After Organizing Over 250 Weddings for Other Couples, This Planner Designed Her Own Sunset-Hued Celebration in Mexico

Lori Overstreet and Ellie Weatherly may have matched on Hinge in April of 2021, but they quickly realized that they had far more in common than profiles on the same dating app—the two shared a number of mutual friends, and their instant connection felt easy from the very start. In June of 2023, Lori, a luxury wedding planner and owner of Imagine This Curated Events, proposed to Ellie during the Summer of Lights festival at Daniel Stowe Botanic Garden, guiding her on a scavenger hunt throughout Charlotte, North Carolina, before popping the question. Two months later, Ellie organized her own thoughtful proposal at a wine garden while one of Lori’s favorite wedding singers performed surrounded by pictures of Lori's late parents and the couple's dog, Teddy, who had also recently passed.

As they started planning, the idea of organizing a destination wedding weekend in Cabo, San Lucas, quickly emerged as their front-runner. With Lori's background, organizing the details from afar would be a breeze. Though she took the lead on the day's design, she knew she wanted to relax and enjoy her wedding day as a bride, not as a planner, and since the rest of the Imagine This Curated Events team was invited to the celebration, hiring an additional pro was key. "I have planned over 250 weddings, always behind the scenes, ensuring everything runs smoothly," Lori notes. "But being the bride is entirely different—you’re no longer the planner; you’re the focus. Instead of managing the details, you have to trust others to bring your vision to life. It’s a shift from orchestrating to experiencing, from guiding to being guided." In the end, she and Ellie interviewed ten different local wedding planners before hiring Nabia Weddings to handle their celebration's day-of-coordination.

On February 7, 2025, the brides welcomed 70 of their closest family members and friends to Mexico with a sunset dinner cruise. Guests boarded the boat dressed in white and enjoyed cocktails by the famous Arch of San Lucas. The next day, on February 8, 2025, Lori and Ellie were married at Mar Del Cabo in San José del Cabo in an intimate, sunset-colored ceremony and reception overlooking the ocean.

Here, see all the photos of Lori and Ellie’s weekend from Christian Reyes Photography. The celebration was full of personal touches, from oyster-inspired design elements as a nod to their second date to a heartwarming dance in honor of Lori’s parents.

“When designing the wedding I knew that I wanted to match the west coast sunset vibes,” Lori says. “We decided to focus on citrus and go with hues of orange, yellow, and hints of chartreuse.” With the color palette set, the brides invited their guests to Cabo with a sunset-inspired invitation suite that included a few pops of gold and peach.

They also included meaningful motifs tied into their wedding day, including an oyster shell illustration, a custom monogram, and a subtle floral pattern on the envelope liners. An oval-shaped insert included the details of their sunset welcome party cruise.

At the welcome celebration, guests wore white while Ellie stood out in a green NBD jumpsuit and Lori made a statement in a silk backless Sau Lee dress. “We were there during peak whale season and the whales did not disappoint during our welcome sunset cruise,” Lori remembers. “Several adult whales and their calves breached the surface of the water and gave our guest quite a show.” 

Guests enjoyed cocktail hour overlooking the famous Arch of Cabo San Lucas before sitting down to a traditional Mexican buffet dinner below deck. Wooden tables were dressed with mauve gauze runners and floral centerpieces in varying shades of pink and red.

Since Lori and Ellie bonded over their mutual love of oysters on their second date and have since enjoyed over 80 regional varieties together, including oysters in the wedding weekend (both on the menu and in the décor) was essential. “We like to think of ourselves as oyster connoisseurs, keeping a running list with a rating system to track which ones we love and which ones we’d pass on next time,” Lori says,.“To celebrate this shared passion, we incorporated subtle oyster-inspired details throughout our wedding, from the menu to the invitations.”

The couple shared a first look before the wedding ceremony, and the time together gave them a chance to pose for photos and exchange vows privately.

Ellie wore a fitted ivory lace and crepe wedding dress by Colby John with a square neckline and detachable tulle sleeves. When she walked out of the fitting room wearing the gown at a bridal salon and noticed that her mom and sister had been moved to tears, she knew it was the one. She accessorized with a one-carat solitaire diamond pendant that was a gift from her parents on the morning of the wedding and chose a natural makeup look and a pulled back ponytail. “I wanted something sleek that would hold up to the environment and require little touch ups,” she says.

Lori wore a strapless satin sheath gown with a detachable train from Winnie Couture. “For my wedding, I wore my grandmother's diamond tennis bracelet and a ring borrowed from my sister,” Lori says. “The ring had special meaning because my sister had taken our mother's diamonds and transformed them into a piece she now wears every day.” She wore her hair up to complement her dress and highlight her collarbone.

Lori and Ellie held matching bouquets in shades of peach, orange, and coral hues, which were perfectly in keeping with the celebration's color palette. The bold arrangements included ranunculus, garden roses, tulips, and greenery, among other blooms.

The brides decided to tie the knot overlooking the ocean at Mar Del Cabo, a venue that stood out far above the rest they considered. “We toured many different venues in Cabo and there wasn't a venue that even compared to Mar Del Cabo,” Ellie says.

At the ceremony, the ocean view was framed by a rounded arch covered in orange and peach flowers, including ranunculus, Lori’s favorite.

The couple hired Agency Treehouse to perform at their ceremony. They both walked down the aisle to a cello version of “This Wandering Day” from The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Ellie walked down the aisle with her mom, Mitzie, and her dad, Joe.

Sadly, Lori lost both of her parents before her 30th birthday, so she found special ways to honor them on the wedding day. “One thing Lori was determined to do was include her parents in both the ceremony and reception,” Ellie says. “As she walked down the aisle, Lori held two balloons—one for each parent—and released them to symbolize them walking her down the aisle.”

Lori and Elie each had a matron of honor and bridesmaids, who they encouraged to choose their own dresses within a sunset color palette. They asked their friend, Elizabeth, to share a reading about marriage before they exchanged vows.

Once they were officially married, they celebrated back down the aisle to Donna Lewis’ “I Love You Always Forever," a song Lori often sings to Ellie.

After the ceremony, Lori and Ellie’s photographer led them onto the beach for a sunset portrait session. The pair posed in the sand against the crashing waves before joining their guests for their cocktail hour. One of their favorite memories of the day was looking down at the reception and watching their guest’s astonished faces as they entered.

Lori and Ellie enlisted Bunker Projects Studio to build an artistic seating chart installation for their reception. The sculptural display had cut-out windows in abstract shapes. Each warm yellow shape framed guests’ names and table assignments for the reception. They customized the display with their names, wedding date, and location.

At the reception on the beach, the brides made sure to incorporate the three main hues in the day’s color palette; yellow, orange, and green were on full display. They chose a yellow patterned linen and matching runner for the tables as a nod to Lori’s mom’s favorite color. “To bring our vision to life, we sourced Henna Mimosa linens and chartreuse napkins from BBJ La Tavola,” Lori says.

The centerpiece arrangements featured vibrant orange florals with pops of green. They also created a cozy ambience with light wood flooring and a lush floral arrangement hanging above the dance floor, accented with custom rattan and macrame lanterns. The ceremony floral arch was repurposed at the reception to frame the couple at their sweetheart table, which was set in front of the ocean and decorated with a ground installation of roses and greenery.

Lori and Ellie shared their first dance to “1950” by King Princess. “We loved what the underlying meaning of the song stands for,” Lori says. Their DJ played Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” for Ellie’s father-daughter dance. Lori danced with her brother-in-law, Jamie, to an Adele tune.

Great food and drink was a priority for the brides, so along with signature Sea Basil margarita cocktails and a four-course meal, Lori and Ellie also served a three-tiered white wedding cake with sunset colors cascading down the center to mimic flowing drapery. Inside, layers of pistachio lemon and chocolate ganache cake awaited. A late-night churro bar was also on offer.

The newlyweds closed out the wedding celebrations with fireworks on the beach, then spent the next three nights in Cabo to unwind. To couples currently planning a wedding, Lori and Ellie recommend personalizing your day. “Be true to yourself and don’t let others’ opinions cloud your judgment. Remember it’s your day and not theirs," they say.