A friend of mine, who happens to be a friend of this wedding’s groom, Michael, sent me a link to his wedding photos and didn’t even need to tell me, “you need to blog this wedding.” She knows me well — as soon as I saw these photos, I knew I had to feature it. It’s not just the fact that I am also Filipino — it was the fact that so many of the lovely details from both Mexican weddings and Filipino weddings were combined so flawlessly into this one event.

Photo by Stacy Kokes

In case you weren’t sure, the bride, Bianca, is Mexican and the groom, Michael, is Filipino. I don’t generally include photos of the bridal party or guests, preferring instead to focus on the wedding decorations and details. But in this case, the bride and groom and their entourage are wearing so many of the details, there was no getting around it. For example, the groom is wearing a traditional Filipino formal shirt, called a barong Tagalog. Barongs are worn instead of suits in the Philippines, because, well, suits are way too heavy to wearing the hot, humid climates of the Philippines.

Bianca is wearing a traditional Mexican wedding veil, called a mantilla, which stand out for their especially elaborate edges.

And here’s another interesting, kind of lovely, culture-blending incidental fact: both Filipino and Mexican wedding traditions are heavily influenced by Spanish culture, since Spain colonized both countries for several centuries.

These photos, by the way, were all shot by Stacy Kokes Photography.

Photo by Stacy Kokes

So basically, the groom and the groomsmen (who also include some of the bride’s friends and relatives, it appears) wore barongs….

Photo by Stacy Kokes

…while the bride and bridesmaids wore traditional Mexican dresses. Not being Mexican, I don’t know the exact term for the bridesmaids dresses. Best I can tell is that they’re known as Mexican ruffle dresses. And by the way? I love the coral and mint colors.

Photo by Stacy Kokes

The flower girls and ring bearer are just adorable. The flower girls are wearing mini (Filipino) Mestiza dresses — distinctive for their butterfly sleeves. It appears the ring bearer is also wearing a barong, but it could be a guayabera, since it seems to have a pocket.

Photo by Stacy Kokes

I couldn’t find any information about the florist, but the bridal bouquet used plenty of peach and pink roses, coffee berries and a succulent called echeveria, that looks just like a rosette. The bouquet’s handle is wrapped in peach ribbon and twine, and I love the heart-shaped charm.

Photo by Stacy Kokes

The details of this wedding were so interesting. There were tons of votive and pillar candles everywhere, including the sweetheart table (top left and bottom right), the guest tables (top right), and the cake table (bottom left). On the guest tables, they put echeveria on top of pinto beans in one short cylinder vase, a couple pillar candles of varying heights along with, interestingly, silk roses. But can you tell? Not really!

Photo by Stacy Kokes

Here’s another detail shot of the sweetheart table. The bridal bouquet doubled as a centerpiece, along with some cacti and succulents in a bowl. How cool is that? And what is that green thing in the background….?

Photo by Stacy Kokes

That, my friends, is a balloon cactus. I love it.

Photo by Stacy Kokes

What a gorgeous, culturally-rich wedding. I love how there were so many personal elements, encompassing so many details of the wedding. Congratulations to Bianca and Michael!