An All-Red Cabo Wedding, From the Bridesmaid Dresses to the Florals

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Nikki and TJ have lived in San Diego by the beach for the past seven years, and their lifestyle reflects it. Scuba diving, beach volleyball, walks along the sand, biking to the farmers market, anything ocean-adjacent has a way of pulling them in. Nikki grew up in Orange County, and Cabo has always been her favorite spot in the world. A few years into their relationship, she brought TJ there for the first time, and he fell for it just as hard. So when it came time to choose a wedding destination, the decision made itself. With her friends mostly on the West Coast and his on the East, Cabo landed right in the middle, perfect for everyone.

Location: Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Style: Tropical, Vibrant, Elegant
Number of guests: 60
Time of planning: About 1 year
Setting: Resort
Season: Fall

For the proposal, TJ enlisted a close family friend to pull off the whole thing. She told Nikki she needed a plus-one for a work trip to Napa, since her husband couldn’t make it, and Nikki had no idea what was actually happening. After a few wineries on the first day, TJ was waiting on a private deck, ready to propose. Quiet, private, and entirely personal. Afterward, he took her to dinner, where family and their closest friends were all waiting to surprise them and celebrate. “It was more than I ever could have imagined,” Nikki says.

As for what the marriage means to them, the answer is simple. “We want to always have fun together, keep life interesting by traveling and seeing the world together, and never stop lifting each other up and supporting one another during the challenging times.” Every bit of the day was wonderfully captured by Talia Lopez, whose work carried the same warmth running through their whole story.

Welcome Party

The welcome party took place aboard the Pelican F17 with Pelican Cabo, the view stretching out over the water as Nikki, TJ, and their guests eased into the weekend before the big day.

Fashion

Nikki wore a Vivienne Westwood Nova Grace gown for the ceremony, finished with Christian Louboutin heels. “Once we committed to red as our main color, the red bottoms felt like an obvious choice,” she says. Her maid of honor surprised her with a pair of Vivienne Westwood earrings to wear with her second dress, a thoughtful gift that gave Nikki her own small VW moment as she changed out of the wedding dress.

Even the perfume carried its own story. A few months before the wedding, Nikki and TJ spent a day in Florence at a perfume boutique, picking out signature scents of their own, a personal, unexpected way to spend an afternoon together. “I felt so beautiful,” Nikki says of her look overall. “Wearing a Vivienne Westwood dress was a dream come true, and I was so happy with how it photographed.”

TJ wore a custom suit by Pearce Bespoke, with a surprise sewn into the jacket lining, funny, embarrassing photos of Nikki collected throughout the year, “his way of saying he loves me at my best and my worst,” she says. He matched her in Christian Louboutin shoes and wore the cologne he’d picked out during their day at the perfume boutique in Florence.

The most playful touch came from his socks. TJ, who’s always loved a fun pair, had custom TNT socks made for himself and all his groomsmen, standing for TJ, Nikki, Treat. “He loves personal and unique touches,” Nikki says, and he was especially excited to see her reaction when he finally showed her what he’d stitched into the inside of his jacket.

Before The Ceremony

Instead of a traditional first look, TJ was adamant about something else, a moment before the ceremony where the two of them stood back to back, holding hands without seeing each other. It felt special in its own quiet way. When Nikki finally walked down the aisle, TJ couldn’t hold back his emotion, and neither could most of the guests watching.

Ceremony

They chose an outdoor ceremony, private from anyone outside their guest list, wanting the whole moment to feel deeply personal. Acre Resort made the decision easy, its setup was exactly what they’d pictured.

The flowers and the ceremony space had turned out so much grander than either of them expected. TJ later admitted that while he stood waiting at the altar, he kept thinking about how incredible everything looked, and how excited Nikki was going to be the moment she finally saw the vision come to life.

For TJ, the most memorable moment came the second he turned and saw Nikki walking down the aisle. He’d never seen a dress quite like hers, and it wasn’t at all what he’d expected, completely caught off guard in the best possible way, with every emotion hitting him at once. It’s the moment he keeps coming back to.

They also decided to read their vows in front of their guests. “I was nervous because public speaking really isn’t my thing,” Nikki admits, “but it meant a lot to TJ, and I’m so glad we did it.” Guests later said it was one of the most emotional, favorite moments of the whole day.

Cocktail Hour & Photos

During cocktail hour, Nikki and TJ slipped away for their couple portraits, then decided to skip the last twenty minutes of the party entirely, sneaking off to the bridal suite just the two of them. Signature cocktails in hand, the appetizers they’d chosen laid out, they took a moment simply to breathe it all in. “We kept saying how happy we were with every decision we’d made,” Nikki says.

Talia Lopez caught their portraits during golden hour, the light settling over the two of them in exactly the kind of glow that makes a wedding gallery unforgettable.

Reception Decor & Planning

The vision started one night in the backyard, with Nikki scrolling through Pinterest and asking TJ if red flowers and red bridesmaid dresses would be too bold. He loved it instantly, something he’d genuinely never seen done before. There weren’t many reference photos to go off of, so the two decided to just commit. A few nights later, Nikki floated the idea of red-bottom shoes to match. Fashion isn’t really TJ’s thing, so she wasn’t sure he’d care, but it turned out he’d been thinking the exact same thing. That weekend, they headed to the store together, too excited to wait, and that’s when the whole vision locked into place.

Red became the thread running through every part of the wedding, the florals, the bridesmaid dresses, the shoes, and small details like mini red chilis tucked into the arrangements and red cherries on the cake, with Florenta MX bringing the vision to life through every floral arrangement. For the reception at Acre Resort, imperial tables were arranged with the bar set toward the back, a layout shaped with head planner Elsa Alvarez Alcantara for Lola del Campo, that felt both deliberate and welcoming. Candlelight and lush red florals filled the space with a rich, romantic tone, and as the celebration began, a soft cotton-candy pink sky finished the whole picture perfectly.

One of the most creative moments of the design was the bar installation. Strands of red chili peppers layered throughout it, creating a bold, unexpected visual against the candlelight, while a custom bar sign hung above from the mango tree canopy, playful and elevated at once, giving the whole setup a distinct, effortlessly cool feel.

Instead of a traditional seating chart, every guest received a personally printed Polaroid of themselves with either Nikki or TJ, a detail everyone loved. They also made custom cocktail napkins printed with love notes pulled from old cards, since both of them have saved every card they’ve ever given each other, written in their own handwriting. A small detail, but one guests genuinely enjoyed.

Reception

Above everything else, Nikki and TJ wanted the wedding to feel genuinely like them: fun, personal, and built around making guests feel thought of. TJ ended up far more involved than most grooms typically are, bringing a handful of his own ideas into the day, which only made it feel more like the two of them.

Later during the reception, Nikki changed into her second dress, and the two made their entrance back onto the dance floor with waiters carrying trays of espresso martinis, sparklers lit, while “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter played. Guests loved every second of it.

For Nikki, the most memorable moment came later, watching TJ completely let loose on the dance floor. “I have never seen him so happy,” she says. “All of our friends and family were out there with him, and everyone seemed so comfortable with each other, like they could really just let go.” That image, TJ in the middle of it all, is the one she keeps coming back to. “It made everything we put into the day feel completely worth it.”

Advice from the couple:

• Stay true to yourselves and your style as a couple. Your wedding should feel like you, not like what you think it’s supposed to look like.

• Focus on what actually matters — your love and your people. Guests can feel when something is genuine, and they appreciate it more than any big production. The thing we heard most was that it felt personal and like us and that everyone could really feel the love and emotion. One friend even described it as the happiest day they had ever been part of. That meant more than anything.

• Find a planner you trust and actually let them do their job and trust the vendors they recommended. We had so many specific and unconventional ideas that we honestly weren’t sure could be pulled off. Our planner and her team made every single one happen in ways we never could have done on our own. Everyone working on the wedding felt like family that day, and they were truly there to make our day special. At the end of the night TJ — who is not overly bubbly — went straight to our planner, hugged her, and said ‘we can’t ever thank you enough, we will love you forever!’ That really says it all about the team behind the wedding.