Real Weddings |
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Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Written by Marjorie Asturias-Lochlaer
Photography by Ian Wingfield, Aurelia d'Amore, David Safran
April Tillman & Billy Gabor
November 26, 2005
 When New York based Photographer April Tillman and Film Colorist
Billy Gabor stumbled upon Casa Natalia during a vacation in Mexico
in 2000, little did they know that they would be exchanging wedding
vows there six years later. After missing their flight home to Los
Angeles that evening, they decided to stay at the lovely little boutique
hotel in San Jose del Cabo for the night and fell in love with the
location. It wasn’t until 2005, however, after Billy’s proposal to April
during an ice-skating date at Wollman Rink in New York’s Central
Park, that they decided to seal their commitment at the intimate Inn
they had discovered years before in sunny Mexico.
Despite the logistical challenges of planning a wedding long-distance,
April says she had few problems with the arrangements for
her November 26th wedding. She enlisted the assistance of owner
Nathalie Tenoux to design a memorable wedding that would not
only please her and Billy but also enchant their friends and family. A
local wedding consultant was also assigned to coordinate the legal
paperwork and attend to some of the details.
Most guests relaxed, stayed a week and enjoyed dining in downtown
San Jose and the guys had a blast going baja racing. During
the wedding, ceremonial highlights included a local guitarist who
played a haunting ballad while April, wearing a silk and satin ivory
gown by Spain-based Pronovias, walked down the aisle; the traditional
Mexican wedding lasso ritual, as well as the recitation of an
Apache Indian blessing. April’s love of vibrant colors and her passion
for Latin culture was evident in the ceremonial palette, an explosion of tropical colors, particularly orange and fuchsia, that enhanced
the sultry mood of the late afternoon.
 Afterwards, the wedding party, as well as the 36 guests in
attendance, retreated to the Inn’s candlelit restaurant to feast on
delectable treats offered by the resident chef and co-owner, Luc
Tenoux, including lobster, a vodka and cheese sorbet, and
ceviches. The wedding cake, also a Tenoux masterpiece, was
an asymmetrically designed strawberry mousse confection with
buttercream icing. “The food was awesome,” April recalls as she
describes the scrumptious banquet at the reception. To complement
the romantic décor, a mariachi band as well as a Latinand
Cuban-inspired bossa nova band provided the perfect
musical accompaniment to the festivities.
 The couple was especially grateful that some of their friends
not only attended their destination wedding, but that they also
contributed to its execution. California-based Ian Wingfield and
Aurelia D’Amore, both professional photographers, offered fellow
photographer April their services, while Billy, asked his friend
Chris Mosera, a Denver-based commercial film director, to provide
the videography.
In the end, April says that if she were asked to describe Casa
Natalia using just one or two words, they would be “romance”
and “fire.” “I’m an Aries,” she laughs. “I’m all about the fire. It’s
such a sexy place, you know? And what better atmosphere to
get married in than that?”
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