This Cinematic Mexico City Wedding Featured a Fairytale-Inspired Reception Space With a Hidden Nightclub

There were hundreds of ways Ela Villarreal and Andy McCune could have met in real life. They both work in design and have many mutual friends. “By any measure, the universe was working overtime to introduce us the old-fashioned way,” Ela tells Vogue. “Instead, we met on Raya.” Andy sent Ela a message noting that he was visiting Montreal for the weekend. She was about to ignore it when she noticed his company name, Cosmos. “The day before, I'd posted a story gushing about the app,” Ela says. “He’d seen the story…he just hadn’t put together that the girl on Raya and the girl from Slack were the same person.” Andy replied, saying perhaps it was fate. “Boy, was he right,” shares Ela. “We met that night at midnight on November 11, 2023, at a bar called Baby. Two weeks later, he flew back to make it official. Two years after that, he proposed.”

The proposal took place on October 16, 2025 in New York City, where the two had settled down together. Andy’s parents were in town, and he suggested they walk together from their apartment to meet them at a restaurant. En route, Andy stopped in front of St. John’s Church—which features a beautiful garden—and suggested going in. “I said absolutely not—it was late, it was clearly closed, and we were not about to trespass on church property,” says Ela. “He didn’t listen. He pushed the door open and slipped inside before I could stop him, and, terrified a priest was about to come yelling, I followed him anyway.” When she entered, Andy was down on one knee. “It was this quiet, private, completely magical moment in a little garden in the middle of NYC,” Ela says. “He later told me he’d made a donation to the church to have the space to ourselves, which is why no priest ever came running.”

The surprises weren’t done yet. “Before I could process anything, he said: ‘There’s a car waiting outside. We’re going to Paris,’” shares Ela. They whisked off to their apartment to pack, say goodbye to their dogs and Andy’s parents, and flew out that night. “He’d planned an entire weekend around everything we love most—our favorite omakase, a boat ride on the Seine, a massage at the Bulgari Spa, museum visits, vintage shopping, and a stay at Maison Delano,” reminisces Ela.

The to-be-weds decided to exchange vows a year later in Mexico City on August 1, 2026 at Casa Seminario 12, followed by a reception and after-party at General Prim. The weekend would kick off with a welcome party at the lush Botánico restaurant in Condesa. “Because we both come from design backgrounds, we approached the wedding as a collaborative creative project,” describes the bride. “We thought less about decorating an event and more about designing an experience from beginning to end—every transition, piece of music, floral installation, graphic detail, and surprise was considered as part of one unfolding story.”

The couple worked with wedding planner Rodrigo Mora to bring their vision to life, but also put their own spin on the weekend’s design. Ela took charge of creating their wedding monogram and paper goods, while Andy built a wedding website complete with an interactive guide to Mexico City. “We wanted the weekend to extend beyond the wedding itself and give everyone a reason to fall in love with the city, too,” the bride shares.

Ela also considered her wedding wardrobe an important part of the weekend’s story. Her welcome party outfit was an archival find that harkened to the architecture of Mexico City. “When Nikki from Raffe sent me photos of a vintage Valentino from spring 2008, I gasped,” she remembers. “The structured beading immediately reminded me of the Art Deco motifs I’ve always been drawn to, while the delicate fringe at the hem felt so glamorous. It was an immediate yes.” Meanwhile, the groom wore a sage-green linen suit from Bode with brown Dries Van Noten loafers. The color is what drew him in. “The muted green felt at home at Botánico, surrounded by all of the flora,” Andy says.

For her ceremony dress, Ela always dreamed of wearing a true ballgown. “So, my first appointment was naturally at Elie Saab,” she shares. “It was one of the first dresses I tried on, and the moment I put it on, I knew it was my dress.” While she tried on styles at other salons, she ultimately came back to the Elie Saab. “What ultimately sealed it for me was the veil—the contrast of the lace detailing against the simplicity of the dress,” she says. For jewelry, the bride wore the same pair of Sophie Bille Brahe freshwater pearl earrings with a tiered chandelier design throughout the night. As for her beauty, the bride did it all herself with help from her sister. “It felt really personal to get ready that way, and I wanted to be able to still feel like myself,” Ela shares.

The groom stepped up to the formality of the ceremony with a double-breasted wool suit from The Row, a Zegna tuxedo shirt and bow tie, and Givenchy derby shoes with a square toe. “I loved the proportions of the jacket—the strong shoulders, long line, and sculpted waist made it feel classic, but still a little unexpected,” he says.

Once her ceremony gown was decided, Ela worked with stylist Lauren Burke to finalize the rest of her wardrobe. At their first appointment together at Alexandra Grecco, the bride fell in love with a voluminous coat with a bubble hem over a slip dress for the reception. “I was heartbroken when I realized it wouldn’t work for the first dance—the length would have made it nearly impossible to move without stepping on it,” she shares. “That’s when Samantha Grecco, Alexandra’s sister, brought out a shorter version of the coat. I loved that it could be worn off the shoulder, revealing the backless slip dress underneath.” To complete the look, the design team created a custom ribbon for Ela’s hair that would coordinate with bows on the coat. She also donned lace Jimmy Choo heels with the dress. “I had originally imagined wearing a much shorter heel, but I couldn’t resist them,” she adds.

The groom also changed his look by swapping his tuxedo jacket for an ivory style by Bode. “It matched the shift from the formality of the ceremony into something lighter and more celebratory,” he says.

Ela’s final fit of the night brought sparkle and shine to their dance party. “With my first two looks being almost entirely textureless—pure silk—I knew I wanted to go in the complete opposite direction for my after-party dress,” the bride shares. “It was only a few weeks before the wedding, at Annie’s Ibiza, that I finally found what I was looking for. The embroidered florals—soft pastel roses in blush, pale blue, and buttery yellow—set against the bejeweled trim felt so unique, and the dress really came alive on the dance floor.” Andy also swapped his jacket for a silk Dries Van Noten shirt. “The silk had this beautiful sheen that shifted between gray and green depending on the light, and picot detailing along the seams gave it this delicate quality,” he says. “It felt subtle and unexpected, and really came alive under the lighting in the nightclub.”

The wedding weekend kicked off full of energy at Botánica, which felt like a hidden oasis in the middle of the city. “Throughout the evening, guests were served different mezcalitas, tuna tostadas, and other Mexican bites while the guitar group Páramo played live,” shares Ela. “One of our favorite moments was when a mariachi band arrived to serenade everyone. Our families and friends ended up holding one another, dancing, and singing together—and even Truck and Alicia, our dogs, joined in.”

One of the couple’s favorite moments of the weekend was getting ready for the wedding at Casa Seminario 12, where they would later say “I do.” “Standing by the window for some fresh air, I looked across the courtyard and saw Andy getting ready on the opposite balcony,” recalls Ela. “I stepped outside and called his name. He turned around with a huge smile, and almost instantly all of the nerves turned into excitement.”

They also had gifts delivered to each other that morning. Andy sent a handwritten letter with an antique Mexican wooden box containing a white pearl rosary, and Ela gave a hand-sewn wedding shrine made with childhood photographs of the couple and the words: “two kids hand in hand.” Another gift given at the ceremony was Andy’s wedding band, which Ela designed herself. “I shaped it into an organic, sculptural form inspired by Japanese design and left my fingerprints preserved in the metal,” she shares. “I loved that it was something that could only ever have been made by me, for him.”

The couple both describe the ceremony as powerful, noting the importance of the space in Aztec history. As Ela’s father walked her down the aisle, Andy’s father was by his side, ready to officiate the ceremony. “I grew up watching my dad preach every Sunday and officiate weddings throughout my childhood,” says the groom. “There was something surreal about finally being the one standing across from him.” The proceedings included a Mexican wedding lasso tradition and a live poetry creation by Alexcia Panay. After asking guests for words of love and blessings for the couple, she wrote a three-page poem that she read aloud. The bride reflects, “It was somehow even more beautiful than I had ever prayed it would be—to be standing there together, held by everyone we love and guided into marriage by his dad.”

A storm arrived just as the guests began leaving for the reception. “Guests kicked off their shoes and ran barefoot through the streets to reach the shuttles, while we made our way to the reception in oversized blue rain ponchos pulled over our wedding clothes,” remembers the couple. “Everyone was soaked, laughing, and fully surrendered to it.” Ela adds, “It felt completely cinematic. There was this incredibly intense, romantic atmosphere during our portraits.”