One Couple Invited Their Guests to San Juan, Puerto Rico, for a Tropical Destination Wedding Rooted in Family History

Alysa Delerme and Donnie Fletcher were introduced by mutual friends during their undergraduate years at Boston College, but they never grew close during their time at college. Then, in October of 2019, a whole eight years after graduating, they reconnected on social media and set up a brunch date. “I was excited but also pretty nervous, but once I was there it felt relieving to be around him,” Alysa remembers. “It felt really natural to be out together, not like a first date at all.” That first date turned into a 12-hour day of sharing rooftop drinks, playing games, and even meeting up with some of Alysa’s family! Over the next few years, the couple grew closer, traveling to destinations like Lisbon and Marrakech before Donnie proposed in March of 2023 on a trip to Rio de Janeiro. At the Jardim Botanico, Alysa turned around to show him a photo when she found him on one knee. Her first words were, “Are you serious?”

On June 29, 2024, the couple celebrated their nuptials at the historic Antiguo Casino de Puerto Rico in San Juan. With most of Alysa’s family in New York and Donnie’s in Cleveland, they decided to create a travel experience for 116 of their closest loved ones. “It was a reflection of something we love to do together,” Alysa notes. “My family is Puerto Rican and we’d brought my dad’s ashes to Puerto Rico after he passed, so having our wedding there also made me feel like he could be there, in a way.”

They envisioned an elegant wedding with a black, white, green, and gold color palette and worked with Alexa Blanco Weddings to ensure that every detail they chose reflected their overarching vision. Keep reading to see Two Is Better's photos of the celebration—from the lush outdoor staircase ceremony to the tropical themed reception.

Alysa had a clear vision of what she wanted to wear on her wedding day, and that's thanks to her work with bridal stylist Corinne Pierre-Louis, who helped her define her wishlist. Though she tried on a variety of different wedding dress, she ultimately couldn’t stop thinking about the second gown she had put on. The satin crepe Ines Di Santo column gown featured an illusion strapless neckline and thigh-high slit. “I felt beautiful and like a bride, but still very much myself, which was important to me,” Alysa says. She styled her look with Badgley Mischka shoes, a veil from Etsy, and a mix of old and new jewelry, including earrings from Olive & Piper, and a diamond and sapphire bracelet that her late father had given her mother as a gift.

For her beauty look, she wanted a bronzed glowy look. “I wanted to look elegant, sexy, and also natural,” says Alysa. “I didn’t want anything to be particularly bold or stand out.” She requested a hair style that didn’t require blowing out her naturally wavy hair. The result was a tousled updo that worked well with her destination's warm weather. She also held a cascading bouquet of white spray roses, anemone, orchids, and ranunculus accented with tropical greenery.

Donnie drew inspiration from a modern Renaissance man when selecting his wedding-day look. He wore a black single button dinner jacket with silk lapels paired with black tuxedo pants from Vitale Barberis Canonico. He also wore a black silk cummerbund, matching bow tie, and custom gold initial cufflinks. He accessorized with a vintage gold Seiko kinetic sports watch. “This watch had significant meaning to me because the watch belonged to my uncle who played a vital part in my upbringing,” he says. He carried a cloth inside his pocket featuring a picture of his late mother, a gift from his oldest sister at the rehearsal dinner.

Alysa and Donnie decided to have a first look before the ceremony to maximize their time together on the wedding day and to help ease their nerves. After seeing each other and revealing their wedding-day looks, the couple took an antique car to Old San Juan for pictures together. “It really calmed me to be with Donnie and have some quiet time to ourselves before the excitement and busy-ness of the big day,” the bride remembers.

The couple’s ceremony took place on the exterior staircase of their venue, where two columns were decorated with tropical green leaves including palmetto and monstera and an array of white flowers. They added a white aisle runner to provide contrast against the elegant black chairs set up for their guests.

Alysa walked down the aisle to “I Was Made for Loving You” by Tori Kelly with her mom and godfather by her side. “It was important to me that my godfather walk me down the aisle since my father is no longer with us, and that my mom also walk me since she is such a huge and important part of my life,” she explains. The couple exchanged heartfelt vows they wrote for each other before recessing back up the aisle as guests blew bubbles in the air to the sound of “Find Someone Like You” by Snoh Aalegra.

At the reception, a gold arched mirror framed by black lanterns doubled as a welcome sign. Two of Alysa’s bridesmaids printed and framed photos of the bride's father and paternal grandparents, her maternal grandfather, and the groom's parents and grandmother and brought them to Puerto Rico. The couple’s planning team set up a memorial table with candles and white floral arrangements to honor them.

The reception took place in an all white ballroom, where a mix of long and round tables were set up for dinner. “From the early stages of planning we communicated to our wedding planner that we wanted it to feel elegant, sexy, and tropical, and she executed perfectly,” Alysa says. The tables were topped with black linens and decorated with a mix of high and low centerpiece arrangements of white flowers and tropical green leaves.

“Our stationery artist, Coralys from Stickealo, did a great job creating elegant minimalist menus and table numbers that connected beautifully with the rest of the decoration details,” the bride adds.

Alysa and Donnie chose Kenny Latimore’s “For You” as their first dance song. Alysa and her mom danced to Marc Anthony’s “My Baby You” and Donnie and his aunt danced to Stevie Wonder’s “As.” As a personalized touch, the couple had their joint monogram projected onto the dance floor.

Guests spent the rest of the reception sipping on signature cocktails, snapping polaroids, and dancing as DJ Eric from SBN Entertainment played the couple’s favorite songs. “Our music was one of the biggest reflections of who we are as a couple,” Alysa says. “We spent many nights sitting together and choosing music that we both loved that we knew our guests would also enjoy.”

After the wedding wrapped, the newlyweds spent their honeymoon in Antigua. To couples in the thick of planning their own nuptials right now, the bride and groom offer this advice: “Being engaged is truly a special time and you should celebrate every chance you get. Try to enjoy the process as much as possible... whatever you can do to make it less stressful and more fun, do it!”