Royalton Riviera Cancun Beach Wedding | Shakera + Chinonso

Shakera and I met via Instagram. She reached out to me and set up a time for us to chat, and we hit it off! She was planning her August 2020 to have her beach wedding at the Royalton Riviera Cancun before the pandemic hit and shut the whole world down. Unfortunately, Shakera and five other NGB brides were forced to reschedule their wedding dates due to Covid restrictions and the fear of passing the virus on to family and friends.

I spoke with Shakera and, without hesitation, agreed to her new wedding date. Sadly her mom passed away in 2020 during the pandemic while planning her wedding. One day I was calling Shakera to check on her, and the first thing she said to me was, “I’m sorry I missed my final payment. My mom and aunt passed away, and I just got back in town”. I wasn’t even calling about a payment. That system is automated, so I didn’t even know she had missed the payment. It was really on my heart to just call and check on her, and I’m glad I did. We grew closer over the last few years and finally met in person the weekend of her wedding.

The Wedding Day

Shakera lives in Ohio, so we had to do our consultations virtually…like, I literally met her (in person) the day before her wedding day. We had facetime’d a few times so that I could see her and get an idea of what shades of foundation to bring, see her hair and other details, but she never came to Houston for a trial…she trusted me, and I’m grateful for that.

Her Hair

Shakera has natural hair and wanted to have a sew-in for the wedding so that we didn’t have to worry about the humidity. However, the humidity didn’t come to play on the day of her wedding. She was scheduled to have “first looks” done before the wedding, then come back and change into her wedding gown. Initially, she wanted to wear beach body waves for the pre-wedding photos and the wedding. I did my usual curl and pin method, then let the curls cool before styling. She got dressed, went outside, and was literally out for 30-45 minutes, and her beach body waves turned into ripple waves, lol. We couldn’t believe it! She mentioned how hot it was outside, so I immediately went to plan b…an updo. This way, the hair wouldn’t fall, and it would keep her cool since the hair would be up off of her neck.

Her Makeup

I ALWAYS bring my airbrush machine with me to a destination wedding. Especially one in Cancun near the beach, and this one was no different. I don’t trust the weather, so I would rather my bride’s makeup last until the next day than have it disappear in two or three hours. Thinking back to that weekend, Shakera mentioned that she had a hard time getting all of her eyeliner off from the makeup I had done on her for her “welcome” party the night before. We laughed about it because I said, “well, at least you know it will last.”

I did a soft pink-nude look with a hint of brown smokiness for the eyes. I topped things off with black liner and lashes. For lips, we did a soft nude lip, lining the lips with a brown liner for dimension.

For the wedding party: Her bridesmaids did their hair, and I provided the makeup for them using complimenting eyeshadows to match their skin tone and blush-colored dresses.

WHAT DID SHE SAY?

When I first started the planning process for our destination wedding, I was having such a hard time finding a makeup artist. I came across Nyoka’s work on Instagram and immediately started stalking all of her pics and reviews, lol. Once I reached out to Nyoka, I knew immediately that I wanted to work with her. She was very personable and easy to talk to. I booked with her back in 2019 for our 2020 wedding. When Covid hit, I knew that some tough decisions needed to be made regarding postponing our wedding. When I reached out to discuss this with Nyoka I didn’t know what date we were changing to, but she was extremely patient and understanding. She rolled with all of our changes with ease, and I never had to worry about anything because she was always reassuring! Nyoka checked in on me throughout my planning to make sure I wasn’t forgetting things, and I am beyond appreciative of this. By the time our wedding rolled around in 2021, I felt like we were old friends, lol. She got right in with my crazy crew. My bridal party loved her, and they loved their makeup! I got soooo many compliments on my makeup for my welcome dinner and wedding day! If I EVER need makeup/hairstyling services again, there is no question that Nyoka will be who I work with! Nyoka has a beautiful spirit, and you do not meet many people who possess that ❤️

READY TO BOOK YOUR WEDDING DAY BEAUTY SESSION?

Do you need a hair and makeup artist for your wedding at the Royalton Riviera Cancun or anywhere in the world? Get started here.

The Details

Venue: Royalton Riviera Cancun
Photographer: Novski Photography
Travel Specialist: Barefoot Bridal
Hair and Makeup artist: Nyoka Gregory Beauty
Bride’s Wedding Dress: Stella York
Groom’s attire: Folchi's
DJ: Seleccto DJ