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A Maximalist Design Lover’s Dream Wedding in San Miguel de Allende

By Shayna Seid | Photography by 

Ana Hinojosa

|Planning by 

Penzi

Caroline Sims, founder of branding studio Bad Spring Creative, and Blake Butterworth identified their autumn Mexico wedding wedding as “Dos Mantequillas”—“Two Butters” in Spanish, a nod to their soon-to-be married name. Their wedding suite artist and dear friend, Sam Crosby, even weaved the words into all their printed materials, and even the dance floor had a neon sign with the same saying. “I am a maximalist at heart,” Caroline says. “Everything from my design work, to the way I dress and the things in my home—they are colorful and bright and there is texture everywhere.”

The two met when they moved into their neighboring apartments on the same day, while both attending LSU, and after four years, he proposed on the beach in Southern California. They were road tripping around the country, following their favorite band, LCD Soundsystem, and as they headed to Santa Barbara from Ojai, he had an urgent need to be on the sand. She turned around, and he was holding the ring in his bare hands and on one knee.

She, being from Texas, loves Mexico and chose Casa Hyder in San Miguel de Allende for their 108-person wedding, planned by Penzi. “As soon as I saw the property, I was having visions of velvet, tulle, and features—think 1960s Mexico glamour,” Caroline explains. “That really inspired my palette and the entire weekend.”

“The clothes were definitely the best part of the weekend, besides getting married to the love of my life, of course,” the bride says. For the first event, she wore a red lace Alexis set with gold Loeffler Randall heels. “I literally looked like the dancing girl emoji.” And for the rehearsal dinner, she chose a peony print Rotate Birger Christensen dress. 

To say, “I do,” Caroline fell in love with a custom Mira Zwillinger gown, which she added feathers to; however, her favorite outfit was for the party. The bride danced in a Magda Butrym white, feather, ruched dress with white Paris Texas go-go boots. Bridesmaids complemented Caroline well in hot pink velvet Rasario dresses, the mother-of-the-bride wowed in an Andrew Gn design, and Blake looked handsome in a Ralph Lauren Purple Label tuxedo.

In the garden of the home, Caroline walked down the aisle to their close friend, Mark Allain, playing an acoustic version of “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You” by Bob Dylan. Blake’s brother, Zach, officiated and kicked off the service by asking everyone to close their eyes and refocus with deep breaths, which curbed nerves and brought the energy together. “About 10 minutes into the ceremony, however, Blake went full space cadet on us and totally zoned out,” the bride says. “Zach had to say, ‘Hey B, look at Caroline.’ A little bit of comic relief.”

After exchanging vows, the newlyweds walked out to “Wild Flowers” by Tom Petty, and everyone was handed a tequila shot to get things going and flow into the callejoneada through the streets of San Miguel with the mariachi band and donkey. Traditionally, the mojigangas in this parade look like the bride and groom, but since they had a strong celestial theme, they requested that their puppets have sun and moon masks—a fun nod to Blake’s New Orleans roots too. 

Back at the house, cocktail hour began on the roof with spicy and mango margaritas and mojitos. For the traditional dinner, everyone was led to the tent where there were tons of candles and flowers taking over the space. Toasts were given by family and friends, including Caroline’s sister-in-law, who is also named Caroline Butterworth.

The couple’s best friends, Caroline Waxse and Parks Vincent, deejayed the rest of the night and put together the best setlist. There was a cigar roller and their mojigangas stayed and danced all night. When Caroline and Blake cut their wedding cake, they also brought out three mini birthday cakes for their officiant, friend Olivia Black, and the bride’s grandmother, who all had birthdays over the weekend. 

At the end of the night, the new Mr. and Mrs. were supposed to leave for their suite at a fancy hotel, but they accidentally both fell asleep in pool chairs at Casa Hyder. “I was really insistent that I didn’t want to plan an exit or anything because what if the party was still going!? That plan backfired,” she says. “I woke up in my flower crown and boarded the plane on Monday with it on.”