Valle De Guadalupe Wedding with Amy and Scott Moore
I sat down with Amy and Scott Moore, a couple recently married in Valle de Guadalupe, Baja California, Mexico at Bruma and they spilled ALL the beans on what went into making their wedding so magical. Valle de Guadalupe is beautiful wine country about 2 hours south of San Diego and it is lovingly referred to as ‘The Valle’. Its a new hot spot for couples who want the very best at the very best price.
L: Hi Scott and Amy!!!! I am so pumped to do this sort of comprehensive wedding recap with you!!!!! I have so many questions and I know you're going to help A TON of people create a magical day in The Valle. Thank you for sitting down and talking with me!
A & S: We’re honored you want to feature us! We loved our wedding and feel the location is such a gem!
L: Ok, first thing's first.... what's your absolute fave image from your wedding? Like, if you were to pic the TOP pic that's your absolute fave, which one would it be?
A: Probably that pic of us kissing under the tree.
L: OMG I love that pic too, I love Catalina’s Black and white. My fave pic is this one:
L: Breathtaking. Also, can we talk about how amazing your grandma is?
A: That was the first time she had ever had her makeup professionally done. She loved you and loved the makeup.
L: Yah girl, Grandmas are where my makeup really shines. I also loved talking to your grandma about her life. She was SO interesting. I’m obsessed with history and I was asking her all about her life in Germany during WWII. How old is she?
A: She’s 90. And she’s someone we always wanted to make sure was at the wedding. She was soooo happy after getting her makeup done. Like, she was just so smiley.
L: Thank you!!!! I’m so glad she loved the makeup. I loved her! Can you tell me a little about your amazing wardrobe styling, like just a quick breakdown of what you both decided to wear because you both looked incredible!!!
A & S: We both are mellow and laid back, fussy things aren’t our style. We wanted to be comfortable, and classic. I went into wedding dress shopping thinking I wanted a lace dress, but ended up with something totally different. The minute I tried on my silk Alexandra Greco Gown, I knew it was the one. What with the wedding outside I envisioned sparkle boots and found these ultra sparkly Betsy Johnson boots that were surprisingly way inexpensive and comfortable! They were perfect. And that’s when disco really evolved as a style component to the wedding.
L: Ok girl… and that jacket… we need the details…
A: Oh my gosh, I bought and returned ELEVEN jackets before I decided on this one. Thank God for Revolve. BUBISH is the brand of the jacket. We were concerned about the texture being too much visually, but in the end, I think it’s safe to say, it was a show stopper and it kept me SO WARM. Literally it felt like I was wearing a down blanket. Alas, I spilled taco grease on it during the late night tacos… and I took it to a LEGIT dry cleaner and they hand cleaned every feather for me and it’s now pristine once again.
L: PHEW! So are you ever going to wear that jacket again?
A: I don’t… know but I’ll keep you posted for sure.
L: And then what about Scott, what was his vision for his look?
A: He envisioned a classic tux for the ceremony and then changing into a velvet jacket with a black tee for the party. Classic and then his second look was modern and comfortable.
L: I love his vibe!!! Nailed it. So, tell us, what made you two decide to get married in The Valle?
A & S: We had some friends take us to The Valle in 2018 for the first time and we were hooked. Going down there a few times a year is common for us and became an escape from everyday life where we could just focus on each other. Scott proposed at Bruma. The next morning I think within 10 minutes we decided to get married there. It was the only thing we could envision. We just knew. We also planned to do the welcome dinner at Bar Bura at Cuatro Cuatros and the wedding at Bruma. Later on we circled around with a couple of other ideas and then just came right back.
L: That is so cool. You both have a connection to Bruma. And what was the VIBE you wanted for your wedding? Because DAYUM you guys nailed it!
A: Honestly, I still don’t know. First and foremost, we just wanted a fun weekend away. We wanted to create a fun party first before focusing on any decor or specific inspo. We got lucky, because our venue is stunning as is. We just added some disco balls, a mirrored modern bar and beautiful florals (the wedding planner Selene made them). The location and the food did all the work for us. The beauty of the Valle and the amazing food from Fauna just made the party.
L: AHHH I LOVE FAUNA!!!! Ok, I think a lot of people would love to know, what was your budget for the wedding? And how did it end up going down? Did you go over or under?
A: Curating a weekend experience for our guests was very important to us. The budget for the welcome dinner (including open bar after party), wedding and day after brunch for 54 people was 40,000. And we ended up going over our budget! The whole weekend was about $55,000.
L: Omg, I can’t believe that’s INCREDIBLE savings for the level of like, literal perfection and bliss.
A: I know, in SD wedding venues alone are 20K. So if you get married in the Valle, there is a big cost savings.
L: How much do you think a wedding like yours would have cost in SD? Just like totally guessing?
A: Oh man I don’t know, but our guests thought we spent over 100K because it was just that good.
L: Yah, I can’t believe it. I wanna get married in Bruma. I may or may not copy your wedding. I LOVED it. Omg, and the amazing food that they brought to the room while I was doing your makeup… those quesadillas?!?!?! Mmmmm!
Awesome flash photo by Amy’s good friend, Kadi Tobin.
A: Omg that was the most whatever food of the weekend too. The culinary delights were phenomenal alllll weekend. But yah, I’m so happy that the venue we wanted was less than we would have spent in the US. That allowed us to focus more of our budget on the areas that were important to us like photos, makeup and food.
L: So like, what’s the total break down? I know you work in finance, give me a little pie chart!
A: Here’s the breakdown:
L: Wow, that’s so helpful to people who might be wondering how much a wedding in The Valle costs. What are the 3 biggest things you learned that would helpful for a newly engaged couple planning a wedding in Valle?
A: 1. Find a local planner!! We used Proboda, and she was a life saver. We interviewed others, but they were not as fluent in English and we knew we wouldn’t have been a good match.
2. Follow up on conversations and monitor all steps along the planning process to stay on top of the process. As you get more inspo and style ideas make sure you are communcating that with your vendors and making sure they are on board with your vision. Selene (Proboda) was awesome at helping with every question.
3. Trust the process and your vendors! Our DJ was adamant on dressing up in costumes and bringing shots to the dance floor. Pre wedding we thought this was very strange and were very unsure, but it ended up being one of the most fun components of the night…
L: Oh man I LUUURVE THIS! Was there anything in hindsight you wish you would have done differently?
A: I thought organizing a car caravan down to The Valle from San Diego would have been helpful…. but we ended up with 13 cars and it broke up pretty much immediately. SO, if your family and friends are nervous about driving… just organize a private van to take everybody to their hotel. Once your guests are there, you can book private transportation for your events.
L: What was the journey like booking wedding vendors in Mexico?
A & S: Be prepared to Whatsapp everyone first and request a phone call. It took us a month to learn this, and delayed the planning process from starting because we initially struggled to contact our venue to book. Also, paying vendors was an unexpected challenge, we could not have anticipated international banking laws, which meant a lot of cash payments and wire transactions.
L: Oh dang, that’s a lot of stuff I never would have thought about. Ok, so… what was the BEST part about getting married in the Valle?
A & S: Oh my gosh the food and the epic locations. Simple as that. Just perfection.
L: And what was a drawback to getting married in the Valle?
A & S: Coordinating guests to drive down was quite a challenge, there was a lot of hand holding that needed to happen to get everyone down there and home. We spent so many hours the week of the wedding and even the day of the wedding trying to help others get around. That’s how destination weddings sorta go down though.
L: What were the 3 biggest highlights from the day of your wedding?
A: I loved having a really fun dance party with everyone we care about there. It was so wonderful. Seeing everybody all dressed up and the way I felt in my gown was really special. The Mariachi band was the best. And obviously marrying the love of my life and the connection I felt with him in the moment we said I do will definitely go down as a highlight of my life.
L: Aww that is the sweetest!!! Thank you both for your time!!! I know all this information is going to help so many couples!!!!!
A & S: Thank you, this has been amazing to revisit our big day, it was such an amazing experience and I wish we could do the day all over again!
