The Grooms Wore White Prada Tuxedos for Their Wedding in Oaxaca City
Mario Rodriguez Graniel and Guy Rejwan met in 2013 during their first year of business school at Columbia University. They got engaged six years later during a trip to Florence. Mario brought up the topic during dinner so that one of the two could eventually prepare to pop the question. “Guy instead took this as a proposal and said ‘yes’ right there and then!” Mario, who is a vice president at Fendi, remembers.
Shortly after the engagement, the two jumped right into planning mode, choosing the Jardin Etnobotanico de Oaxaca, a botanical garden in Oaxaca City, as their wedding location. “We both decided on Oaxaca for its cultural richness, history, and food,” Guy, who owns a residential real estate firm, explains. “Mario is Mexican and has always had a special love for the city, and I fell for it as well during a backpacking trip before college.”
“The planning was exciting as we both were able to instill our tastes and cultures in the wedding weekend,” Mario adds. “For example, we honored Guy’s Jewish traditions by getting married under a chuppah and decorated the chuppah with traditional Mexican flowers. Our ceremony was held in the gardens of a former Catholic convent. We also decided to work with only Mexican vendors and use the food, flowers, and decoration materials of the region.”
The couple enlisted wedding planner Marcela Gonzalez and event company Tónico Visual, who are based in Mexico City and very much understood the assignment. The decor brief outlined an aesthetic that Mario and Guy describe as “Modern Mexico” and focused on warm, earthy tones and natural materials authentic to the country.
The weekend started with welcome cocktails at Criollo, a restaurant by Enrique Olvera. The event took place in the huerto or the vegetable garden, and the invite read “Festive Cocktail Attire.” Monochrome florals in an array of oranges adorned tables, contrasting with black clay vases which are specific to Oaxaca. Many mezcal cocktails were served, and there was a light installation to frame the space and serve as the backdrop for toasts given by family and friends.
On Saturday, the couple embraced a softer look for the ceremony with a revolving flower structure of white gladiolus—which is a typical Mexican flower—mixed with amaranth. This subtler palette extended to their wedding day looks as well. Mario and Guy knew they wanted to wear the same tuxedo at the ceremony. Serendipitously, after they got engaged in Florence, they came across an ivory Prada tuxedo in a beautiful blend of silk and cotton. “We were lucky they had both our sizes,” Mario says. “I was working for Prada at the time and felt like it was the perfect brand to represent our style and personality. We had never thought of wearing all white, but we were in love with the color, texture, and chic cut of the suit. One of the great things about gay weddings is that there are less traditions and expectations, which allows more room for exploration and authenticity.”
Givenchy bow ties complemented the Prada tuxedos perfectly. For shoes, they went with Manolo Blahnik slippers in a light gray velvet, which added just the right amount of refinement. “The shoe style is called the Mario, and we thought it was meant to be!” Guy adds. “We also loved how the color of the shoes looked against the gray cobblestones in the center of Oaxaca.”
Together with their friend Joanna Nikas, who officiated the wedding, Mario and Guy created a service that was based on Guy’s Jewish heritage with adaptations that reflected their personalities and relationship. Mario’s twin nieces were the flower girls and opened the ceremony, followed by their siblings and fathers. “We then each walked down the aisle with our moms,” Guys says, “which was very special to us as they both have played a very significant part in our relationship.”
The grooms read personal vows to each other. “This was a last-minute decision that we could not be happier about and had most of the guests in tears!” Guy recalls. “I was really moved when Mario spoke of the calm I bring to his life and how lucky we are to have found love in each other as best friends. We then exchanged rings to the cheers and applause of our family and friends. And, of course, it wouldn’t be a Jewish wedding without breaking a glass—in our case, we decided to both break a glass for extra Mazel Tov!”
