This destination wedding in Riviera Maya, Mexico, featured a rainbow cake and a song from one of the grooms

Carl (he/him) and Jamal (he/him) met during Pride through mutual friends, and the first text they ever exchanged was: “I’m going to marry you.” Just a few years later, that text proved to be prophetic as Carl and Jamal got ready together for their oceanside wedding ceremony.

For their springtime destination wedding, the travel-loving husbands-to-be chose a villa in Riviera Maya, Mexico, as their venue for celebrating with their closest family and friends. The grooms were escorted down the aisle by their mothers and had a few of their wedding party members stand by the altar, which was draped in white cloth and blooming florals.

Carl and Jamal exchanged vows in front of the ocean, and Carl surprised his new husband by singing a song for him, accompanied by a local ukulele player. Shortly after the ceremony concluded, clouds rolled in and it started to rain, making for an adventurous exit as the grooms ducked under a large umbrella to go inside the villa for newlywed portraits.

Carl and Jamal rejoined their guests for a festive reception, in a reception hall strung with white twinkling string lights and complete with a Polaroid guest book and a layered rainbow cake. In tribute to the couple’s shared adventures, their favors were tiny paper suitcases with compasses attached.