We started the weekend with an amazing welcome party at Michael’s parents’ beautiful home. It was clear how excited Mikaela and Michael were to see everyone who traveled from near and far to New Mexico to celebrate with them. They even got to celebrate with their dachshund- who was far cuddlier and less vicious than the photos might suggest! The night wrapped up with an infamous New Mexico sunset and a wonderful group of people enjoying their time together.

The wedding day began with the classic New Mexico feel as Mikaela spent the morning getting ready at the La Fonda Hotel. A lot of brides struggle to select the perfect wedding dress- after all, there are childhood dreams that may or may not fall into current fashion trends, personal preferences, and about a million other particulars that go into selecting the “perfect” dress. Luckily, Mikaela clearly has a handle on her personal style, the dress she picked was both stunning and fit her personality to a “T”. It was also very neat for us that her dad helped put her dress on and it allowed Mikaela to spend even more time with both her parents on her wedding day. Michael and Mikaela exchanged touching gifts while getting ready and spent time hanging out and relaxing with their closest friends- and for the guys, hilarity ensued as they tried to tie bowties!

Mikaela and Michael had a beautiful Catholic ceremony at Our Lady of Guadalupe Santuario Church. They exited the church to the celebration of hundreds of cowbells being rung by their families and friends. They decided they would celebrate by walking from the church to the reception through downtown Santa Fe and even a bit of rain couldn’t dampen their moods!

Cocktail hour was held on the rooftop of the La Fonda hotel with a stunning backdrop of the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi. The reception space inside featured a classically beautiful southwestern theme complete with the quintessential Santa Fe color palette, cacti, and succulents. As the party kicked into gear Michael and Mikaela’s friends really showed their acting chops with possibly the funniest speeches we’ve ever witnessed.

On Sunday we headed up to Ghost Ranch for a laid back cookout before everyone headed back to New York City. Ghost Ranch is the filming location for many of the most famous westerns as well as the Georgia O’Keefee museum- so it made sense to pick this stunning backdrop as a picnic location for a group so full of actors and artists! The afternoon featured football and soccer games that even Michael’s mom got in on, a light thunderstorm, and a lot of guests who were exhausted in the best way possible- from celebrating Michael and Mikaela all weekend long!

Mikaela and Michael /// Married
Rehearsal