Exclusive: Influencer Meghan Adams’s Fashionable Wedding in Tulum

Meghan Adams and Desmond Wilcox are high-school sweethearts. “We met freshmen year at Ozen High School in Beaumont, Texas,” remembers Meghan, the influencer and content creator behind Style For Breakfast and one quarter of Influencing in Color. That was in 2005. They’ve been a sure thing ever since. 

It wasn’t until a dozen years later, though, that Desmond proposed in New York City. He detoured on the way to dinner and got down on one knee in a heart of rose petals on a candlelit rooftop among the skyscrapers. “He popped the question just like that,” Meghan remembers. “I look to my right, and there's a photographer. I was like ‘What! You hired a photographer to be here?!’ It was the happiest moment ever. I said yes, we toasted with Moët, took hundreds of photos of course, then headed to The Mercer Kitchen for an amazing dinner.”

As overjoyed as they were, Meghan and Desmond were in no rush to get married. “We had a three-and-a-half-year engagement,” Meghan says. “We just wanted to do things naturally, in ways that made us happy.” 

One thing that makes them infinitely happy? The beach. So when they finally decided to tie the knot, they did so on a stretch of sand in the Yucatan Peninsula known as Tulum. “Tulum is such a beautiful place, and it easily became one of our favorite places we’ve traveled,” Meghan shares. “We love that you get a taste of both worlds in Tulum: a tropical jungle side, and a blissful beach side.” 

They invited an intimate group of 47 guests to celebrate with them at Akiin Beach Club. “The venue is like a blank canvas,” Meghan says. “After research, we saw so many weddings taking place there, and each one had its own charm to it. You can have as little or as much decor as you want, and the location still looks amazing because the scenery around is all breathtakingly stunning. The palm trees, the blue water—we couldn’t imagine getting married anywhere else.”

Though planning from afar presented its challenges—the couple lives in Texas—planning “wasn’t extremely stressful, I can admit,” Meghan says. “I have been such a chill bride through the whole process.” They instantly clicked with the venue’s in-house planner, Dana Akhtar, and leaned on trustworthy vendors.

“Dana understood everything we wanted and found a way to make it happen. If there was something we needed to change, she was honest upfront and found alternatives,” Meghan says. “The most important thing was finding the right vendors that fit in with the vision and ideas we had. I’m an avid researcher and I could tell who would be right for us just by looking at their work on Instagram and also their tagged photos.”

The weekend began with a welcome party on Saturday night at Mia Beach Club, just down the road from their wedding venue. “The welcome cocktail party the night before the wedding was probably the most epic party that Mia has ever seen,” Meghan says. “There were lots of cocktails, tacos, and unexpected singing and rapping on the microphone—and dancing of course!”

The next day, April 24, 2022, the couple finally said I do—nearly two decades after that fateful high-school meet-cute. Read on to see how they did things their own way, with an extra-special ceremony and reception planned by Dana Akhtar at Akiin Beach Club and photographed by Chris & Ruth Photography.

In keeping with her self-proclaimed “chill bride” vibe, Meghan admits there wasn’t much wedding beauty prep. “I really wanted to get a few facials prior, but never got the chance,” she says. “I do however follow a regular skincare routine on the daily. I’ve been exfoliating with Fresh’s Sugar Face Polish to keep my skin nice and smooth. I also make sure to use an SPF daily, and my favorite for the last few months has been Supergoop’s daily moisturizer sunscreen SPF 40. Thankfully my skin did not act up before the big day.”

She told makeup artist Megan Phillips to give her a look that was simple, classic, elegant, and glowy. “I just wanted to feel like a beach goddess. I wanted to keep my makeup as minimal as possible for the beach. I still wanted to look like my everyday self, with just a hint of glam.”

Likewise, her hair was intentionally understated. “I wanted my cape, dress, and veil to make their own statements. It was only right to have my hair pulled back in a classic sleek bun to let those details do the talking.”

“Desmond has always loved a classic French manicure,” Meghan says. “He says it’s because his mom always gets them and he thinks they look so classy. I can agree! Though I never get French manicures, I got one for the wedding. To make them more my style, I got them in an oval shape and added rhinestones on each nail.” The subtle crystal embellishment was mirrored in her shoes, closed-toe mule pumps by Jimmy Choo.

Completing her sensory look, the final accessory was a spritz of Creed Wind Flowers—though again, it wasn’t an overwrought decision. “I’m typically a creature of habit and I wear the same scents over and over if I really like them,” Meghan says. “With everything going on with the wedding and getting prepared for travel, fragrance was the last thing on my mind. Luckily, I packed this one before leaving home or I would’ve had to find one in Tulum!”

Her subtle glam and accessorizing did its job, allowing the epic Ines Di Santo gown to shine. “The gown is made of satin, and the cape is fully tulle, embroidered to resemble the sea,” Meghan says. “I didn’t shop much. I saw this dress, got my local bridal shop, Ivory Bridal Atelier in Houston, to order in the sample, tried it on, and didn’t look any further. Once I saw the cape, it was over. Case closed! It was so perfect for the beach.”

“I had a birdcage veil from BHLDN, which felt so simple yet had that old-school Hollywood glam vibe,” Meghan says. “Since the cape had all the drama, I didn’t need a traditional veil.”

For his part, Desmond wore a three-piece suit from Suitsupply in a perfectly apt color called Sand. He nixed a tie and opted for casual calf suede slip-ons. His prep was even simpler than his bride’s: “I just exfoliate and stay moisturized, he says. “I typically use all of Meghan’s products!” The scent? Maison Francis Kurkdjian’s Gentle Fluidity Silver.

“There were quite a few things that weren’t so traditional about our wedding,” Meghan says. “We didn’t do bachelor or bachelorette parties, nor did we spend the night before our wedding in two different hotels to not see each other until the big day. And, we didn’t write vows.” They didn’t wait for the walk down the aisle to see each other, either. “We did a first look because we did a quick shoot at another location before the wedding started. This saved so much time during the cocktail hour, because we didn’t have to leave the venue again—we were able to spend more time greeting and hanging out with our guests.”

Doing things their own way worked well for Meghan and Desmond—and they’d highly recommend the approach. “Take your time with everything,” Meghan advises. “If you don’t like something, change it. Don’t be afraid to ask for what you really want. Do what makes you happy and don’t worry too much about any other opinions.”

As guests arrived, they stopped at a chic cocktail cart for branded coconut drinks, and picked up a retro rotary phone to leave messages for the couple. It was one of the bride’s favorite details. “We opted for something more creative than a traditional guest book that guests sign and write in,” she says. “We got an old-school phone from a company called After The Tone, and our guests were able to leave us voicemails at our wedding that we can listen to over and over again. Once your wedding is over, you return the phone, and the company puts all of the voicemails on a vinyl record for you to keep.”

“I described the kind of greenery that we wanted and our planner found the perfect florist. But, I wouldn’t call him a florist. I’d call him an artist,” Meghan says of Alejandro Salas of Dia Uno Flora. “We didn’t want the typical flowers, so we opted for tropical greenery with a touch of fruit like bananas and other touches. I gave little to no direction on this—just a mood board and we let him work his magic.”

The couple also had fans designed with their initials to help guests beat the tropical heat.

Meghan was escorted down the aisle by her mother, Patricia—looking chic in Tadashi Shoji’s Odette sequin dress—and her father, Jerris.

The ceremony was short and sweet. “We did not write any vows; we recited the traditional vows from our officiant,” Meghan says.

After saying "I do," the newlyweds sealed their marriage with a kiss as their friends and family cheered them on.

Meghan and Desmond chose not to have a traditional wedding party—no maid of honor or best man. Their “best people”? “Everyone who came!” the bride says. They did, however, dictate a dress code. “We asked our guests to wear all neutral tones. Safe to say, everyone understood the assignment. Seeing all of our guests in similar tones looked so amazing together on the beach—especially in the photos. Best decision we made, because everything and everyone looked so cohesive.”

The long-awaited celebration had finally arrived—and they kicked it off with cocktails. “Meghan loves mezcal, so her signature drink was a Passionfruit Mezcalita margarita," the couple shares. “Dez loves an Old Fashioned, and mezcal as well, so his signature drink was a Mezcal Old Fashioned.”

“When sending their RSVPs, we asked our guests to choose one song that would make them hit the dance floor at any given moment,” Meghan remembers. “We added their songs to the playlist. We wanted to include them and their favorite songs on our special day, since they are so special to us.” DJ JC Ananda took the playlist and ran with it, curating a whole vibe through sound.

The vision Meghan felt so strongly about? “A tropical party in the jungle,” she says. “Lots of greenery and disco balls—Tulum style.”

Hosting a destination wedding, it made sense for Meghan and Desmond to incorporate their love of travel into the decor. Customized Letter + Leather luggage tags hung on a unique escort board for guests to grab and find their seat, then take home as favors.

“The reception decor mirrored all of the decor around the wedding venue,” Meghan says. “We had tropical greenery with touches of fruit on the dinner tables, as well as around the different coconut bars and aguas frescas bars we had." Acrylic table numbers in metallic gold denoted each table and custom menus by Mexican stationer Micheline adorned each earthenware place setting. Raffia placemats, gold flatware, and colored glass goblets finished the natural look.

“We had wedding merch!” Meghan says. “I made a logo with our hashtag and a palm tree to use for our welcome bags and everything that came inside them. We also had trucker hats with the wedding logo and our guests wore them all weekend, even to the wedding!” The merch was a fun favor, but served a purpose as well. “It encouraged everyone to use the wedding hashtag when posting on social media. The hats were definitely a hit!”

To kick off the reception, Meghan swapped her caped gown for Aknvas' Olive open-back ruffled mini dress, a party-ready look if there ever was one.

The newlyweds danced to Daniel Caesar’s “Get You” before sitting down to dinner. Later in the night, both parent dances were to songs by soul band Frankie Beverly & Maze: “Before I Let Go” for Meghan’s dance with her dad—“a classic!” she says—and “Golden Time of Day” for the groom and his mother.

“We had dinner under a wooden palapa,” Meghan says. “There were string lights outlining the shape of the roof, creating the perfect ambiance."

The menu was well-rounded. “We had tacos for starters, because Mexico, of course!” Meghan says. The main courses were poblano chicken, sirloin steak in a tatemado chiles sauce, or portobello all’Amatriciana. For dessert, guests could nosh on red velvet brownies and crème brûlée.

After dinner, the party went into full swing. “The dance floor was a big wooden structure with string lights hanging from the top and disco balls all around,” Meghan describes. Situated right on the beach, it gave off just the right vibe.

“My friends from my Influencing in Color group surprised us with a money gun at the reception. They literally made it rain with a thousand $1 bills and the DJ played ‘Make It Rain’ by Fat Joe ft. Lil Wayne,” Meghan says. “The party got super lit and this was definitely a top highlight!”

“One of our favorite things we did was have multiple disposable cameras laying around for our guests to pick up and use on their own,” Meghan remembers. “We love to have fun, and our guests love to have fun, so this was the perfect way to let them capture the day from their own lens. We can’t wait to see the developed photos from the night.”

Meghan’s vision for the cake was to have it mimic her wedding gown’s cape. “It reminds me of the ocean waves and foam from the sea, so I asked the cake designer to go with the flow and create a cake design that reflected that,” she says. Pastelería La Migaja nailed it with a cake in two flavors: vanilla with buttercream and red velvet with cream cheese filling.

Guests could enjoy a newspaper and coffee in the wee hours of the morning. The top story? The couple's wedding, of course!

There was no rush to get married, so naturally there’s no rush for a honeymoon. “We’re still deciding!” Meghan says. In the meantime, Meghan and Desmond will be basking in the newlywed glow.