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This story originally appeared in the Spring 2019 issue of Domino, titled “¡Viva El Amor!” Subscribe to be the first to receive each issue!

When a couple’s first date involves a 10-hour drive to Burning Man, you know their wedding is going to be good. Ellen Marie Bennett (founder of beloved workwear and apron brand Hedley & Bennett) met Casey Caplowe (cofounder of Good magazine) at a dinner party in 2013. He had a spare ticket to the Nevada desert gathering. “I invited myself, and he didn’t say no,” recalls Bennett. Neither had been before, and the pair drove together from Los Angeles with separate tents in tow. Five years later, they returned to the festival for an unofficial sunrise exchange of sunrise vows under a handmade rainbow.

For their official ceremony in Mexico City, Bennett and Caplowe dreamed up a full-spectrum adventure for 230 guests. Bennett—who is half Mexican and lived there from age 18 to 22, working and attending culinary school—wanted to show off “the Mexico that I know and love.” The couple planned three days of revelry during El Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)—from a picnic and soccer match in a marigold field to a reception that faithfully re-created a Mexican market, jarocho band and all.

Caplowe, a chief creative officer by day, designed an adventure guide for guests, complete with flower markets, artist studios, and taco destinations. The ceremony took place at Condesa DF—one of Mexico City’s first and finest boutique hotels. For the reception, rented city buses transported the wedding party across town to Proyecto Público Prim, a 100-year-old building with an open-air courtyard. The bride wore an ombré yellow gown designed by Christian Siriano; the bridesmaids wore jumpsuits; nothing was too precious; and every moment was pure fun. “We went off script in every way, shape, and form,” says Bennett. Why not? Life’s a party.

Photo by Bibi The Photographer

Pre-ceremony 

Both full-time business owners, Bennett and Caplowe called in help to make things happen. Bridesmaid Daniela Soto-Innes—chef at New York’s Cosme and Atla—wrangled ingredients for the reception. Jeni Britton Bauer of Jeni’s Ice Cream officiated alongside Ben Goldhirsh, cofounder of Good. To thank her crew, Bennett gave them gold arrow bracelets from pal Maya Brenner and commissioned Te Quiero clutches from her friend Clare Vivier. Another friend, Bertha González Nieves of Casa Dragones, supplied tequila for the toasts.

The couple provided members of the wedding party with a palette but kept the dress code loose. Caplowe’s groomsmen wore navy, and Bennett’s bridesmaids dressed in pink and red jumpsuits. Bridesman Jesse Tyler Ferguson sported white sneakers and a pastel pink suit from Topshop.

Photo by Bibi The Photographer

During the ceremony

Holding the ceremony in the open-air courtyard at Condesa DF meant waiting a bit for rain showers to subside. From four balcony levels, guests watched as the sky cleared and a violin quartet played Max Richter’s “On the Nature of Daylight.” The wedding party walked through the courtyard in fuchsia pinks, sun yellows, and bright blues, forming a rainbow of color. Among the readings was a quote from Fred Rogers.

“It’s you I like. Every part of you. Your skin, your eyes, your feelings. Whether old or new.”

Photo by Bibi The Photographer

Instead of flower girls, Bennett appointed “balloon troopers, which is just way cooler,” she says, laughing. Ruby and Coco Cho—daughters of designer, author, and bridesmaid Joy Cho—led the procession into the courtyard garden, where Bennett and Caplowe exchanged vows under a chuppah, surrounded by leafy vines.

The dress code

Caplowe’s fuchsia Paul Smith loafers matched Bennett’s cockscomb bouquet, arranged from traditional Day of the Dead flowers. Her yellow dress was an ode to happiness. Guests cheered from upper balcony levels, showering the couple below in bushels of rose petals. “It was a rose petal blizzard,” remembers Bennett. After the ceremony, the wedding officiants toasted the newlyweds and called on everyone present to bring the love they felt back to the world.

The couple’s only rule was “no black.” Guests were encouraged to dress colorfully.

Friends and family posed for photographer Joaquin Trujillo Avila on the second floor of Proyecto Publico Prim, a 100-year-old building with weathered plaster walls. Caplowe and Bennett loved the “layers of gorgeous paint peeling like an onion” inside the structure, which had been restored “but just enough.” Guests wore bright colors and patterns to celebrate the couple and El Día de los Muertos.

Photography by Joaquin Trujillo

Among picnic tables and plants by Planta Diseño Botánico, catering company Eduardo Kohlmann and chef Sergio Camacho set up a Mexican market of sorts. Cooks from Nicos, a 60-year-old Mexico City institution, served up mole. “We wanted it to feel like a giant backyard,” says Bennett. Florist María Limón made ROYGBIV centerpieces for the tables from marigolds intertwined with fruits and vegetables like radishes, oranges, eggplants, and limes, and Bennett gifted the waitstaff custom Hedley & Bennett smocks and aprons.

Photo by Bibi The Photographer

See more wedding inspiration: A Casual-Cool Cinco de Mayo Wedding, Planned in Just Four Months Mandy Moore Just Made a Beautiful Case for a Boho Backyard Wedding The One Wedding Floral Idea You Haven’t Thought of Yet