An Elegant Beach Wedding at the Bride's Family Home in Punta Mita, Mexico

Ask Trevor Jones or Allie Sewell about their favorite places in the world, and you’re bound to hear about spots along the water—a place that's also played an important role in their relationship milestones.

The couple met in 2015 through friends in their hometown of San Francisco during a Fleet Week Flyover party. “Trevor invited a large group, myself included, to go sailing on his boat after brunch and the rest is history," says Allie. Their engagement took place on the water as well. “I was home during spring break from my master's program and Trevor asked me to go sailing. He anchored the boat in the protected part of San Francisco Bay close to Belvedere Island, opened a bottle of champagne, and proposed," she recalls. Following the proposal, our families, who were on an adjacent boat, joined us on our sailboat along with two violinists and a plane with a proposal banner flying overhead!”

It was only fitting that the couple's wedding take place on the waterfront as well. After considering several venues, they landed on Allie’s family’s home in Punta Mita, Mexico, and planned a destination wedding there on April 27, 2019. “We decided nothing would be more intimate and relaxing than getting married in my own backyard,” says the bride. 

Keep reading to see more of Allie and Trevor's elevated beach wedding at home in Mexico, as planned by Alison Events and photographed by Norman & Blake. 

The couple worked with the team at Alison Events to plan a wedding inspired by the modern architecture of the bride’s family home, the ocean, and the beach. The end result? A design that felt effortless and laidback but also super sophisticated and elegant.

To that point, blue was incorporated into the couple's invitation suite and other paper goods on the big day. "Allie’s personal style is super classic and somewhat traditional, so I had the idea to incorporate Chinoiserie, but with a modern spin, so we had our paper material design reinterpret the classic style in the form of a contemporary watercolor design," explains Tombs. A bespoke monogram topped the invitation, also appearing on the back of other paper goods and on dinner napkins at the reception.

Upon arrival, guests received welcome baskets that included local treats like Corralejo Tequila and homemade cookies. They, of course, were accented with a touch of blue.

To welcome their 165 guests to Punta Mita, Mexico, the couple hosted a cocktail reception on the beach. "We both wanted to create a wedding that was strongly centered around friends and family," she says. "We wanted to make sure our guest had a really great experience since everyone was traveling from so far." The beach was decorated with tropical flowers, string lights, and geometrical lanterns.

Allie enlisted the help of her sister, mother, and grandmother to choose her wedding dress. “My grandmother has an incredible eye for fabrics as well as fit and actually made two of her daughters' wedding dresses by hand, so it was really special to have here there,” says the bride, who wore a gown by Vera Wang. Her veil was also Vera Wang. “It was so delicate, and had the most beautiful hand-stitched embroidery at the base.”

Allie completed her wedding-day look with her mother’s bracelet and earrings and a bouquet of white peonies, anemone, and garden roses by Kaleb Norman James Designs. "Kaleb is a Seattle-based florist—we love his work so much we just had to have him in Mexico," admits Allie.

The bride did a first look with her father before the ceremony.

To create the sense of a separate ceremony space on the property, the team at Alison Events had a bridge built for guests to cross over, which led to the aisle lined with natural wood benches.

The dramatic ocean backdrop was accentuated with a pair of lush tropical arrangements housed in a pair of oversized terra-cotta urns. The ceremony entrance and altar were also accented with natural arrangements of light blue delphinium to further the day's color theme.

Guests arrived at the house for the 6 p.m. ceremony dressed in black-tie optional attire. Before crossing the bridge to the ceremony site, they were greeted with cocktails.

The couple’s yellow labrador Henry served as their ring bearer. He was walked up the aisle by one of the groomsmen. “Henry is big so it wasn’t an easy job,” says Allie. “He also wanted to stay with us at the altar but eventually we got him to leave after a lot of laughs.”

The bride’s parents escorted her up the aisle to James Taylor’s “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" performed by a band.

Allie’s father officiated the ceremony. “It was short and sweet!” says Allie. The couple made it official with a kiss.

The newlyweds recessed to their favorite song, “Mr. Jones” by Counting Crows. After taking portraits along the water, they joined guests for cocktail hour.

As the sun began to set, conch callers welcomed guests to move from cocktail hour to the dinner reception. "I loved the native Conch performers that performed a traditional tribal call at sunset to welcome guests from cocktail hour to the dinner reception," adds Tombs.

Guests found their seat assignments on an acrylic display designed to seamlessly blend with the natural environment. 

Woven hanging lights, flowers, and greenery were suspended above reception tables for an elegant, garden-inspired look. 

Place settings featured washed terra-cotta plates by Juliska, gold flatware, and custom napkins featuring the couple’s custom watercolor design, which also appeared on invitations.  

As guests were seated to dinner, they were greeted with a mini “farm stand” of artisan cheeses, charcuterie, and bread. "I love offering something to guests right as they sit, it’s also a fun conversation starter," explains Tombs. This was followed by courses of local Yellowfin tuna, sea bass, and grilled beef. 

The couple's four-tier wedding cake featured two flavor combinations: a key lime cake with lime curd, raspberry jam, and cream cheese frosting; and pistachio cake with lime curd, pistachio buttercream, and white chocolate crumble. 

"I love to dance more than anything so something that was very high on the list was having an incredible band," Allie says. "We both had the goal of wanting to have the dance floor packed from the second the band came on and luckily we had no issues meeting this." For their first dance, Sound House from Elan Artists kicked things off with Keith Urban’s “Only You Can Love Me This Way.”  

Towards the end of the evening, guests gathered to watch as a fireworks display lit up the night sky. “My family’s home in Mexico holds so many wonderful memories not only for my family but also for many of our friends,” says the bride. “Our families will be coming back here for years to come and it will always hold a very special place in our hearts.”