Maria in Vancouver
How to Plan Your Dreamy Destination Wedding
Hamid Aziz and Shardé Belland Aziz during their destination wedding at Cabo San Lucas. Photo courtesy of Los Ébano.
They say that love is a journey. What better way to celebrate your union than exchanging vows with loved ones in a picturesque location, and having an idyllic paradise destination for your wedding backdrop? Picture yourself and your other half saying your “I do’s” at a silky powdery white sand beach, or at the foothills of stunning and majestic mountains, or bask in the serenity of lush rainforests.
Destination weddings have become of late, a popular choice for most couples tying the knot. Firstly, what is a destination wedding? It’s a location outside of the city or town where the couple lives, it is not only confined to a tropical island or a European castle. In fact, a destination wedding can take place an hour or two away from the couple’s residence — it needn’t always be in another country. My husband and I had our own micro destination wedding last year. We both live in downtown Vancouver but we chose to exchange our vows in an intimate ceremony at the Sea to Sky Gondola, just south of Squamish — an hour scenic drive from downtown Vancouver.
Beautiful bride Shardé Belland Aziz during their destination wedding at Cabo San Lucas. Photo courtesy of Los Ébano.
However, most destination weddings do take place majority of the time at exotic locales such as the Caribbean Islands, Mexico, the beaches at Southeast Asia or the Bahamas. Take a leaf from famous celebrities such as George and Amal Clooney who tied the knot in Venice; Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra said their “I do’s” in Jodhpur; David and Victoria Beckham had their ceremony in a 15th century castle in Dublin; and John Legend and Christy Teigen chose the picturesque lakefront Villa Pizzo in Lake Como for their big day.
Aside from having such a panoramic location for your wedding, there are a few more advantages of having a destination wedding: less stress as it is organised and planned by a resort wedding coordinator; less expensive as there will be fewer guests and it can also serve as your honeymoon destination. Lastly, it is a wonderful excuse to go on a vacation with your respective families and closest friends.
Handsome groom Hamid Aziz during their destination wedding at Cabo San Lucas. Photo courtesy of Los Ébano.
For this special article on destination weddings, I’ve been so fortunate to interview a beautiful young couple based in Vancouver, Hamid Aziz and Shardé Belland. I know Shardé from her equally stunning and stylish mom, Tessa Rama Belland, a longtime family friend and whom I consider one of my dearest girlfriends. She and I are part of Vancouver’s Sisterhood Tribe! Back to Shardé and Hamid: On November 1, 2022, they tied the knot in Cabo San Lucas, a resort city on the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, known for its pristine sandy beaches and filled with breathtaking scenery. Let’s get to know more about their fairytale love story and how they planned for their dreamy destination wedding.
The lovely couple Hamid Aziz and Shardé Belland Aziz during the engagement proposal also at Cabo San Lucas. Photo courtesy of Los Ébano.
How did you both meet?
“We both played basketball at rival schools and I would always watch our school’s games. I remember seeing him play and developing a school-girl crush on him throughout the last years of school. We had mutual friends so we saw each other at parties and events here and there. During the 2010 Olympic festivities downtown I planned to meet up with friends and he ended up being there too. We exchanged numbers that night and the rest is history!”
What was your first impression of each other?
Shardé: “He first wooed me with his good looks and basketball skills when we were in high school. After spending more time with him as friends, I noticed he had a very warm and kind aura.”
Hamid: “I thought she was really cool. She had an exotic look and unique style. She was down-to-earth and really easy to talk to from the get-go.”
The lovely couple Hamid Aziz and Shardé Belland Aziz during the engagement proposal also at Cabo San Lucas. Photo courtesy of Los Ébano.
Do you remember your first date?
“We were 19 — we watched an NBA playoffs game at Boston Pizza and walked down the New Westminster Quay afterwards. It was so easy to hangout with each other. We laughed a lot.”
What are your favourite things about each other?
Shardé: “Hamid is incredibly selfless. He’s always thinking about the people he loves and just wants to make sure everyone is cared for. He’s also one of the most humble people I’ve ever met, a trait I admire in him because he has so many great qualities but never flaunts any of them.”
Hamid: “Shardé always looks at the bright side of things. She always knows how to lighten the mood when things can get tough — her positivity is infectious. She’s the funniest person I know and is always making me laugh.”
The lovely couple Hamid Aziz and Shardé Belland Aziz during the engagement proposal also at Cabo San Lucas. Photo courtesy of Los Ébano.
How did the proposal go? When and where did he propose?
“Hamid proposed to me when we were on a trip to Cabo San Lucas with his cousins. He booked us a table at the beautiful Sunset Monalisa restaurant overlooking the ocean. I was curious why he booked a dinner for just the two of us off of our resort. I had a feeling that he might propose. Before dinner there was a photographer going around taking photos of us but I didn’t think anything of it because they were also going around to other tables taking photos. Midway through dinner he handed me a birthday card because my birthday was in a week. His birthday gift to me was a trip to LA and Disneyland the weekend after we got back. He totally threw me off course with this and I had thought at the time that the reason why he booked this dinner was to give me this early birthday present.”
Shardé continues, “After dinner there were live musicians playing and walking through the restaurant and we were staring out at the ocean. Hamid then grabbed my hand and started to tell me how much he loved me and then proceeded to get down on one knee and presented the ring. I was in absolute shock! After saying yes and hugging each other, I turn around to see the musicians now standing behind me, the photographer from earlier taking photos of the whole thing, and the entire restaurant clapping and cheering for us. It was so beautiful and so overwhelming! Hamid did a great job organising this with the restaurant and I love our photos from this day.”
Hamid Aziz and Shardé Belland Aziz during their destination wedding at Cabo San Lucas. Photo courtesy of Los Ébano.
How did you come up with a destination wedding idea?
“It was always my dream to get married on a beach. Hamid and I have always been drawn to beautiful, warm beaches. We also love to travel. We wanted a wedding that represented us in the best way, as well as be a full experience for our guests rather than just a regular wedding day. It was definitely out of some of our family’s comfort zones but once everyone was there they had the best time. So many people came up to us afterwards and told us how great of a week they had and how they would always remember it, which was the most amazing thing to hear.”
Why Cabo San Lucas?
“For a few reasons:
- We wanted to get married in a hot destination on the beach
- The majority of our friends and family were coming from Vancouver so we didn’t want them to have to travel too far.
- We got engaged in Cabo, so it was already a special place in our hearts.”
Hamid Aziz and Shardé Belland Aziz during their destination wedding at Cabo San Lucas. Photo courtesy of Los Ébano.
What were your wedding inspirations? Colour theme? Motif? Bouquet?
“My keywords were: elegant, romantic, modern minimalism. I wanted to stick to crisp white florals plus greenery and lots of candles.”
How did you plan your wedding?
“I hadn’t been to many weddings prior to planning ours, so I started extra early (over a year prior) to start researching what a full wedding even entails. We started by narrowing down a destination, and then we reached out to a travel agent to help us find a venue and organise travel for our guests. Each month after that I crossed something big off the list. I’m very type A so I had a full spreadsheet of all our wedding ideas, decisions and contacts. I didn’t have a wedding planner so I needed to keep myself organised! Closer to the wedding date, I forwarded all of my requests to the wedding coordinator at the resort. I created a full itinerary for the day of which I shared with all of my vendors. I also brought some decorations myself in order to save a bit of money and stick to my vision.”
Hamid Aziz and Shardé Belland Aziz during their destination wedding at Cabo San Lucas. Photo courtesy of Los Ébano.
Was it stressful? How did you cope with the stress?
“Wedding planning was probably one of the most stressful things I’ve ever done. I can be a perfectionist and I wanted to make not just the day perfect for us, but the whole week perfect for our guests. It never escaped us that our friends and family paid money to take their vacation in Cabo with us to attend our wedding. I had put a lot of pressure on myself to make sure it would be worth it for everybody. I think I could’ve done a better job on giving myself more grace with the whole process, and not being so tough of myself. I coped with the stress by taking some wedding planning breaks (I was lucky I had enough time to do this!) and making sure I was still working out regularly. I had two friends who were planning their own wedding at the same time so it was relieving to have people to commiserate with, lol!”
The mother of the bride, Tessa Rama Belland, with daughter Shardé Belland Aziz during their destination wedding at Cabo San Lucas. Photo courtesy of Los Ébano.
It was beautiful how your Mom walked you down the aisle. What song did you walk down the aisle with?
“I walked down the aisle to the Weeknd’s song “Earned It”, but played by the Vitamin String Quartet to give it that typical wedding vibe!”
Did you write your own vows?
“Yes we did. I wrote mine about a few weeks beforehand and Hamid spent a couple months writing his. I loved our vows!”
Hamid Aziz and Shardé Belland Aziz with the groom’s family during their destination wedding at Cabo San Lucas. Photo courtesy of Los Ébano.
Can you share at least three most memorable moments for you and Hamid during your wedding?
“1. Standing at the altar on the gorgeous beach while the sun was setting. It was truly our dream ceremony! His brother, Mahmood, was the officiant and wrote the most perfect speech to marry us. I was almost in tears but I had to keep it together!
2. Hamid and his family are from Afghanistan, so we incorporated a lot of their music and culture in the wedding. We had his cousins give a tutorial on how to dance to Afghan music before the dancefloor opened, and when the Afghan music came on, everybody from both sides were up and dancing. It was so amazing to see our two worlds colliding and having so much fun doing it.
The groom doing an Afghan dance during their wedding at Cabo San Lucas. Photo courtesy of Los Ébano.
3. I gave a speech in honour of my late father, and in his memory I danced with my uncle (his brother) and my mom to the Luther Vandross song “Dance with My Father.” These moments honouring my dad were really special to me, and felt by all of the guests as we had the whole room in tears.
4. Hamid says his favourite memory is seeing me for the first time during our first look, before the ceremony (so sweet!) He says he really didn’t know what to expect with regard to how I would look, but he was blown away by my dress, hair and makeup. My glam team did an amazing job! My best friend did my hair and my cousin did my makeup.”
Their first look! Hamid Aziz and Shardé Belland Aziz during their destination wedding at Cabo San Lucas. Photo courtesy of Los Ébano.
How did you choose your menu?
“The resort gave us a few different options with the package, so we made sure to find the option that would accommodate everyone’s diets. We made sure there was a mix of meat, seafood, and vegetarian dishes. We opted for no pork or shellfish to be safe from dietary restrictions and allergies.”
Please tell us about your wedding cake.
“We had a three-tier white frosted “naked” cake with baby breath decor. It was a vanilla sponge cake with differing fillings for each tier: strawberry, coconut and passionfruit.”
Hamid Aziz and Shardé Belland Aziz during their destination wedding at Cabo San Lucas. Photo courtesy of Los Ébano.
Please share a few tips for those out there planning a destination wedding.
“Here are some of my top tips:
- Get a travel agent to help you organise travel bookings. I was so busy with planning the wedding that it was so nice to be able to direct my guests to our travel agent (Lindsay at Departures Travel) when they had any travel or hotel questions.
- I would recommend setting aside part of your budget for a wedding planner. This is probably my one and only regret! It was just so much work for me to do everything myself when I had no prior wedding experience. It would have been so helpful to have someone guide me through the planning process and take the big deliverables off of my plate. On my wedding day I couldn’t truly relax and enjoy because I wanted to make sure everything that was planned ran smoothly!
Hamid Aziz and Shardé Belland Aziz during their destination wedding at Cabo San Lucas. Photo courtesy of Los Ébano.
- If you can’t visit the venue before choosing it (like me), make sure to check as many online reviews as possible to get a feel for other brides’ experiences.
- A videographer is worth it! We love watching our video over again. We asked the videographer to capture memories of each one of our guests and it’s so special to look back at everyone having so much fun.
- Remember that it’s an honour for your guests to be willing to spend the time and money to attend your destination wedding. Be understanding if people can’t make it. We were truly so grateful that 70 of our family & friends made it all the way out to Cabo to celebrate with us. We showed our gratitude by providing welcome bags to each guest (equipped with treats from the Philippines, Afghanistan, Mexico and some hot-weather necessities) and hosting a couple other events during the week.”
Hamid Aziz and Shardé Belland Aziz during their destination wedding at Cabo San Lucas. Photo courtesy of Los Ébano.
What did you do for your honeymoon?
“Our friends were planning their wedding a few months after our wedding in Dubai, so we took some time from that trip for our honeymoon. We stayed in a beautiful desert resort in Dubai for two days and then flew to Jordan for five days before our friend’s wedding festivities. Our honeymoon involved camel rides, desert tours, bedouin camps, sightseeing in Petra and a dip in the Dead Sea. It was an adventure!”
Wow, such a beautiful love story! Such a truly special and memorable wedding! I’ve always been such a hopeless romantic and I do love to see two people who deserve so much happiness and love in life find it with each other. Shardé and Hamid’s wedding was romantic, whimsical, elegant, fun and intimate just like the couple. To celebrate their one year wedding anniversary, Hamid and Shardé are expecting a little bundle of joy! Personally, I could not think of a happier way to celebrate your first wedding anniversary than being blessed with your first baby. Indeed, where there is love — there is life and for this young family, the best is yet to be!
Hamid Aziz and Shardé Belland Aziz during their destination wedding at Cabo San Lucas. Photo courtesy of Los Ébano.
Photography: Los Ébano
Videography: Ventana Stories
Dress: Chosen by Kyha, purchased from Bisou Bridal in Vancouver
Suit: Suit Supply, Nordstrom
Venue: Sandos Finisterra Resort, Cabo San Lucas
Wedding Coordinator: Yhali Vélez, Sandos Finisterra
A grateful creature with a passion for writing.
#MariainVancouver
