An Intimate Wedding Experience to Remember
The beauty of a destination wedding is that it is most often a very intimate experience. Destination weddings take the hassle out of planning a big lavish affair. Plus, since they take place far away, you don’t feel the same pressure to have to invite everyone and their cousin.
That’s exactly what Heidi and Matt were looking for. They wanted to have a nice ceremony that they would thoroughly enjoy with just their closest friends and family.
To that end, they opted for a simple, intimate wedding ceremony at a private villa in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica. You can’t get much more intimate than that! And, as you’ll see, the location was simply stunning.
The Couple: Heidi and Matt
Heidi and Matt decided that a destination wedding in Costa Rica was perfect for them. They love traveling together and getting married seemed like a great reason to go on an adventure.
They specifically mentioned to me beforehand that they hadn’t spent much time on Pinterest looking for the perfect wedding details. Neither of them were too interested in the specifics. They were more concerned with enjoying their time rather than stressing over the details.
Though neither had visited Costa Rica, it was on their bucket list and a wedding and a honeymoon in such a luscious place were perfect. Manuel Antonio is also an easy place to get to. Since some of their guests had little to no experience with international travel they wanted to make it easy on them.
Heidi advised me that she is more of a tomboy and enjoys tromping around in the woods more than trying to look pretty in a floofy dress, moreover they just wanted to capture real moments of them and their guests enjoying their special day.
The Villa: Vista Hermosa
Heidi and Matt chose the private villa Vista Hermosa for their wedding. In Spanish, vista hermosa means beautiful view. Take one look at the location and you’ll understand how aptly the house is named.
Not only is the view of the beach, the Pacific Ocean and the jungle breathtaking, but the house itself is gorgeous. There are lots of huge windows and open walls to take full advantage of the beauty outdoors and the fresh sea breeze.
The villa is a sprawling 11,000 sq feet and offers comfortable and luxurious quarters for 24 people. Plus, there’s no disagreements over who gets the room with a view, every room offers expansive views of the ocean.
The villa also boasts a 3-sided infinity pool which is perfect for relaxing or taking a leisurely swim. There is also plenty of comfortable seating and open terraces. There is plenty of space for all your close friends and family to enjoy without getting in each other’s way.
The Day After Session
After a gorgeous, simple ceremony and tons of fun at the reception, Heidi and Matt opted for a one hour Trash the Dress Session, or “Day After Session”. So the next morning we headed out to the beach to get some fun photos of the newlyweds on the beach.
The nice thing about doing portraits the day after is that the couple gets to enjoy the whole reception time with their guests. Plus, we can get more creative for the photos because it’s not essential to keep the dress sparkling clean for the reception.
Can’t you imagine having a simple wedding ceremony in Costa Rica? There’s so much incredible natural beauty and in a villa like Vista Hermosa you can thoroughly enjoy the outdoors, with all the comforts of a luxurious inn.
An intimate wedding is so much easier to plan and you can really enjoy your day. It doesn’t fly by in a blur with you just trying to make sure that you greet every one of your hundreds of guests. Enjoy the time with the people who matter most and treasure those memories for a lifetime.
For more information on getting married legally in Costa Rica, check out this post!
Want more info on how to to have your wedding at Vista Hermosa Estate in Costa Rica? Check out my complete guide below: