Sierra and Michael’s Destination Wedding in Dominical, Costa Rica

This week, we are excited to kick off a full week of gorgeous features from our resident photographer, Jen Huang. You may have noticed that we have an overwhelming amount of beautiful images in our Grey Collective categories–those are all Jen’s! She also happened to shoot our wedding! Jen is always shooting the most beautiful weddings, engagements, and shoots, that we decided to pack it all into one week! So get ready because we absolutely can’t handle how excited we are to share it all with you!

Our first wedding was originally feature in Martha Stewart Weddings Magazine in February of 2014 and we’ve got special permission to share it with you here! Michael and Sierra decided to hosting their wedding for 39 of their closest friends and family at a private villa in Costa Rica. We really couldn’t wrap our brains around the gorgeous invitation “field guide” by Paperfinger or the welcome gifts and hangover cure that all guests received. Oh my. But it’s no surprise, as Sierra is the mastermind behind Poppies & Posies–perhaps one of our all time favorite floral, design, and styling companies. It’s all so lovely, we’re going to let the bride and groom take it away with their story right away! You are absolutely going to fall in love with it all!

We chose to take our closest friends and immediate family to one of our favorite destinations, Costa Rica, to say I do. It was the best decision we ever made. 39 people joined us for the week in a small town on the West coast of Costa Rica called Dominical. We rented a big house that overlooked the ocean and used it as our wedding day venue as well. We said our vows in a small garden off the side of the house. Michael’s childhood friend led the ceremony and almost every guest spoke during the ceremony. Michael’s niece played and sang an original song she wrote for us when we got engaged. We enjoyed a locally inspired meal under a palapa on the property. For dinner we set up one long table reaching the entire length of the structure to help create an intimate dinner party feel. My closets friends helped us to fly down six suitcases all weighing over 50lbs and filled to the brim with linens, plates, flatware, candles, and other special decor pieces. The bride’s close friend, Juliet Totten, designed the bride’s bouquet and centerpieces using local blooms. The vibrant color palette fit perfectly with our surroundings. We finished the evening in the main house by the pool where we all danced and spent the night under the stars.

What made the wedding special and unique?
We rounded up 37 of our closets friends/family and hopped on a plane to Costa Rica for a week long celebration. We wanted to keep our wedding intimate so that we could create a week long celebration vs. the typical 10 hour day. We rented a big house in CR that slept over half of our guests and did everything from right there.

What were some touches added to make it personal?
We have so many talented and generous friends who helped create the whole experience for us. There wasn’t one person who didn’t contribute to the day or week. My close friends helped me fly down 6 suitcases filled with all kinds of goodies from linens and candlesticks to vases and flatware. We even carried down wooden plates to use on the dinner table.

What was the most memorable part of the day?
The most memorable part of the day was the ceremony. Michael’s friend was the unofficial officiant and he had secretly asked all of our guests to write a memory, advice or thought down for us. Almost ever person spoke at our ceremony which was really thoughtful and special.

Tell us how you met/proposed!
Michael and I met when one of our clients booked his catering company for their wedding. We went along with our clients to their tasting and I met Michael. It took us the rest of the 6 months we spent planning our client’s wedding to go on a date.

Tell us about your dress and where/how you found it.
My dress was a custom made by Ellen Couture in NYC. She was amazing and made me the dress in less than a month due to a snafu with my original dress. My friends and I went to the garment district chose the lace, the trim and the silk charmeuse. It was really special to have the chance to choose the pieces of my dress and then have it made to fit me perfectly. She did an amazing job.

8MM Final from Sierra Steifman on Vimeo.

Originally published in print, Martha Stewart Weddings Magazine February 2014.

Vendors: Photography: Jen Huang // Invitations: Paperfinger // Watercolor Menu: JenHuangArt // Styling, Florals & Rental Coordination, Tabletop Rentals: PoppiesandPosies // Location: Private Villa, Costa Rica, Town of Dominical // Videography: JenHuangBlog // Processing: RichardPhotoLab // Dress: Ellen’s Couture, NYC // Hair & Makeup: Tutorials by Jessa Blades Natural Beauty & Styles on B, expertly reproduced by Brides friends Ellen & Juliet Totten // Getting Ready Robes: PlumPrettySugar // Brides’ Shoes: J. Crew // Groom’s Suit: J. Crew // Bowties: Boutaugh with PoppiesandPosies