A Mexico Wedding
Para leer este artículo en español, haga Click aquí.

Note to guys planning a marriage proposal: Do not put the engagement ring in a glass of wine if your sweetheart is a very light drinker.

If someone had cautioned Karym Rios, he might have chosen an alternative way to surprise Carola Franco with a ring on her birthday. Instead, he threw her a surprise party, inviting all their good friends.

"In the middle of the party he called for a toast," Carola remembers. She was holding her glass of wine as Karym toasted first her, then everyone else. "Then he told everyone the story of the day when we met," she says. Carola sipped just a little of her wine. Karym made more toasts.

"I was the only one that didn't know what was happening," Carola says. "All our friends knew in advance." What everyone else knew was that her ring was at the bottom of her wine glass.

"The point was for me to finish my wine so I could find the surprise," she says. "I'm not much of a drinker so we kept making toasts and everyone observed me intently, waiting for me to get to the bottom of the glass." Finally, when she finished her wine and saw the ring, she knew why everyone had been staring at her.

"I could not believe it! It was a complete surprise!" she says. "Then he got on his knees and proposed in front of all our friends."

Ironically, the couple had met in a bar. "We were both with our college friends, and we knew it was love at first sight," Carola says. "That's how we started our love story."


They began a new chapter at their wedding in Tijuana five and a half years later. Carola works in the marketing department of a hospital specializing in cancer treatment. Karym is an attorney and also owner of a car dealership.

The busy couple planned their wedding "all in good time," Carola says, with the help of their coordinator, Flor Granados Franco of San Diego Event Designers. "She gave us beautiful ideas," Carola says. They first found the picturesque garden where their event would take place.

The maple trees along the walkway wore their fall orange, green and brown, just the colors Carola and Karym had chosen as their own.

"Our ceremony was gorgeous," Carola says. Her younger sister sang with the choir during the mass. "But the perfect touch was when she sang a special song for us," Carola says.


The couple's favorite song was playing when they arrived at the reception site, and Carola enjoyed her favorite moment. "Everyone was waiting with huge smiles and a big applause," Carola says. "The place was completely full."

Reception tables held two styles of centerpieces, with candles and apples. Guests received photos of the newly married couple along with a special individual gift. White lounge sofas with a high table made a relaxing lounge area on a nearby lawn where guests could take a dance break and enjoy the music. Others treated themselves to a fully laden dessert table, complete with chocolate fountain.

A slide show organized by all their friends depicting the couple's history from the time they met until their wedding day played during the reception. "All the pictures of the wedding that were taken that day were also displayed," Carola says, giving guests an extra entertainment treat.


Carnival-style activities organized by the DJ kept guests laughing. Two clowns in formal wear handed out hats, aprons, veils, balloons, wigs and other silly accessories.

Carola's father was the star when he toasted the couple with a bottle of wine he had saved since he met her mother. "He had promised my Mom that he would open that bottle only when one of their kids got married," Carola says. "It was approximately 30 years old; that was a big surprise to me."

A Mariachi band and a popular Tijuana tenor provided the finale to the day's events.

"Since the day of our wedding was also Mexican Independence Day, the Mariachi was a special touch," Carola says. "We did not want the party to end."

She and Karym honeymooned in Playa de Carmen, Cancun.


Vendors
Makeup and Hair: La Paloma de París
Flowers, Table Linens and Decorations: Floral Art
Church: Inmaculada Concepción
Reception: Jardín La Candelaria
Banquet: Restaurant La Diferencia
DJ: Fiesta Loca
Video: Art Video
Photographers: Arturo Viazcan de Art Video / Walter Droba
Event Designer: San Diego Event Designers