There Was Dancing Every Night—And a Trinidadian Carnival Party—At This Five-Day Wedding Celebration
Ally Love and Andrew Haynes first met at a New York City club. She—a Peloton instructor who also moonlights as the in-arena Brooklyn Nets host and is the founder of Love Squad, a women’s empowerment community—had moved to the city from Miami—and he, a financier from Trinidad and Tobago, were both out on the town with friends. At the beginning, their relationship was platonic, but it soon developed into something much more.
Ultimately, Andrew proposed in 2020 while they were on vacation at the Rosewood Mayakoba in Mexico. “It’s a really special place for us because we’ve spent a lot of time there with both of our families over the years,” Ally says. “It holds a lot of meaning for the two of us. We were there last December, and on Christmas Eve, we were enjoying dinner on the beach when Andrew let me know that earlier that day he called my mother to ask if it would be okay if he asked me to marry him. And then it happened! He told me he wanted to spend the rest of our lives together and popped the question. I grabbed his face and just said ‘Yes!’”
The five-day al fresco wedding extravaganza began on a Wednesday and culminated in a July ceremony in the exact same location as the proposal. Close friend, Rosewood Mayakoba managing director, and event planner Daniel Scott worked closely with Andrew and helped oversee everything from the creative vision to travel logistics, which included making sure guests followed all CDC guidelines required by the country that they were entering Mexico from.
The first night the couple hosted drinks at Zapote, a Yucatán-inspired cocktail bar and restaurant inside the Rosewood Mayakoba. The theme for the evening was florals and bright colors. “That night went to another level,” Ally says. “Everyone was dancing, playing the bongos, having an incredible time, and it really just set the vibe for the whole weekend ahead.”
When planning her wedding wardrobe for the five day itinerary, Ally had a very clear vision—all of her looks throughout the weekend were designed by BIPOC and women-owned businesses. Taking things a step further than most on the style front, Ally also started a weekly wedding newsletter which she began circulating eight weeks ahead of the wedding. Every event had a color theme, and its corresponding style deck outlined the theme as well as a mood board with style suggestions. “One of the reasons why I did that is because I wanted to use my platform to help highlight BIPOC and female-owned businesses and vendors in the wedding space throughout our festivities," Ally explains. "I also know that wedding guests often stress over what to wear, and since we were having five days’ worth of events, I wanted to streamline that information. It was pretty detailed so that our guests knew what to expect—even down to the type of surface the event would be on, whether it was grass or sand, etc., so people would know what kind of shoes they might feel comfortable in.”
On Thursday, there was a Trinidadian Carnival party on the beach. “We had a barbecue with Caribbean-inspired food stations, signature drinks, a Cuban-inspired band, Brazilian and Argentinian dancers—it was very cool,” Ally remembers. Friday night was a Miami-inspired all-white party. It started with cocktails in the garden followed by a seated dinner. “We did a ring ceremony that evening,” Ally says. “I had rings made by Lauren Devereux, who is a friend of mine, and Andrew and I presented rings to both of our moms. We presented these rings to honor and acknowledge all of the hard work they put into us and our commitment to carrying out their legacies.”
On her wedding day, Ally wanted a classic look. “[I was thinking] Princess Diana and vintage, which is why I picked my dress designed by Berta, and then we had a Fulla overskirt created by Ersa Atelier to give it some additional drama,” she says. “I slicked my hair back and made it all about the dress.”
