Thank you Harvey Nichols for sponsoring today’s post. It turns out you all missed reading my blog because my last story was a huge success! This makes me so happy to hear. Last week, we took our first trip since February 2020 to the Yucatan to put the final touches on our wedding. Our original wedding was postponed because of Covid (you can read more about it here) so we had a civil ceremony instead with immediate family. We wanted my husband’s grandmother (who cannot fly) to participate in our wedding and also, get married in the states (sometimes getting married in Mexico can get tricky) so it was a no-brainer for us to have an intimate ceremony in Miami but it was certainly not the celebration we envisioned for our wedding. We opted for cake and champagne in our backyard instead of a traditional sit down dinner (remember, this was in the middle of Covid). We put together the civil celebration in a few weeks and skimped on lots of things knowing our ‘actual’ wedding would take place one year later… And before you ask, when…where…is your wedding taking place…or what are you wearing…what’s the decor like? I’ll say this. I feel like we’ve been conditioned to think weddings need to look and feel a certain way or that we should only prioritize three things and skimp on the rest. Few couples challenge the norms, lean into their creative side and think outside of the box because it’s such a big day…so I totally get it when people play it safe. With that, our wedding is (in some ways) very “traditional” but also, a bit of an adventure because it’s off-the-beaten-path. I can confidently say most of our guests would have never visited this particular town that we’ve chosen had it not been for our wedding so I’m paying close attention to providing our guests with an experience and making it not only special for us but a memorable trip too. That’s all you’re getting for now. 😉 Back to the story. People say the best part of a destination wedding is traveling to the destination to plan it…and they’re right (if you can travel…otherwise, it’s tough!). Now that things are finally turning around, vaccinations are readily available to Americans and we know so much more than we did last year, I felt comfortable going back to the Yucatan to finalize everything. And boy did it feel good to travel again. We booked the most gorgeous Airbnb (click here for info) owned and operated by a former landscape designer from Vancouver. The backyard was filled to the brim with a tropical assortment of plants and flowers, fresh gravel, terracotta pots and a long concrete pool perfect for morning laps, cool afternoon dips or late night swims. I never understood the indoor-outdoor life in the Yucatan until I visited one summer during a heat wave. So let’s just say it’s HOT and you live in a pool during the summer. Admittedly, my travel wardrobe has…well…slimmed down. I can’t remember the last time I wore an airy dress to an al fresco dinner, a midi skirt to shop and lace up sandals or a pretty swimsuit to the pool with friends. I donated a lot of clothing during the pandemic, which forced me to lean on old favorites like cutoffs and white button downs. So it’s time for an upgrade! I guess the difference between then and now is my approach to style. Back then, I was more interested in “making an impact” than I was building a long term, functional wardrobe. Today that’s all I care about… So in continuation to my last post about holiday style and overall love for all things floral and basket bags, check out some of my favorite pieces below from Harvey Nichols. And yes, they’re doing a 4th of July sale! Yay holidays! Lug Von Siga Eyelet Dress (wearing) Kayu Basket Bag (wearing – under $100) Lug Von Siga Eyelet Dress (same dress, different print) Self-Portrait Floral Dress Faithful the Brand Mini Dress Rhode Pink Floral Dress Aranaz Woven Bag Evi Grintela Light Blue Stripe Dress Lee Matthews Cotton Dress Tory Burch Basket Bag Take 10% off all purchases or 15% off $500. This excludes a few brands so click here for more information. This sale starts Wednesday, June 30 and ends Monday, July 5 so you definitely want to hurry before things run out. Use code HNYAYUSA Xo, Stephanie EYELET DRESS: Lug Von Siga (℅) Harvey Nichols MINI BASKET BAG: Kayu (℅) Harvey Nichols (under $100) – Photos by Christina Arza