Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan1/48There’s definitely nothing more romantic than white paper and blue ink. I wanted classic invitations with a hint of tropical.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan2/48Our wedding weekend began on Thursday. We hosted a big paella party at our best friends’ beautiful house in the islands. It was the end of our day, and we had been drinking, laughing, and swimming in paradise. This is one of our favorite places on Earth, and we were on cloud nine.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan3/48Josh wanted a thin traditional wedding band, and I wanted mine to have rubies, my birth stone. I created both of them.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan4/48With my mom, waiting for the guests to arrive to the island. The weather was perfect.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan5/48I grew up with these flowers; they are called gingers, and they simply make me smile.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan6/48My niece, Bridger, who loves to give kisses.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan7/48Just before we all sat down for lunch overlooking the ocean. My best friend Maria Fernanda did all the decorations. She used coconut palm leaves from around the area
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan8/48Josh made the best seafood paella. He’s a great cook. I always tell him he won me over with his cooking.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan9/48Bridger having the best time at the islands. She’s irresistible.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan10/48Josh’s parents hosted a welcoming party on Friday night at Casa Pombo, which is one of the most beautiful and historic houses in Cartagena.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan11/48I chose bugambilias, which are one of my favorite flowers, for Friday.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan12/48When planning the lighting and set design of the wedding with Playa Producciones, I made sure to ask for a disco ball. There was no way I was going to party until 6:00 a.m. without one. Actually it lasted until 9:00 a.m., so I guessed it worked!
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan13/48All I wanted to wear for Friday night’s party was red, and I found the most beautiful vintage dress at A Current Affair. The shoes are Marni, and I wore a single earring, the Penelope.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan14/48I will never forget Friday night’s party. Here we are surrounded by our dearest friends and family. All we wanted was to share a beautiful evening over great wine, cocktails, and amazing food prepared by celebrated local Cartagena chef, Juan Felipe Camacho of Don Juan restaurant.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan15/48Almost three hours of speeches. What a roller coaster of emotions! It was a laugh, cry, laugh, cry kind of situation. This picture describes the night perfectly. My mom wore a beautiful white dress by Jonathan Simkhai.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan16/48Bugambilias are everywhere in Cartagena. This was my balcony, overlooking the centro historico. My wedding shoes are Miu Miu and they were incredibly comfortable.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan17/48My engagement ring is a heirloom piece from Josh’s grandmother. She never met me but I’m so honored to carry a piece of her with me.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan18/48I’ve loved these pearl earrings since I was a little girl. They were my grandmother’s, and they were passed on to my mom many years ago. They were passed on to me on my wedding day.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan19/48I did my own makeup per Josh’s request. I’m laughing at my brothers because neither of them knew how to tie a bow tie. The silk and colorful robe was a gift by one of my dearest friends, Ann Spence.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan20/48I love flowers in their natural and wild state. The bouquet was composed of godetias, campanulas, and veronicas. For something blue, I tied a satin ribbon with a brooch given to me by Josh’s mother a few months before the wedding to the bouquet. The brooch, made of pearls and sapphires, was a gift that Josh’s grandmother gave to her in the hospital when he was born. After the wedding, I removed the ribbon from the bouquet and wore it as a bracelet.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan21/48The grand room at Casa Pestagua and the dress of my dreams waiting to be worn. It was made by Naeem Khan.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan22/48My handsome groom and husband-to-be with his beautiful mother, Vicki. My gift to him was custom lapis lazuli tuxedo studs that matched perfectly with his PR Series “The Piers” cuff links. He wore a custom suit and shirt by Simone Abbarchi, an amazing tailor from Florence, Italy.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan23/48Josh’s dad, Joe, and Neil, my brother-in-law, having some laughs on the patio of Casa Pombo before the wedding ceremony.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan24/48The Hackler family! All pretty and ready for the photos. Josh sipping a gin and tonic.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan25/48My dress was the first decision and the best decision. I had to wait three years to wear it, and I couldn’t believe it was finally on me. I was ready to go!
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan26/48My nephew Davidson was in charge of the rings. My little cousin Luna and my niece, Bridger, were the flower girls and their crowns were made with the same flowers used in my bouquet.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan27/48My brother Juan (left) asked me if I was nervous and surprisingly my response was a no. All I could feel was joy seeing all of our friends who had come from near and far. He, on the other hand, wasn’t able to hold in the tears and cried all the way to the altar. Felipe, my youngest brother, was cool, calm, and collectsed. It was a beautiful moment.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan28/48We got married in the smallest church of Cartagena, the Santo Toribio church with 100 guests as witnesses.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan29/48Marrying my best friend and my southern boy.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan30/48Our dear friend, Monsignor Kieran Harrington, flew all the way from our Brooklyn parrish to spend the entire week with us and to officiate the ceremony.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan31/48Just married!
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan32/48Here I am waiting for the car to arrive to take me to the church. I was so nervous and sad at the same time. After so many months of planning, it was surreal to see every single detail coming together. From above, it looked like a fairy tale.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan33/48An intimate moment with my mom before the night got started. All I could say was, Thank you.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan34/48Outside the church after the ceremony. My hair was already down from all the hugs.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan35/48I surprised Josh with a vintage BMW that was waiting for us outside the church. He didn’t know he was going to be driving us to cocktails.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan36/48Having a blast! People on the street would scream “que vivan los novios!” and we would look at each other, incredulous of what was happening.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan37/48Honking our way out! This moment was definitely a crowd-pleaser!
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan38/48The setup of the night! The magnificent living room of Casa Pombo.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan39/48My magical garden.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan40/48I grew up eating uchuva fruit, and I wanted to display them in a fun way. We scattered them on the tables because not only is it a beautiful fruit, it can also be eaten in one small bite kind of like candy!
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan41/48A son cubano band played all throughout the dinner and after the cake we danced to our first song—“It Must Be True Love” by Toots and the Maytals. The cascading lights made us feel like we were dancing under the stars.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan42/48I had always envisioned a lot of greenery for my wedding, and a little bit of 1950s old Cuban flair—kind of like a scene from an old James Bond movie.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan43/48The cake was decorated with dahlias. It was made of torta negra, which is the Colombian tradition. I don’t like it so I asked my best friend Silvana, who owns Masa in Bogotá, to make me her carrot cake, which is delicious!
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan44/48Here we are cutting the carrot cake. The cake server is from Comunione, my tabletop line I created with my friend Laura Panebianco.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan45/48One of my favorite shots of the night. It was captured while we were going around the tables saying hello to all of our friends and family.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan46/48At one point we all got really hot! I changed into a fabulous 1940s flapper dress. It had pearl embroidered stars and silver sparks throughout. My sister-in-law, Cena, changed into a Silvia Tcherassi shirtdress that she had bought hours earlier. It had little red dots that matched perfectly with her Rebecca de Ravenel earrings.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan47/48So much love for these boys! They are my best friends from high school, and they all love Josh.
Photo: Veronica Rafael and Brandon Pavan48/48This was the very last photo taken by our photographer Veronica around 2:00 a.m. As the saying goes, que comience la fiesta! Josh was adamant about keeping his suspenders on for as long as he could. We had a live salsa band that played until 3:00 a.m. and Andrés Maciá, our DJ, played in between breaks and then moved us all to the second floor where we danced looking out on the moon and the stars.
