their favorite cities around the globe. Read on to see how they partnered with Andrea Villarrubia of Sayulita Dream Weddings to create an unforgettable experience for their guests through the photos by Paulina Bichara.
The brides hosted a welcome party at Tukari, an open-air restaurant steps from the beach in Sayulita, Mexico. Castañon wore a high-neck Patbo dress paired with Steve Madden heels; Whitaker wore an embroidered linen top by Andres Otalora with Na Nin silk canvas cargo pants, Cult Gaia shoes, and a Cult Gaia bag.
At the welcome party, the couple set up a "gifting station" for guests to visit in place of a traditional welcome bag, which featured tons of their favorite travel essentials. They treated loved ones to Vacation sunscreen, Touchland hand sanitizers, Evolvetogether hand cream, mini Tabasco hot sauces, and local treats like plantain treats and wafers. “We also curated a custom destination map of our go-to restaurants and bars in Sayulita,” Castañon says. “Food included passed canapés like Zarandeado tacos and empanadas, and an open bar.”
Castañon's dad surprised the couple with an all-women mariachi band at the welcome party.
“It was the perfect ‘Bienvenido a Mexico’,” she says.
Before the ceremony, the beautiful brides-to-be got ready together in their villa. “From our window, we could get a glimpse down to the main villa terrace so, while we were ‘in hiding’ pre-ceremony, it was fun to look out and see guests starting to arrive,” they remember. “We’d long envisioned sharing this view with those we love most, and it made it start to feel real finally!”
Later, the couple learned that as guests arrived, a small pod of whales gave them a show to welcome them, too.
Despite the fact that they had spent the morning together, the couple chose to have a formal first look before the ceremony. It was an intimate chance to see each other dressed for the big day—until that point, their looks had still been kept secret. “It was really grounding to have that time where we could pause before the madness and remind ourselves why we’re doing this in the first place,” the couple says. “The only thing we didn’t share with each other before the wedding day was our ceremony outfits, so it was fun to do a 'reveal' of our looks with no one else around.”
Castañon's veil took a quick dip in the pool, making for dramatic photos.
Castañon wore a crinkle silk off-the-shoulder mermaid wedding dress from Rime Arodaky, which featured a boned bustier and a detachable pearl belt. She says she had never envisioned her wedding, let alone what she would wear to it, but knew that she wanted a timeless look with a few unique details throughout. In the end, she was drawn to her gown's drop sleeves and pleated fabric. “Then it got extra points for being comfortable and lightweight, which is exactly what you want for a wedding in tropical temperatures,” Castañon says. “More than that, when I tried it on I could see myself standing next to Kelsey in Mexico wearing it.” She worked with the team at Loulette Bride in Brooklyn to design a custom hybrid cape/veil to attach to her dress and accessorized with statement earrings, a Dior pearl bracelet, and Alexandre Birman block heels that wouldn’t sink into the grass.
Whitaker says that she struggled to find fashion that felt true to her in the bridal space. “Ultimately, I was drawn to the idea of going with a custom suit, something I’ve never done and the personalization felt extra special,” she says. “I loved the little levers for customization that came with the custom suit process.” She worked with Shao Yang of The Tailory NYC, an inclusive brand with a non-gendered approach, to customize a three-piece suit from a bamboo/silk off-white fabric. For the ceremony, Whitaker wore the blazer without anything underneath. For the reception, she added a suit vest. “I was able to have them incorporate some of KC’s dress fabric onto the edge of my blazer lapel giving it a little raw edge trim,” she explains. The blazer was embroidered with the couple’s initials and wedding date, and she customized her trousers with vintage menswear-inspired side tabs.
She further accessorized with jewelry from SHASHI, Jenny Bird, Hey Harper, WWAKE, Mejuri, and Aurate. When it came to her hairstyle, she cut her hair a bit shorter than usual for the wedding day. “The weight of 'your wedding day' makes you feel as if you should be doing something extra, but I wanted to stick to my natural vibe that also felt right for the environment—textured, undone waves,” she says.
The couple’s ceremony took place in the villa’s rotunda, a circular area with concrete walls and natural windows revealing ocean and jungle vistas. Natural wood benches were set up around the perimeter for seating. They had a live violinist welcome guests as they were given woven fans and flower petals to sprinkle in celebration.
White flower arrangements with trailing greenery were placed in white columns at different heights as the ceremony altar.
The brides each walked down the villa’s staircase during the ceremony with their dads, Jack and Tony, before meeting their moms, Clo and Jana, to walk the remainder of the aisle. Whitaker walked down the aisle to John Lennon’s “Imagine” as a nod to a special memory with her dad. Castañon walked down the aisle to “Drive” by Incubus as a nod to her proposal (Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger and his wife, master violinist Ann Marie Einziger, performed it for them and their friends at the end of the night!).
The couple’s close friend, Alana, officiated their ceremony and personalized it to their story. The duo exchange intimate vows they wrote for each other. “We meant to read them to each other during our first look so we could share in that special moment just us two, and also to hopefully alleviate some of the emotions that would come from hearing them for the first time in front of everyone else, but we ran out of time,” Castañon says. “I’m glad we didn’t, because it made that moment all the more special.”
When they were officially announced wives, they celebrated back down the aisle to “6’s to 9’s” by Big Wild. “We went to see Big Wild live in Aspen in early 2020, which quickly catapulted the song to anthem status in the soundtrack to our relationship,” Kelsey says.
The couple’s florist, Carmen McKnight from Flora Amor designed and built a custom seating chart wall. The shelves displayed various bud style arrangements and a sign that read ‘plant yourself at your table’. They named each table after their favorite places, including Koh Phi Phi where they first said “I love you”, El Nido where Whitaker proposed, Lisbon where they celebrated Castañon's birthday, and Havana where Castañon's dad was born.
Having been to some of the best cocktail bars in the world, the brides wanted to create a custom bar for their wedding that felt like a focal point in the space. “We decided to go with a dark green color and brought in Cuban-inspired peel-and-stick tiles that our rental company Del Cabo added to the front and sides of the bar,” they say. “The tiles are a nod to our travels, as we’re always inspired by all the different patterns, colors, and designs around the world.”
The couple served three signature cocktails throughout the evening: The "Nada Colada" was an homage to Castañon's go-to vacation drink featuring rum, pineapple juice, and coconut water; the "Tropical Manhattan" was riff on the classic sip with a beachy mango twist; and the last was Whitaker's "Thai Mezcalita," a blend of chili-infused mezcal, Thai basil, and passion fruit with a Chamoy and Tajín rim.
Guests enjoyed canapés like spicy tuna and crispy rice, guacamole mousse tarts on wonton sheets, crispy crab bites with jalapeño remoulade, and 12-hour pulled pork with Kansas-city inspired barbecue sauce. “All of the food—from the passed canapés during cocktail hour to the 3-course dinner served family style—featured locally-sourced Mexican ingredients infused with globally-inspired flavors from our favorite travel spots like Japan, Thailand, the Philippines, Cuba and more,” the brides explain.
Guests moved to the grass palm garden for the reception, where they took in the sounds of the ocean just steps away. Dinner tables were set up underneath string lights. Each table was unique from the next, featuring different floral centerpieces at staggering heights. “Our florist included accents of broken natural stones for added styling and small candle votives for extra lighting and ambiance,” the brides explain. “While our ceremony stayed green and white in palette, our reception included added accents of oranges and yellows for minimal pops of color throughout the seating chart wall, dinner tables, bar and lounge areas.” The place settings linen napkins, terracotta chargers, and handmade ceramic dishware.
For a personal touch, the couple included hand-written notes on custom letterpress cards with envelopes featuring their “The Kelsey’s” logo. They served a three-course family-style meal, because they wanted their reception to feel like an inviting dinner party.
The newlyweds briefly stepped away from dinner to take some oceanside portraits. The couple even worked with their DJ, Groovewell, to project their logo and video footage onto a rock near the beach. “It felt like we were able to bring some Brooklyn vibes to the coast of Nayarit,” the brides say.
The couple used a vintage rotary style phone as an audio guestbook, which allowed loved ones to leave them heartfelt voice messages for them throughout the night. “We loved putting together little stations throughout the garden and beach areas during the reception where people could stop by for something to eat or do, including a churro station, cigar-rolling station set up by the beach, a 360 photo booth, and late-night al pastor tacos,” the brides say. “We ended the night with a bonfire and beer on the beach.”
The couple celebrated with a minimoon in the jungle of Riviera Nayarit at One&Only Mandarina north of Sayulita and a few more days at the Four Seasons Punta Mita just south of Sayulita.
The brides have some words of wisdom to couples currently planning a wedding: “Stay grounded in your connection and love for each other. It can be a stressful time that can easily distract from what really matters—but in moments of chaos… remind yourselves what’s really at the core of what you’re planning for and what really matters most.”
