WEDDING IDEAS

Though Sanny and Oli had initially been set on another location, it just didn’t feel right to them. They wound up recontacting a wedding planner in Cabo -- whom they’d spoken with months before -- and she helped them find Villa Maria, “which was truly the perfect location for us,” Sanny says.

Sanny’s family is in San Francisco (where the couple now live), while Oli is from England. “We thought it would be fair if everyone had to travel,” Sanny says. “Also, we fell in love with Cabo and wanted to share it with our family and friends.” The intimate wedding was held at a villa that had a long terrace, where dinner took place, and a lower terrace, where the ceremony was held.

Sanny wore a cream-colored silk dupioni mermaid gown accented with ruching and beading by Pronovias.

Rather than wearing a headpiece or veil, Sanny simply accented her updo with purple dendrobium orchids.

Sanny also brought in the wedding’s palette with her shoes: strappy purple satin sandals embellished with rhinestones.

Sanny carried a bouquet of cream-colored calla lilies, with the stems wrapped in lavender ribbon.

Sanny and Oli exchanged vows on the lower terrace of the villa, with the Pacific Ocean in the background and their 25 guests surrounding them. The couple actually legally wed earlier that day before a judge, but it didn’t make the ceremony any less special. A friend of the groom’s read in English, and a friend of the bride’s read in Cantonese.

Sanny and Oli wrote the vows themselves. “We’re not religious, so we focused on what a happy occasion this was and how honored we were that our family and friends were there to celebrate the day with us,” the bride says. Paper fans sat on the seats, so guests could keep cool beneath the Mexican sun.

Guests sat together at one long table for the reception, with a view of the ocean, as well as of the candle-lit lanterns that floated in the infinity pool beyond.

Glass cylinders in various sizes were filled with sand and white pillar candles, and lined the long table where dinner was served. After dinner, the newlyweds walked back down to the terrace where the ceremony had been held. It was now lit by a fire, and luminaries lined the stairway and edges.

A mix of purple and white blooms -- including roses, daisies, and orchids -- sat in square vases lined with banana leaves.

Sanny and Oli cut a simple two-tier cake adorned with chocolate ribbons and fresh purple dendrobium orchids. The cake itself was a white-chocolate-frosted sponge cake with milk chocolate ganache and fresh raspberries.

Sanny & Oli in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Photos By: Leigh Miller Photography
Event Planning: Katie Thompson, Weddings in Paradise
Location: Villa Maria, Pedregal, Cabo San Lucas

Sanny and Oli met on a blind date at a local sushi joint. “It wasn’t exactly the ideal date place -- or sushi place -- but it didn’t matter because we immediately hit it off,” Sanny says. “We knew this was the beginning of something very special.”

The Bride Sanny Ng, 30, a CPA
The Groom Oliver Ryan, 31, a recruiter
The Date November 4

Two years later, Oli had planned a weeklong trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. After checking in to their hotel, they went downstairs for a drink. Oli suggested taking the drinks out to the beach to catch the sunset. “On a spot on the beach between Casa del Mar and Las Ventanas, where the waves crash on rocks, he asked me to marry him,” Sanny remembers. “I said yes!” As they made their way back toward the hotel, Sanny spotted a table set up on the beach -- special dinner plans that Oli had made weeks in advance. The couple returned to Cabo to marry a year and a half later.

-- Kate Wood