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andean ceremony

In Destination weddings/ Elopement/ peruvian style

The Best of Our 2018 Peru Destination Weddings

beautiful wedding

2018 has been a great year for us, actually a very busy one! We planned many destination weddings and elopements in Peru’s main destinations, such as Cusco, Sacred Valley and Lima. We had the opportunity to be part of amazing wedding celebrations, rustic, classic and boho weddings, romantic wedding proposals, charming elopements and Andean ceremonies in the mystic atmosphere of the Sacred Valley. We experienced the very essence of love and we are extremely grateful to the couples who chose us as wedding coordinators.

Say I Do in Peru started the year working on a rustic-style destination wedding held nearby Lima. This wedding was a great success for us, the first of the year and felpe us adquire the confidence and the right spirit for the following months. Decorations were amazing and we really enjoyed setting up all the rustic details, such as wooden tables, wooden signs, blackboards, the beautiful flowers decorated swing and all the beautiful and scented flower decorations all over the reception area. What we really loved of this wedding was the desserts table with little sweets, such as lemoncard tartelets, cupcakes, little “suspiro a la limeña”, chocolate truffles, chocolate popcakes and a beautiful naked cake in the middle of the table. We also loved the reception area, with the wide dancefloor and the lighting all over it.Rustic style reception -minRustic style centerpiece and swingCatering rustic style-min (2)Party, Rustic StyleCredits: Tahuano Photography

We were also part of an emotional wedding proposal this year, this kind of events are quite new for us, but this year we started planning Peru wedding proposals as well and we are very happy about this new chapter. This wedding proposal was held in an amazing beach house at south of Peru’s capital city. The atmosphere we created was extremely romantic, with a path of red and white rose petals that brought the couple to a beautiful oceanfront patio, where the actual proposal happened. Of course there was a live music soundtrack, with a singer and an acoustic guitar and a small catering service with champaign for the toast. Nothing better than a romantic beachfront wedding proposal!

Romantic proposal scenerypath of red and white rosewedding proposalCredits: Lara Momentos

In April we had the chance to plan another outdoor destination wedding in a stunning venue, this time the couple opted for a villa overlooking Lima metropolitan area. From the villa´s grounds you could enjoy a beautiful Lima’s skyline, the view was really amazing. The villa has a beautiful outdoor area with a quite large swimmingpool (of course at the end of the party all the guests and the newlyweds jumped in the swimming pool!). What we loved about this wedding was the amazing reception table, a long rectangular table for about 50 people with a beautiful flower arrangements. All the decorations were very neutral, with white flowers and wooden elements. There were also an amazing cheese table and a dessert table with a naked cake as well. The topper of the wedding cake was sooooo cute, the real cherry on top of the cake.Amazing venueA long rectangular table -min (1)Cheese table-minbeautiful lights for your weddingfun with weddingsCredits: Danae Soch Photography

We were also part of several Andean ceremonies in 2018, mostly celebrated in Cusco or in the Sacred Valley. Usually there is a shaman with two assistants celebrating this kind of mystic ceremonies. This is a very spiritual moment and also very intimate. We have organized elopements (just for the couple) and intimate ceremonies as well, only for few guests, usually direct family and close friends. The setting is folkloristic, the use of Peruvian traditional and colorful fabrics is the “leit motiv” of the event, and the traditional clothes of the shaman and his assistants contribute to create a very traditional atmosphere as well. We talked about Andean wedding ceremonies in details in a previous article.Andean Ceremony decorationCeremonia andinaAmazing Andean CeremonyAndean ceremony in a beautiful landscapeCredits: James Aragon Photography

We kept organizing wedding proposal this year, we had another one in a suggestive vineyard, located in the central area of Peru, few hours south of Lima, in Ica region. The couple loved wines and the husband to be really wanted to find an evocative place with a beautiful landscape to get engaged, so the Vineyard was the perfect spot for them. We loved being part of this event!

Vineyard Wedding Proposal

Vineyard Wedding ProposalCredits: Micho Guerra Photography

One of the main destination for weddings in Peru is obviously the Sacred Valley, a charming and mystic place where you can breath the real essence of Peru. We had a Jewish destination wedding there in july with amazing decoration. The venue is literally merged into the wild nature of the valley, saying beautiful doesn’t give justice to the magnificence of the landscape we enjoyed there. Decorations were really elegant and classic, the huppah was decorated with white flowers and white fabric on the top, bridesmaids chose elegant burgundy dresses for the occasion. The colors white and burgundy really matched well together. For the cocktail area the couple opted for a beautiful refreshments table with Peruvian traditional details, hanging lanterns with flowers decorations, a wooden bar and live Andean music band as soundtrack. Also for the reception the burgundy color was a must have, just have a look at the flower centerpieces, they were amazing, a touch of color under the beautiful and immacolate tent. The bar chosen was amazing as well. The reception was held under an elegant white tent, with a big chandellier at the center. Everything was definitely on point.

Rustic Wedding Details

Rustic WeddingCredits: Marco Nishiyama Photography

In july we had another charming wedding in the Sacred Valley, this time it was an intimate Andean ceremony under a very clear blue sky. The ceremony background was amazing, the Andes chain really creates a stunning scenary, perfect for amazing wedding photos. We loved the lighting of the tent, the wedding cake made of cupcakes (this was a very original choice) and the elegant flower decorations.

Sacred Valley CeremonyAndean Wedding CeremonyElegant Decoration for WeddingCredits: Marco Nishiyama Photography

We closed the year with a traditional Peruvian destination wedding in an oceanfront villa nearby Lima. The couple opted for traditional Peruvian decorations, with Peruvian fabrics, colourful flower arrangements, little llamas decorations, Peruvian-style embroidered tote bags as guests favors, a traditional “turron de doña pepa” cake. All the decoration details were amazing! The venue was actually one of our favourite venues, a Romane empire style villa located on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, you basically get married merged in the Ocean breeze and in a classic atmosphere. I can ensure you that the feeling of getting married there is amazing.

Peruvian Style Wedding Decoration

Peruvian Style Wedding

Peruvian Oceanfront WeddingCredits: Lara Momentos

Those are just few of the celebrations of love we planned this year, there were much more weddings, elopements and unbelievable emotions we lived. We are deeply grateful for our job and we hope our couples will charish everlasting memories of their wedding celebrations.

However, we need to go back to reality now, since we have to get ready for this 2019 wedding season, which is already full of new destination wedding adventures, new venues to be discovered, new couples to meet and much more. This year we have to cope with a lot of planning and coordination work as well to make our couples wedding dreams come true, and we cannot wait for it!

In peruvian style/ Save The Date

All You Need to Know on Andean Ceremony

andean ceremony

Peru, especially Cusco and the Sacred Valley region, is famous for the spiritual side of its natural elements, such as the mother hearth, the water and the wind, and for the very special cosmogony of the Incas. Indigenous people from the Andes have kept alive the ancient Inca spiritual traditions, and while traveling there you can feel this mystic atmosphere in the air. I am sure you have heard about the “Pachamama”, which is the mother heart for the indigenous people from the Andes. She represents the female side of the divine and she is considered the fertility goddess who nourishes plants, harvests and natural elements in general. On the other end we can find the Apus, the male side of the divine word for Incas. The Apus represents the mountain spirits that protect people against any kind of enemy. This is the Andean duality of the Inca cosmogony, which is fascinating and based on few basic principles: respect for nature, importance of the divine and holiness of natural elements: water, land, fire and wind.

beautiful ceremony andean

The all idea of the Andean wedding is to unify bride and groom with the “Pachamama” or in case of vows renewal to reaffirm your marriage before the Andean goddess. The union has been performed before the Andean goddess so it is impossible that a human being can dissolve it. I wrote more on the issue here a couple of months ago:

andean ceremony in cusco

If you are looking to get married with a very special ceremony, that you and your guests will remember forever, an Andean ceremony is the choice you should made. When couples look for something spectacular, I always suggest them to consider this spiritual ceremony, since this is a special occasion to live an extraordinary experience with their loved ones and to confirm their love before Incas gods.

elements for andean wedding

The officiant is a shaman who will guide you through this special path until the end of the ceremony. The shaman is an extremely important element of the ceremony and it is essential that bride and groom create a special connection with him. The day before the ceremony you need to meet the shaman and go to the local market to buy several elements and tools that you will need for the wedding ceremony. Usually a pair of sandal for the groom, a scarf, traditional clothes and accessories, coca leaves, flowers and some food to offer to the gods, basically seeds, beans and candies. Once you buy all this, you are set to get married before Incas goddess.

wedding in the sacred valley perfect

As for the settings, we usually suggest you to opt for a charming and characteristic venue in Cusco or the Sacred Valley, rounded by the Andean mountains that will add special spiritual vibrations to your ceremony or Incas ruins. So be careful when choosing the venue, it has to be as charming and fabulous as the ceremony itself.

Other important element is the music! What I usually suggest to couples is to have a little group of musicians playing traditional Andean instruments such as the “Quena”, that is a notched-end flute, the “antara” or panflute, which is the most recognized and popular Peruvian music instrument worldwide, the “pomatinyas”, which are little drums covered by animal skin, among others.

private wedding in cusco

After the ceremony you can have a little reception with your guests and enjoy the experience you have just lived. I can ensure that your guests will be amazed and very impressed by the ceremony. Usually couples who opt for an Andean ceremony want intimate and private weddings, and sometimes they just want to elope without any guests, and live that moment in complete privacy.

There is so much we can say to describe the beauty and the magnificence of this special ceremony, many words can be uses, but I believe that the only way to understand completely what I am talking about is to live it.