One & Only Palmilla, Los Cabos, Mexico

   Appropriately enough, Jean and Michael met on Valentine’s Day. The year was 2001, and they were attending a birthday dinner in a Mexican restaurant. Their friends later pointed out that, from the moment they met, Jean and Michael might as well have been dining alone. They stopped talking to anyone else at the table, and by the time the main course arrived they were holding hands.

    Three years later, at Jumby Bay in the Caribbean, Michael proposed. “Mike had organized a very romantic dinner on the beach,” Jean reminisces. “It was magic—there was a full moon, so the beach was lit—amazing!” However, being one who is not easily surprised, Jean had expected the proposal, which was accompanied by a ring with a three-carat cushion-cut diamond in an antique setting.

    “Mike and I have always loved Cabo, as it was one of our first vacation places together,” Jean comments. She and Michael wanted the weekend to feel like a vacation for their 70 guests, so they planned many activities, starting with a kickoff welcome fiesta with tequila sampling and light fare at a local bar. The next day, the guests were treated to a sail along Lover’s Beach for snorkeling, diving, and sea lion watching.
     The rehearsal dinner on South Beach featured a Mexican feast with a “Mexican tapestry” theme, based on One & Only Palmilla’s unique design. Bright flowers were displayed in pineapple leaves, and indigenous tapestries covered the tables.
    The ceremony took place in One & Only Palmilla’s Chapel, which overlooks the resort’s tropical grounds and beaches. The wedding décor featured roses in ivory, pale peach, and pale pink. Jean and Michael repeated vows that they had written for each other, she in a traditional, lace Vera Wang gown  with unfinished edges and he in a tan Books Brothers suit with white shirt and no tie.
    Later Jean slipped into a Monique Lhuillier lace minidress to dance the night away at the reception, in a room resembling a New York City nightclub where guests dined on a duet of aged filet of beef with thyme sauce and grilled Baja lobster with lime and chive sauce.

    For their honeymoon, the couple spent two weeks in Italy, traveling to Rome, Florence, Venice, and throughout Tuscany. Now they’re busy decorating their apartment and “hanging out” with their puppy, Boo Radley. Jean says, “While the wedding was a dream, being married to your best friend and the true love of your life is even better.”