When Maribel De La Garza and George Rice Farish began to plan their wedding, they decided to take the celebration south of the border, for an event that would combine the couple’s individual backgrounds and heritages. Their destination: San Miguel de Allende in Guanajuato, Mexico, where 210 guests joined them for the festivities. “We thought it would be a good place to have the culture and family together,” says Maribel.

The 45-minute ceremony at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church was a mixture of traditions from both the United States and Mexico and included bilingual narration in English and Spanish. The vendors that helped create the magical ceremony also represented a blend of cultures, and included J. Cogliandro Photography of Houston. “The variety of vendors from different cities in Mexico and the United States made the details very special and magical,” Maribel notes.

Following the ceremony, a reception held in the Spanish-style courtyard of the Instituto Allende art institute featured plenty of flowers, but the beautiful location needed little decoration, as the site itself is a work of art. A gothic-style town cathedral served as the backdrop for the reception and a full moon illuminated the banquet patio.

“Many of our guests have told us that our wedding has been the most beautiful wedding they have attended,” the bride recalls.

Guests attended a cocktail reception before a formal sit-down dinner. Maribel remembers her favorite part of the wedding-planning process being the pre-wedding tastings of items from a reception menu that she calls “exquisite.” Guests dined on gazpacho with watermelon, micro-greens salad with Camembert cheese and caramelized pecans, tuna served in a red prickly pear flower shell, and farmed-raised boar glazed with a fig and port sauce, garnished with couscous. As if this feast wasn’t enough, guests enjoyed a treat of Italian ice cream and carrot wedding cake for dessert.

Maribel advises brides-to-be, “Enjoy every moment! It takes time and effort to plan a wedding but it is a wonderful experience and a great pleasure to know that your guests loved the festivities as much as you did!”