At the time of writing this it has been two months since our wedding at Casa Angelina Mexico in Zihuatanejo, Mexico, and I’m so ready and excited to share all of the details from our incredible wedding weekend!
Casa Angelina Mexico Wedding Venue
It’s no secret that planning a destination wedding can feel incredibly overwhelming, especially when you’re choosing a venue that is relatively new like Casa Angelina Mexico. As a wedding photographer myself I always knew I would have incredibly high standards for my own wedding venue, but when I saw Casa Angelina Mexico for the first time it’s fair to say that it was love at first sight.
Not only did Casa Angelina Mexico have breathtaking views, but most importantly it had the ability to host our family members on site. The most important thing for me on our wedding weekend was to give our family members and guests an experience they would remember forever, and for me and Ryan to be able to spend more than just one day making memories together.
In this post I’m going to do my absolute best to answer any and all questions about our March 2022 wedding weekend at Casa Angelina Mexico.
The Weather
One of the top questions I’ve gotten since getting married at Casa Angelina Mexico is “how was the weather?” We got married in March as it is one of the coolest and driest times of year. Even still, it’s Mexico, and it’s hot. Fortunately all of the rooms in Casa Angelina Mexico are air conditioned, and there are plenty of pools to dip in if you get hot! During our almost two weeks there we didn’t get any rain and the weather stayed around mid 80s during the day and low 70s at night.
Most weddings at Casa Angelina Mexico will take place between the months of November-April. We didn’t have any issues with bugs during our stay, but I have heard from some other brides that they had lots of bugs during their November wedding, so beware of that if bugs aren’t your thing!
Safety
Another common question I’ve gotten is how safe the area of Zihuatanejo is. If you do a Google search, you’ll find high level travel advisories against the area by the US government. This is largely because of drug and gang crimes in the area. The good news about that is that most of the crime is gang on gang, meaning you’re not likely to have a gang come mug some American travelers for no reason. The biggest issue you might find is pickpocketing.
That being said, during both of our trips there in the past year we have had zero issues with safety, and Ryan and I often joked about how we felt safer in Zihuatanejo than we did in Chicago! As a general rule of thumb when traveling anywhere, it’s a good idea not to bring lots of valuables – especially in town – and if you’re a single woman especially, be cautious of riding alone in taxis or going into town alone. But truly, we felt entirely safe and none of the 26 of us had any issues, even with us being obviously American and our videographer/photographer/lots of our guests having expensive camera equipment.
The Accommodations/Room Situation at Casa Angelina Mexico
Casa Angelina Mexico itself has the ability to host up to 14 guests in 7 bedrooms across the 3 story casa.
The master suite is the only room on the top floor of the house, which gives the wedding couple privacy. There is a large balcony with truly unbelievable views, floor to ceiling windows across from the king size bed (what better view to wake up to?!), an en suite bathroom with a massive closet (perfect to hang that wedding dress in!), a large walk in shower, a bath tub, a plunge pool, and a hammock. It should be noted though, the plunge pools did not have the capacity to be heated and it was too cold for us Floridians to really enjoy since it was in the shade!
There are three rooms on the bottom floor of Casa Angelina Mexico. These rooms all had king beds, large ensuite bathrooms, and private plunge pools. These plunge pools also were not heated, but some of them were more situated in the sun which made them more usable.
There are another two bedrooms on the main level of the house, one of which is a king bed, and the other is two queen beds. These rooms both had ensuite bathrooms, and while they didn’t have private plunge pools, they both had french doors leading out to the main pool deck, which most of us preferred to use over the plunge pools anyway! The main pool has the option to be heated for an extra fee, but since the pool is directly in the sun and Mexico is HOT, we didn’t see a need for it.
Lastly, the 7th bedroom is more of a “media room” with a bed. This bedroom would not be ideal for a couple in my opinion as it did not have an ensuite bathroom. The 7th bedroom is also on the top floor of the house, but on the opposite side with a completely separate staircase from the master suite. This room had a full size bed, a large TV and couch, and a small window. There was no balcony. The bathroom for this room is located down in the main living room of the house, just outside of the doors. Again, definitely not ideal for a couple, but worked fine for my brother who was traveling solo!
All of the rooms had daily housekeeping which was so nice as we never had to worry about not having fresh towels or sand on our floors from our in town trips.
The Wedding Week Itinerary
Arrival Day | March 26th
While our parents, brother, and Ryan and I all arrived a week before everyone else and stayed in Troncones (about 45 minutes from Casa Angelina Mexico), the rest of our family and guests arrived on the 26th of March so we would have some time to spend together before the wedding day!
The first night we had a welcome pool party at our guest house (which I’ll share more about later in the blog!). For less than $350 USD, the staff at the guest house shopped for and prepared the most incredible taco meal for 26 of us to eat family style by the pool. We thought this would be the best option as we knew people were coming in from a long day of travel and probably wouldn’t want to dress up and go anywhere.
The food was absolutely amazing and we didn’t have to hassle with any of the grocery shopping, cooking, or clean up, and we were all able to have a really laidback night catching up around the pool and getting our guests comfy with their new place for the week!
Rehearsal Dinner Day | March 27th
The next day, our guests were free to roam about Zihuatanejo or enjoy lounging by the pool, while my family stayed at Casa Angelina Mexico during the day. On this day we opted to have the open bar by the pool and our lunch prepared by the staff at Casa Angelina Mexico so none of us had to worry about anything other than spending time together.
That evening we all went to our rehearsal dinner at The Thompson Zihuatanejo. My family took our rental car down early so Ryan and I could do some portraits on the beach, and the rest of our family taxi’d, while the guests walked as it was a short downhill walk to The Thompson.
When our guests all arrived at The Thompson, they were greeted with a welcome margarita so we could mix and mingle for a bit, before we sat down for dinner. The dinner was DELICIOUS and the food just kept coming! We had endless tacos, beans and rice, and even dessert at the end of it all.
Towards the end of dinner, we had our wedding day musician, Juanito, come in and play music for our guests. We all got up and danced as the sun set and it was such a surreal evening seeing my closest friends and family having the best time dancing on the beach of Zihuatanejo. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect rehearsal dinner!
At the end of the night, our planner Jennifer Jaimes helped arrange for our guests and family to all get taxis back.
The Wedding Day | March 28th
And just like that, it was the wedding day! Ryan and I did things untraditionally and spent the night together the day before the wedding and got ready together the morning of. This was one of our favorite parts of the wedding day, as we woke up and chatted about how perfect everything had been already, and how we were about to have the best day of our lives.
We went downstairs and had breakfast by the pool with our family and then spent a few hours laying by the pool with family before I had to go get ready for hair and makeup. Casa Angelina Mexico prepared us the most delicious salad bar for lunch that day so we were all fed and ready for the fun!
On the day of the wedding, I didn’t have to worry about a single thing. Our planner Jennifer, our florist Flor Caballero, and the team at Casa Angelina Mexico set everything up perfectly, and all I had to do was sit back, drink margaritas, and get pampered by my hair and makeup team!
Ryan and I got ready together up until it was time for me to put on my dress, at which point Ryan went downstairs and probably did some tequila shots while I got dressed and had my first look with my dad. After that I headed downstairs to meet Ryan and we had our first look, couples portraits, exchanged gifts, and then before we knew it our guests arrived!
The guests took taxis to Casa Angelina Mexico on the wedding day. We considered having a shuttle pick them up, but the shuttle was about 10x+ the cost of taxis, and we figured we would rather spend that money on more alcohol. Which was good. Because we drank a lot of alcohol.
As they arrived they were greeted by me and Ryan and our guest donkey! We shared a pre-ceremony cocktail hour with the guests before they were seated for the ceremony.
After the ceremony we went back into another cocktail hour as Juanito (the amazing musician from our rehearsal!) played guitar with a steel drummer. As that wrapped up our guests were seated for a sit down, 3 course meal served with wine.
After this, well, let’s just say there was tequila. A LOT of tequila. After countless tequila shots and dancing for hours, Ryan got thrown into the pool and all of our guests followed, at which point our wedding became a pool party. Surely the night will end now, I thought, as no one would want to get out and dance wet… Well, we got out and kept dancing. And kept doing tequila shots. Oh what a night!
All of our guests taxi’d safely home and Jennifer and the Casa Angelina Mexico team took care of all of the clean up. When we woke up the next day you never would have known there had been such a party the night before!
The Day After the Wedding | March 29th
The morning after the wedding we woke up and shared another breakfast with our family and prepared for another day of lounging poolside. We opted for the private chef and open bar this day, although if I’m being honest, I think the whole group of us was not feeling alcohol after the night before, and the bartender ended up leaving early hahaha. But having the private chef was so nice that day, as about half of the family was hungover and didn’t want to leave Casa Angelina Mexico. A few family members went into the market this day, and Ryan and I took that chance to go hang out with our guests at the guest house.
Departure Day | March 30th
Alas, departure day was upon us. While Ryan and I were staying an additional 3 days to have our honeymoon at The Thompson (where we did our rehearsal dinner!), our family and friends all departed for the airport around 11am on the 30th. They all taxi’d to the airport, and Ryan and I packed up our things to continue onto our next adventure!
The Thompson Zihuatanejo Honeymoon | March 30th-April 2nd
After such a crazy and exciting week in Mexico with our loved ones, we were exhausted and so ready to relax on our honeymoon. We initially considered (and even booked) a honeymoon in Puerto Vallarta, but when it came to finding flights we were disappointed to see that due to Zihuatanejo’s TINY airport, almost all flights to anywhere in Mexico first go through Mexico City. That means that what should be an hour flight to Puerto Vallarta was going to be a 14 hour flight after the long layover in Mexico City. No thanks.
So The Thompson it was. And I must say, we were incredibly happy with this decision. While I wouldn’t recommend The Thompson to someone who hasn’t gotten to experience Zihuatanejo in its true form (AKA not at a luxury resort), after spending time in Troncones and downtown Zihuatanejo, we were excited to embrace some luxury.
What we loved about The Thompson was it’s central location on the beach of Zihuatanejo. When you walked from the private Thompson beach onto the public beach, you could go either right or left to find endless delicious restaurants. Our absolute favorite was Triton (you HAVE to have their coconut shrimp!) but there were so many options. We ate all of the food and had zero tummy troubles, if you were wondering.
On the beach you’ll find locals renting out jet skis, offering parasailing, boat rides, and more. We opted for a jet ski rental which was only $50USD for 30 minutes. We had a blast!
Overall, we absolutely adored our stay at the gorgeous Thompson Zihuatanejo and really cannot wait to go back one day.
The Guest House | Casa Del Cielo
Due to Casa Angelina Mexico’s limited accommodations, we needed to find a place for our guests to stay. It was important to us that our guests had a similar experience as we were having at Casa Angelina Mexico, so we really didn’t want them to be put up in a hotel where other guests would be. We were SO pleased to find Casa Del Cielo, which was absolutely perfect.
I mentioned above that Casa Del Cielo prepared our welcome pool party dinner for us. Did I mention they did that with less than a full day’s notice (see photos below!)?! They also made breakfast for our guests every day, offered daily housekeeping, and were overall so lovely and accommodating to us and our guests. Our friends couldn’t stop raving about what a great experience it was. Although fair warning, there are a LOT of steps up to this place, so if you or any of your guests are not in good health, be warned.
We did a full buyout of Casa Del Cielo, which meant that the casa was used exclusively by our guests for the duration of their stay. The rooms at Casa Del Cielo worked out *almost* perfectly for our needs. Overall there were 7 rooms, 9 beds, and 7 bathrooms. All of the rooms had ensuite bathrooms, with one room having a bathroom that was shared with the main level of the casa, where the kitchen and pool were. This room also did not have AC, which I didn’t realize and felt so bad for our videographer who got put in here. Sorry Erik!!
Four of the rooms had king beds, one had two full beds, one had three single beds, and the last had a “couch” that poor Erik slept on. Again, so sorry Erik.
Casa Del Cielo was also just a short distance from Casa Angelina Mexico, about a 5 minute drive. It was also close enough to town and to the beach for our guests to walk, which was great as I recommended none of them got cars due to parking/the overall potentially chaotic driving scene. There was also a great restaurant right down the stairs from Casa Del Cielo, and a taxi stand just a minute away, meaning a taxi was always ready for them should they need it! I really can’t recommend this place enough.
Our Wedding Vendors
We were fortunate enough to be able to visit Zihuatanejo in June of 2021 so we could tour the venue Casa Angelina Mexico, meet our planner Jennifer Jaimes, and do a tasting with our caterer, Chef Paco Isordia with Mito’s restaurant. We loved every single one of our vendors and I’m so happy to recommend each and every one of them!
Wedding Planner
We can’t say enough good things about Jennifer Jaimes, and if you’re planning a wedding at Casa Angelina Mexico the first thing I’m going to tell you is to HIRE HER. As a wedding photographer myself, for some reason I felt at first like I might be capable of planning our wedding myself, but I quickly realized that between the cultural/language barrier and the distance between Florida and Mexico that I was not going to be able to do the planning like I thought.
In came Jennifer and from the moment we started working with her through the wedding day she was incredibly helpful and thoughtful and understood my vision for the wedding. She guided us through important vendor decisions, helped with travel logistics, organized our rehearsal dinner, and so much more. She has done countless weddings at Casa Angelina Mexico, so she knows the venue so well and is able to perfectly execute an event there. Truly, just hire her.
Caterer
Everyone LOVED the food from our caterer Chef Paco Isordia from Mito’s. From the delicious hors d’oeuvres during cocktail hour, to our three course plated meal (black bean soup, steak with potatoes or mushroom risotto, and mango cheesecake), the experience felt so elevated and seamless.
Florist
Our florist Flor Caballero brought my wedding floral dreams to life more than I ever thought possible! I shared some vision boards with Jennifer and she handled coordinating with Flor and explaining the vision to her. I couldn’t have been happier with how it all turned out, plus Flor is just a very sweet and great human in general!
Videographer
As a wedding photographer myself, I knew exactly who I wanted to make our wedding video before we even got engaged. I had worked alongside Erikson Corbin for countless weddings before and he was a friend of mine in college, so the decision was easy. We have laughed and cried every time we have watched our video ever since he gave us the wedding preview video the week after the wedding. I really can’t imagine anyone capturing our weekend better than he did!
Photographer
For photography, I wanted more than anything to be able to capture my day myself haha, but alas that is impossible. So I had Paige Mercer associate photograph our wedding, meaning that she captured the day under my photography brand and handed over all of the images to me to cull and edit. She did an amazing job! Shameless plug, Ryan and I LOVE Zihuatanejo and are excited at any opportunity to go back. As of now we have photographed an engagement session in Zihuatanejo and will be photographing a wedding at Casa Angelina in April 2024. But we are always looking to go to Zihuatanejo more! If you’re looking for a photographer we would love to talk to you about your wedding day, and you can contact us here!
Rentals
All of our rentals (including the donkey) were handled through Jennifer, so we paid her along with her wedding planning fee to cover it all. This made everything super simple for us!
Music/DJ
For both our rehearsal and during our wedding day cocktail hour we had Juanito play guitar and sing, and he was definitely a favorite among our guests! Even two months later we are still quoting him and the way he said “Zihuaaaaaa” in his songs. He really brought the vibes and got people dancing! Our DJ was Ibiza Audio, who was recommended by Jennifer. He played from the Spotify playlist we gave him and kept our guests dancing all night.
Other Misc. Items/Vendors
If you’re planning your Casa Angelina Mexico wedding, I have a whole blog post here about every single item I purchased and brought to Mexico for our wedding. This also includes information about our stationer who we loved!
Hair and Makeup
Iveth Sharon did hair and makeup for myself, our moms, and our sisters and did a beautiful job. I couldn’t believe how perfect my hair stayed all day and night, even after jumping in the pool! They were kind enough to come out to meet us where we were staying in Troncones the week before the wedding so I could do my hair and makeup trial, and they were very receptive to the photos I showed them and made the changes I requested for the wedding day.
Travel & Transportation
The travel and transportation was probably one of the more difficult things to work out logistically with our Zihuatanejo wedding. My family opted to get a rental car (which can be easily rented from the airport or ahead of time online), but the van only carried 8 people. We used this mostly for little things, like picking up stragglers from the airport or running into town with just our family. We were glad we had one car but we didn’t see a need to have any more than that, as taxis are so affordable and readily available.
For transportation throughout the week, our family and friends relied almost entirely on taxis or walking. This worked out pretty seamlessly, with only minor hiccups here and there. The only time we opted for a shuttle was to pick our guests up from the airport, as I knew none of them spoke Spanish and wanted to avoid any confusion or guests getting lost.
For flights, we told all of our guests to avoid Mexico City layovers. During our pre-wedding trip where we went to visit Zihuatanejo, we had a layover in Mexico City and it was CHAOTIC. We knew that with some of our guests not being used to international travel and most of them not speaking Spanish, that a layover in Mexico City was a recipe for disaster. Fortunately most all flight routes have an option for a layover at IAH (Houston, TX) which made things much smoother for everyone. Overall, no one had any issues with their travel, other than our videographer being haggled for $300 by customs for bringing in his camera gear. Again…. sorry Erik.
In Conclusion…
When we look back at our wedding weekend there really isn’t anything we would change. Casa Angelina Mexico truly made all of our wedding weekend dreams come true, and many of our family and friends (and ourselves included) have remarked it was the best week of our lives. I hope that this blog post cleared up any questions you might have about your Casa Angelina Mexico wedding!
If you have any more questions that I didn’t address, or if you’re interested in working with me as your photographer for your Casa Angelina Mexico wedding, you can contact me here!
All images in this blog post, both film and digital, by Paige Mercer and Rachel Fosbenner
