What We Heart About Santa Fe Weddings

Anyone who knows our team has seen how much we adore Santa Fe weddings and all of the amazing little spots where we’ve captured our couples and their love stories. From its vast architecture to it rich culture, Santa Fe is a gem among the Southwest and we feel so dang lucky to spend so much time exploring it.

One of the most iconic locations for weddings is, of course, the Santa Fe Plaza, but what many don’t realize is the vast number of different venues of all shapes and sizes for weddings.

Do you want a huge wedding with a parade around the historic plaza followed by an outdoor reception? There are several hotels including La Fonda on the Plaza, The Inn and Spa at Loretto, and La Posada de Santa Fe that are pros at these celebrations.

Or are you a bit more low-key and want an intimate wedding at a stunning hacienda or tiny inn? Spots like Hacienda Corta Caro and The Inn of the Five Graces are the coziest of wedding nooks.

Maybe you want a venue with an iconic past or one that’s even an art gallery? Places like Peters Projects at Gerald Peters Gallery, SITE Santa Fe, and The Santa Fe Opera are just a few of those unique, art focused spaces.

There’s even two incredibly famous churches right on the plaza, Loretto Chapel and The Cathedral Basilica of St Francis of Assisi, for more traditional weddings.

And what about places for couples wanting to venture a bit outside of the usual Santa Fe scene for venues nestled among the mountains and vast New Mexican landscape? Venues like La Mesita Ranch Estate, Las Campanas, Hacienda Doña Andrea, and Four Seasons Santa Fe all provide amazing views and details for any and all weddings they host.

Not only does Santa Fe have so many amazing venues, but so many unique New Mexican and Southwestern traditions have stayed in style season after season in The City Different. Every season mariachi parades around the plaza take center stage, tequila donkeys like sweet Conchita make an appearance at receptions, and all the chili, cactus, and skull details accent every inch of weddings. We love how couples from near and far fully embrace all the special little pieces of Santa Fe that we have such a soft spot for. And we can’t help but absolutely love it even more when our lovers from previous wedding seasons continue to visit Santa Fe year after year just to always have a part of the Southwest with them.

In our eyes, any venue in Santa Fe is the perfect venue and every tradition is beyond special. We’ve been so fortunate to capture a huge amount of couples in the most unique locations and honestly, we can’t wait to explore new places with brand new love stories.

Featured Santa Fe Venues
La Fonda on the Plaza
Hacienda Doña Andrea
La Mesita Ranch Estate
La Posada de Santa Fe
Santa Fe Opera
Las Campanas
SITE Santa Fe
Gerald Peters Gallery
Hacienda Corta Caro
Loretto Chapel
Inn and Spa at Loretto
Inn of the Five Graces
Eldorado Hotel and Spa
Four Seasons Santa Fe

Weddings by Alicia, Ashley, Bre, and the ALP Team
Blog + Photo Curation by Jaclyn of Alicia Lucia Photography

Wedding Inspo - Wedding Trends We Heart

Now that February, aka Love Month is well underway and Valentines’ Day is just on the horizon this week, we wanted to be just a little festive on the blog! We’re kicking off this week of love with trends we are absolutely head-over-heels in love with and that we hope to see for years to come! Scroll through to see a few of our favorite things and maybe you’ll fall for a few of the trends we heart!

Mix & Match Bridesmaid Gowns
This is one trend we’ve seen soar in popularity the last few wedding seasons and we are so here for it! We love the idea of not only letting each of your gals pick a dress style/cut/fit that flatters their own body, but also adore having different colored dresses to coordinate with the overall wedding colors and tones. We can’t say enough good things about this trend and we’re praying its here to stay forever and ever. A few of our favorite bridesmaid designers include:
Jenny Yoo Collection
BHLDN
Show Me Your MuMu
Katie May
ASOS
Lulus
Revolve

Mariachi Parades
Truly more New Mexican tradition than trend, this mini wedding day party still made our list because of how much we adore all things Southwestern. Similar to a New Orleans second line parade, mariachi parades combine two of the best things imaginable: weddings & live music! We love getting the opportunity of getting to dance around the historic Santa Fe Plaza with our couples who chose to add this festive flair to their day, but we’ve also seen amazing mariachis at receptions all over the state! More of this please!

Cozy Reception Lounges
While a still relatively new tradition, cozy reception lounges are becoming one of the hottest, most popular wedding day accents around. We love the idea of pairing an additional, extra comfy space for guests to hang out during cocktail hour and the actual reception with a hint of boho style! Some of our most beloved reception lounge details include velvet couches, pretty accent pillow, and, of course, little neon signs. Some of our favorite local rental queens specializing in amazing lounges include:
Just Lovely Weddings + Darling Details Rentals
For the Love Events + Rust Vintage

Colorful Bridal Gowns
Last, but certainly not least on our favorite current trend lists are colorful wedding gowns. Straying away from typical white and cream hues, these gowns can bring not only personality and unique style to a wedding day, but they can also bring in multicultural traditions (as seen with our bride Lauren and her THREE different Hindu wedding gowns). A little known fact is that white gowns weren’t typically worn by brides until after Queen Victoria worn a stunning white lace gown for her marriage to Albert Saxe-Coberg in 1840. Before this iconic wedding, brides tended to select different colored dresses (with black being an incredibly popular shade in Scandinavia). With so many options from bridal designers, we love when brides take a jump and choose something not only different than the norm, but something that brings out their personalities. Some of our fave dress designers (both near and far) that specialize in gowns of all hues include:
Chosen by One Day
Terese Rose Designs
Grace Loves Lace
Watters
Monique Lhuillier

Weddings + Styled Shoots by Alicia, Ashley, and Bre of Alicia Lucia Photography
Blog + Photo Curation by Jaclyn of Alicia Lucia Photography