Oh, I'm so grateful to be the first review here! My wedding was 2 weeks ago and it's still surreal to me. Where to begin about Vida Bonita and the lovely Somer Fenton...
A little bit about me (so you know where I'm coming from): I'm 30 years old, live in San Francisco, have been coming to Sayulita for the past 5 years, and knew I wanted to share Sayulita with my friends and family. Also, it just didn't feel right to spend the money on a Napa/Sonoma wedding. Even with "family discount" at a few wineries, we were looking at well over $12k to secure a venue (that's before caterers, flowers, photographer, etc. etc.). And to me, I knew I would spend the day looking around and asking myself, "are those flowers worth $X to me?" And that's not how I wanted to spend my wedding day. I know a destination wedding can seem like A LOT of work. But I assure you, I hardly lifted a finger. Somer made my pre-wedding life, extremely easy. And honestly, that allowed me to work at my business hard before we left, and in turn, I was able to earn great money and truly RELAX while in Mexico. That's a big deal. As far as working with Somer from a distance, she listened to how much involvement I wanted, she clued me in as necessary, but she did the work. And the work she did absolutely knocked my socks off!
When we got into Sayulita, I wasn't honestly sure when I'd see Somer. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I just wasn't a very anxious bride. I figured she'd let me know when she needed to talk to me (lol!). I got a beautiful welcome email and she told me when and where I'd meet her to do a walk through of the wedding site and where we'd set things up, etc. To meet Somer, is to fall in love with her. Her demeanor is cucumber cool. All the time. She's warm and laughs and smiles, but nothing NOTHING ruffles her feathers. Nothing was ever a "problem". There were many last minute things that I forgot to handle or do, and Somer would kind of giggle and then say, "no worries!"
We did 3 events with Somer: a "Welcome Dinner", the actual wedding, and then a brunch the following morning. The food was delicious, we had a great variety from event to event, and the decor changes between events were perfect. The vendors she used were EXCEPTIONAL. They were all kind, friendly, worked EXTREMELY hard (and it was HOT), and it was clear that they all liked working with and for Somer. The Street Tacos team made beautiful food and their cooks congratulated me (rare, and lovely!). The churros cart at the end of the night cooked off all the extra dough they had and brought me a stack of (no joke) 30-40 churros for guests once they were packing up to leave-so sweet! Don Pedro's staff worked so hard and did such a great job from set up to clean up. And honestly, by brunch, most of our friends were into water as a the beverage of choice. And the Don Pedro's crew was walking around refilling every single person's water cup (since not too many were into the bar). They didn't have to do that-but they did. I was seriously impressed. The photographer Somer hired was perfect and only made me take extra pictures for about 15 minutes and got more than I ever could have asked for. The woman who did my hair (I was a little hesitant but Somer assured me she would be awesome), was so sweet and she did a fantastic job! And Rebecca (who did my make-up)...I want to be her friend. When these people showed up, they hugged Somer, they said warm hellos, and clearly LIKED working with her. It was really special to see all of that. It was really really good vibes. That's the best way I can put it. And on your wedding day, you WANT that kind of positivity around you. You want to feel beautiful and loved and all the good stuff. The person who orchestrates all of this for you should be someone you like. And it's impossible to not love Somer!
I want to give a shout out to Somer's husband, Billy. He was on site for set-up and breakdown and he was a lovely conversationalist and as cool and calm and Miss Somer. And though I didn't get to meet their son, I did get to meet their daughter a couple of days after the wedding when Billy came by to take down the lights. Their 3 year old (who looks just like mom) walked up to me and said, "excuse me, but are you the bride?" When I said yes she asked, "but where is your bride dress?" ADORABLE! So I showed her pictures from the wedding and she said, "no, where is the DRESS?" hahaha! So I took her to see my dress and shoes. So sweet!
If you're on this Yelp page reading this review, please know that I'm not a highly sentimental person or a person who would write a review like this unless the people and the services they offer were on point. I don't know what Somer's background was before events, but she's doing an amazing job and is really good at the business she's doing. If you're considering a destination wedding, DO IT! You'll never regret it and it is easier than you think. Just make sure you have Somer on your side :) read more
