Once upon a time in Southern California, 2012 to be exact, Autostraddle Co-Founder Alex Vega met an animal trainer named Mary Tully at a photoshoot for the 2013 Autostraddle Calendar. (Mary was modeling.) Several years and, I imagine, at least a few conversations later, these two lovebirds got married in Costa Rica, surrounded by friends and family. Today we present you with photographic evidence of this event as well as some words from our very own Alex Vega.

Alex Vega: After our (gay!) friends got married in Puerto Rico and it was awesome, we knew we wanted to have a destination wedding. No matter where in the states we had our wedding, most people would be traveling to get there. So we thought why not make it somewhere fun: Costa Rica! To our surprise, 95 people showed up and we had the weekend of our lives: we visited the national park, had a beach party, and got stuck at a restaurant at the top of a mountain without power during a tumultuous thunderstorm! The grounds of our hotel were quite jungle-like, with visits from many animals including toucans and monkeys, which was ridiculous and magical. Our reception was fun and peppered with lovely toasts and stories from friends and family. We danced our asses off (I’ve never felt so hot and sweaty) and ended the night with everyone jumping in the pool. Pura vida, indeed.

CLICK ON THE FIRST PHOTO TO OPEN THE LIGHTBOX GALLERY.

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