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By Rebecca Ascher-Walsh PhotograPhs By Thayer Allyson Gowdy

MexicooTequila-inspired decor. Day of the Dead

cake toppers. And a wild late-night pool party featuring cannonballs and

a midnight taco bar. See what happened when two Californians took

their love story on the road—to a south-of-the-border-style wedding

in Tulum, Mexico

“We felt totally elated,” says the bride. “See­ing everyone together and my grand­mother surfing with our friends—it was heaven!”

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hotographer chris mcpherson had a rule: He didn’t date models. And he defi-

nitely didn’t date younger models. Then Katie Malia Knoernschild, a dancer-actress-model 11 years his

junior, walked into his Los Angeles studio. “It was a taxing shoot, and she was with a lot of other dancers,” he says. “Katie

was the only one going, ‘Let’s do this!’ ” Little did he know she had ulterior motives: “It was love at first sight,” she says. “I wanted to impress him—I could have danced for days!”

But despite mutual interests (surfing, art, travel), mutual friends, and a spark that must have been visible from the space station, Chris wasn’t sure he wanted to date someone that much younger. (At the time, he was 33 and she 22.) It wasn’t until his grandmother died four months later that he decided to stop hesitating and ask her out. “That was the defining moment,” he says. “I didn’t want to miss out on my future wife.”

Three years later, Chris proposed amid the Mayan ruins in Tulum, Mexico, while they were on vacation. On April 29, 2012, they were back to pledge their devotion in front of 50 of their nearest and dearest on the beach of the Be Tulum Hotel.

“The setting needed very little dressing,” Katie says of the wedding, which was planned with Alison Hotchkiss of Alison Events. “We wanted everything to be simple, natural, and local.” The only exception? Air plants, which Katie’s 90-year-old grandmother smuggled in from L.A. in her suitcase. (“We couldn’t get them down there, and I wanted them for my bouquet,” the bride says.)

Guests sat on white lounge cushions strewn with Mexican serape blankets. Flower girls in locally made linen dresses tossed hot pink rose petals onto the white sand. And Chris and Katie (she in a Monique Lhuillier dress) spoke from the heart. “I talked about all the highs and the lows of our rela-tionship, including a breakup,” she says. “We kept it very real.”

That was the last serious moment of the evening. Accompa-nied by a mariachi band, guests gathered for cocktails before heading to the lantern-filled restaurant for a seated dinner of lime soup, local whitefish, and Neapolitan flan, which the hotel chef whipped up in place of a wedding cake. After the couple’s first dance, to Chet Baker’s “Let’s Get Lost,” guests grooved to

tunes spun by Katie’s brother, Joel, and refueled at the late-night taco bar. Then Chris took the plunge—into the pool. “Two of my girlfriends followed in their dresses!” Katie says. Half the crowd changed into bathing suits and jumped in. “Suddenly it was an MTV pool party, absolute magic and chaos,” she says.

Around midnight, the hotel lit a bonfire on the beach, and everyone reconvened over Modelo Especials, tequila, and, of course, more tacos. The celebration wasn’t over yet—a month later, many of their guests would reunite for a 275-person reception at L.A.’s Smashbox Studios, where Katie and Chris met. But for now, the pair savored their last moments in Mex-ico. “A weekend with all our friends and family, hanging out, relaxed—it’s the best gift we could have gotten,” says Katie.

1. Katie’s crown of local red roses was inspired by the artist Frida Kahlo. “It was the perfect pop of color—and it matched my lips,” she says. 2. Small air plants were used for the bou-tonnieres. 3. “Our colors were blue and white—a marriage of the sand and sea—with bright bougainvillea pink,” says Katie. “The bottle of our favorite tequila, Clase Azul, was a huge inspiration.” 4. A mariachi band performed before the ceremony

and during the cocktail hour, where guests were treated to fish carpaccio with cucumbers, arrachera brochettes with nopal and pineapple, and chicken-adobo mini tostadas. 5. The happy couple cut into their wed-ding flan. 6. Reception tables were topped with succulents, air plants, local China mums, and custom laser-cut wooden votives.

“We wanted everything to be relaxed, with a clean, modern look,” Katie says.

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Katie’s father, Joe Knoerns-child, cofounder of Billabong USA, officiated.

“He’s a spiritual person, a teacher, and a very cool guy,” says Chris.

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Fiesta Mexicanaplanning a party with yucatan flair?

think maracas, tequila, and day-of-the-dead treats

get the look

pHOTOgRApHS By yASU + JUnKO

1 / AIR-plAnT FAvORS $300 for 50, robin charlotte; etsy.com/shop/peacocktaco. 2 / gOWn ivory lace fit-and-flare with a sweep train, $1,900, Watters Brides; watters.com. 3 / mARACAS $6 per pair, gotParty?; gotparty.com. 4 / InvITATIOn Laser-cut, $900 for 100 (includes envelopes), Avie designs; aviedesigns.com. 5 / TeqUIlA $55, clase Azul tequila; claseazul.com. 6 / dInneR plATe “talavera 68,” $50, Studio tomas Huerta; lafuente.com. 7 / RUnneR Otomi fabric, $100, Jacaranda Home; jacarandahome.com. 8 / COOKIeS From $15 each, casue Sweets; casuesweets.com. 9 / SHOeS $50, Sole Society; solesociety.com. 10 / BAnneR $18, Luna Bazaar; lunabazaar.com. 11 / BOUqUeT Succulents, piano roses, celosias, gravilias, and arabicum, $200, Quatrecoeur; quatrecoeur.com. 12 / lIp penCIl Nars Velvet gloss in Mexican rose, $24. 13 / lAnTeRnS “Season,” $50 (small) and $90 (medium), Not Neutral; notneutral.com.

1. The neapolitan flan was topped with día de los muertos figu-rines that were pur-chased in a local gift shop. 2. Says Chris,

“We have really great friends. everyone said it was the best wed-ding they’d ever been to.” 3. Katie danced to

“For me...Formidable,” by Charles Aznavour,

with her father, a self-professed “lover of Katie and Chris.” 4. A few hours after this photo was taken, the votive-lit pool became the site of an impromptu swim party.

“It got a bit crazy. One of the boys climbed the waterfall and did a cannonball into the water!” says Katie.

venue & catering Be Tulum Hotel; behoteles.com event planning Alison Events Plan­ning and Design; alisonevents.com Bride’s dress Monique Lhuillier; moniquelhuillier.comgroom’s suit Waraire Boswell; waraireboswell.com Flowers Brown

Paper Design; brownpaperdesign .com Stationery Anne­marie Buckley of Scout’s Honor Co.; scoutshonorco.com pre-ceremony & cocktail-hour music Juan Carlos Hinojosa Mejei; carloshinojosa 688@hotmail.comHair & makeup Fernando Funetes

of The Makeup Pros; themakeuppros @hotmail.com Rentals Planner 1 Events; planner1 events.comphotography Thayer Allyson Gowdy; thayer photo.com

for more desti-nation weddings, go to brides.com/realweddings.

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