A Beach Wedding in Puerto Rico Built Around Family Tradition and Sunset Views

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Allison “Ally” Train and Gavriel “Gav” Blaxberg met on Hinge. Gav proposed on December 16, 2024, at Ally’s parents’ former home in Reisterstown, Maryland, during a going-away party ahead of their move to Puerto Rico. She had a feeling something was coming, but let herself be led, blindfolded, to the backyard, where he proposed in front of friends and family who had come to say goodbye and ended up celebrating an engagement instead.

Location: San Juan, Puerto Rico
Style: Beachy Classic
Number of guests: 108
Time of planning: 1 year, 2 months
Setting: Isla Verde Beach Resort by Marriott
Season: Spring

Their wedding wishes are simple: a long, happy life together filled with good health, love, laughter, and learning, and, with any luck, great finances to support their dream home, the hosting house in the neighborhood, filled with kids, adults, and pets all having a grand time.

The inspiration for the wedding design came from their appreciation for the island itself. Living in, and marrying in, a place so rich in natural beauty, Ally and Gav wanted the landscape to speak for itself. Ally built multiple Pinterest boards to pin down the exact aesthetic they were after, then booked vendors whose portfolios matched, including Carlos and the team at Post Tales, who beautifully captured the day as photographers and videographers.

Fashion

Ally’s first dress was flowy, simple, and vaguely Grecian, designed to make her feel like a goddess, finished with a cathedral-length veil for drama. Heirlooms ran through her accessories: two strands of pearls from two great-grandmothers joined into one layered look, and a custom gold and opal ring her mother, Laura, had recreated for Ally’s 18th birthday from a costume jewelry original passed down through the family. Faux pearl-embellished bangles from Valija adorned her wrists, while Laura also gifted the earrings. Her perfume, a custom scent the couple labeled “Of Course” after the words Ally used to accept Gav’s proposal, was one of two scents the couple created to wear on their wedding day and every anniversary after.

Makeup was professionally airbrushed, with hair by Vanessa’s team. Her bouquet leaned plant-focused instead of flower-focused, as she’d specifically requested, mostly greens and whites with a pop of pink, true to the local flora, and the floral team delivered.

Ally is well known for staying relaxed, and the wedding day was no different. Through last-second changes, bad weather, and delays, she stayed calm and unbothered, spending her time chatting with the bridesmaids. “I have planned every detail so carefully to this point, we have multiple backup plans in place, and I trust the planners to know exactly how to handle mishaps,” she says. “There’s no point in stressing out when I could be enjoying myself instead. At the end of the day, all that really matters is that I am marrying my best friend.”

Among the family traditions woven into the day was the Sixpence, a small coin the women on Ally’s maternal side have carried on their wedding days for generations. It’s either given to a bridesmaid or the mother of the bride to hold, or taped inside the bride’s shoe, so she walks down the aisle accompanied by the love of the cousins, aunts, mother, and grandmothers who were married before her.

Gav’s look was celebratory yet beachy: a light gray suit, clean, modern, and slim-fit, perfectly suited to a tropical Puerto Rico wedding, sharp and polished without feeling overdressed for the outdoor setting. Ally’s father helped him pick out and size it. Ally picked out a traditional boutonniere, and a tie bar and personalized stock market cufflinks nodded to his career in finance. For the ceremony, Gav also wore a yarmulke, honoring the Jewish tradition at the heart of the day.

First Look

The couple also chose to have a first look. Gav felt incredibly proud standing next to Ally, and more than one person noted that the smile on his face was the biggest they’d ever seen from him. He’d been looking forward to this moment for a long time, and with Ally handling 95% of the planning, it was easy for him to enjoy it.

Ceremony

The ceremony was originally meant to take place on the beach just before sunset, but rain moved it indoors to a ballroom. The florist and venue teams pivoted quickly and set everything up beautifully, so efficiently that most guests didn’t realize there had been a change of plans at all.

Ally and Gav held a semi-traditional Orthodox Jewish wedding as a nod to Gav’s roots, adding their own vows at the end of the ceremony, something less common in religious weddings. Afterward, they retreated to their suite for Ally’s outfit change and a chance to revel in the moment, completely overcome with love, happiness, and excitement for the party to come. They rejoined their guests for cocktail hour on the beach just in time to catch an incredible sunset.

Cocktail Hour & Special Moments

Guests moved from cocktail hour on the beach up to a terrace overlooking the water for the reception, signature drink in hand. Neither Ally nor Gav drinks alcohol, so the signature was a mocktail, lemonade with a splash of fresh passion fruit and a twist of mint, which guests could spike with the liquor of their choice.

Reception

Their goal for the decor was to keep florals and decorations relatively minimalist, so the beach, local plants, and sunset could stay the focus. The reception carried the same approach, letting the setting do most of the talking.

Ally and Gav consider three moments the most memorable of the night. The first was the speeches, given by their parents, best man, and maid of honor, all of whom spoke beautifully about their relationship. Another favorite memory was the bridesmaids climbing onto each other’s shoulders, followed by Gav hoisting Ally onto his own to dance to “Ophelia” by Taylor Swift, one of his favorite songs. The night closed with about thirty guests joining the couple on the beach to smoke and dance, the perfect end to a perfect party.

The playlist mixed classic love songs with current trends and a few EDM remixes for the bridesmaids and groomsmen, many of whom have attended raves and music festivals with Ally and Gav. The couple used several YouTube tutorials to choreograph their first dance to “Is This Love” by Bob Marley, also the first song they ever slow danced to together. They’d also like to acknowledge their bridesmaids and groomsmen, who surprised them by sneaking back to the bridal suite throughout the reception to clean up, making sure the couple returned to a pristine suite for their first night together as husband and wife.

Advice from the couple:

• Ally did most of the planning herself but swears up and down that her saving grace was hiring her day-of wedding planner/organizer, Eva. Having Eva and her team present on the day of the wedding made it so that any changes that had to be made or questions that had to be asked were handled without Ally having to lift a finger.

• The couple also spent the entire evening together, Ally without her phone, making it a point to never leave each other’s sides once they met under the altar. By staying together, the bride and groom were able to stay fully present and truly enjoy the beauty of the evening.