Modern Romantic & Luxury Ibiza Destination Wedding

Ibiza Destination Wedding

I would describe our best day ever as a romantic, modern meets luxury, cliff side wedding. Our wedding day was full of happiness, culture, and all of the things we love and value most. We chose a venue that fully embodied the love we have for the sea. Aside from choosing to have a destination wedding, we incorporated our love for travel through our invites, and luggage tag favors that also doubled up as place cards. We integrated all of our American, Filipino, and Latin traditions throughout the day, making sure both of our cultures were fully represented. Having excellent food was a must as we both love all aspects of cooking, eating, and indulging. Our venue definitely surpassed our expectations with their phenomenal food. To showcase our love for music, we hired a local sax player and introduced our guests to the sounds of Ibiza. It was a magical day full of beautiful memories with our loved ones that we will forever cherish.

Denise and Marco

Oh the style, oh the views, it’s time to share Denise and Marco’s utterly beautiful Ibiza destination wedding. They tied the knot on the 6th October 2019 at Elixir on the cliff side with far reaching views of the beach and turquoise ocean. They opted for an outdoor celebration and who can blame them with such a breathtaking setting. Their vision was for a romantic and luxury wedding day with a modern twist. Think blush colour scheme interspersed with rose gold and gold metallic touches. Just wait until you see the pretty flowers, elegant calligraphy stationery and the sequin table cloths, swoon!

Denise and Marco along with their wedding party looked so stylish. Marco and his groomsmen opted for dashing tuxedos and the bridesmaids were dressed in sequin gowns. Then there was Denise’s Berta gown, wow wee, what a dress. All lace and tulle with a dramatic detachable skirt, she looked incredible.

Their whole day was captured so perfectly by David Christopher Photography, from the sunset portraits to the meaningful ceremony, thank you so much for sharing these shots with us.

The Proposal

Santorini Greece September 10 2018 – @esperisma_santorini

Marco and I both attended the State University of New York at Stony Brook, but at different times. In the summer of 2008, in NYC, we were introduced to each other by Caroline Sanchez (the Matron of Honor), who is a mutual friend. Caroline unknowingly even crashed our first date! Marco had asked me out to see a movie, and without knowing it was a date, I invited Caroline too. When we both showed up at the theatre, it was clear it was supposed to be a date. Oops! Marco then pulled me aside and asked me out again, this time making it clear he was asking me out on a date. As you say, the rest was history…Days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and months later we adopted our furry son Chico who became the centerpiece of our loving relationship. In 2016, Marco received a huge promotion opportunity from his company, which would require us to leave our family and friends in NYC. We, along with Chico, then decided to pack our bags and move across the pond to London, England for a new exciting adventure.

While in the UK, we caught the travel bug quickly adding more stamps to our passports, something we’ve always aspired to do. In 2018, we took an epic trip to Greece. While in Santorini, and during our tenth year of dating, unbeknownst to me, Marco had a special dinner planned. To my surprise, I turned a corner and saw Marco, where he stood inside a heart of candles, with the sunset into the Aegean sea set as the backdrop. After a decade of love, he dropped to one knee and asked me to marry him. I said yes of course! Marco thought of it all, including flying my best friend Caroline from NYC to witness this special moment. However, it didn’t end here. As we boarded our flight from Santorini, Marco asked “What is your favorite European city” To which I responded with “Paris”. Marco put his arm around me and said “We’re off to Paris so we can have your dream engagement photoshoot”. Keep in mind this was on our ten year anniversary, making it even more spectacular.

Groomsmen

All tuxes including the grooms were custom made by a family friend of the groom.

Budget

£55,000 actually spent £61,000 excluding honeymoon.

Bridesmaids

We kept bridesmaids dresses simple and affordable since everyone was traveling in from the United States.
Dresses: @lulus
Accessories: Victoria Percival @victoriapercival_accessories

The Venue

Elixir Ibiza

We always knew we wanted a beach destination wedding because we both have a genuine love for the ocean. We chose Ibiza because of its beauty and energy. When we first visited the island we felt a sense of peace and acceptance unlike anything we’ve felt before. We couldn’t quite put our finger on it but we kept going back, and each time we continued to feel nothing but pure magnetism. We read up on the history of Ibiza and how ES Vedra is said to be the third most magnetic point in the world, and the source of Ibiza’s inexplicable energy. When we saw Es Vedra, we felt it’s beautiful spirit. We then immediately knew this was where we wanted to bring our friends and family to witness our union.

We wanted a venue that had a clear view of Es Vedra with both a ceremony and reception area so our guests wouldn’t have to travel. Having phenomenal food was also a must! We also didn’t want our wedding in the sand as we both love shoes a bit too much to be barefoot on our wedding day. When we saw Elixir, our hearts skipped a beat. Its nestled on a beautiful cliffside with breathtaking views of Es Vedra and Cala Codolar beach. The food and the staff were just as wonderful, and with all of our boxes ticked, we knew it was meant to be.

The Readings & Music

Bridal party aisle procession: “Let’s get married”- by Jagged Edge

End of ceremony aisle song: “We came here for love” – by Ella Eyre & Sigala

Readings during ceremony:
“Carrie’s Poem” – by sex and the city
“How falling in love is like owning a dog” – by Taylor Mali
“Something just like this” – by The ChainSmokers

First dance: “A thousand years” – by Christina Perri

Father daughter dance (also danced with mom): “Stand by me” – by Prince Royce (Spanish)

Mother son dance: “Song for mama” – by Boyz to men

The Flowers

@flowers_ibiza

The Cake

Mitch @thecakeladyibiza

The Details & Décor

Our theme was romance and luxury with a hint of modernism. I have always loved the color blush because of how romantic and delicate it can look. We wanted the look of our wedding to be modern and romantic, but luxurious at the same time. That’s when my fiancé, now husband, mentioned our secondary colors should be gold and rose gold. It looked wonderful against blush and was definitely a win. But there were too many blush weddings out there, so to make it unique we added different shades of rose to the palette. Having the bridesmaids in different dresses, textures, and colors tied everything together beautifully.

Your Outfits & Accessories

Bride wedding dress: I fell in love with Berta about five years ago when I saw how modern, and sexy yet tasteful her dresses were. I remember working that much harder because when the time came, I knew I would marry in Berta. I wanted a dress that would give me two looks, as I didn’t want to purchase two dresses. My dress was the second wedding dress I had ever tried on. When I first saw myself in the mirror I lost it and though it may sound cliche, that dress chose me. It was 5 AM in NYC when I face-timed my mom, who unfortunately couldn’t be with me in London. When she saw me, she was speechless and couldn’t control her tears either. My two bridesmaids who flew in from NYC also couldn’t control their emotions. So with a room full of super happy and emotional women, I said YES to my Berta dream dress.

The wedding veil was a gift from my mother in law. She had the veil made by Marcos godmother in the Philippines. She mentioned early she wanted to provide the veil since I would be the first daughter in their family. It meant so much to her, and in return meant the world to me. My mom agreed and gave me her antique pin that belonged to my great-grandmother and gifted me my dream Cinderella Louboutin rhinestone wedding shoes. Both moms were extremely happy and never left my side while we were getting ready!

Beauty

Hair: Elia Martine @eliamartineweddings

Makeup: Jo @jo.jamface

Photographer

David Christopher @davidcphotography

Your Filmmaker

@shootityourself

The Honeymoon

17 day trip to Sri Lanka & Maldives planned via Lux Tripper @luxtripper

Oblu Select Sangeli @oblusangeli

Memorable Moments

I’ll never forget the moment I saw Marco standing at the altar as I walked down the aisle towards him. His smile was the biggest it has ever been, filling my heart completely. When I reached him, naturally I just wanted to kiss him, but he squeezed my hand and smiled letting me know it would be worth the wait.

Advice For Other Couples

When it comes to wedding planning, start with a proper budget and try to stick to it, but do leave some wiggle room as things do tend to come up. If your budget allows for it, hire a wedding planner or at least a day of coordinator so that you’re free to enjoy every moment of your wedding day. The last thing you want is to answer calls from vendors on your wedding morning. But most importantly, have fun! Wedding planning can be a bit stressful however, it’s also a wonderful period full of love, creativity, and excitement that you only get to experience once as a couple.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

How very beautiful?! Doesn’t an Ibiza destination wedding look just spectacular?

Denise and Marco I cannot thank you enough for sharing your epic wedding story with us xo Lou