Gratitude: That’s the first word David Cordua and Sara Padua Cordua Use this option to describe how they are feeling about their marriage. The second is beautiful.
“It’s magical how lucky we were,” says Sara.
In a year of pandemic and uncertainty, magic was more than welcome. The couple married in an intimate ceremony on November 21 at Cuernavaca Cathedral in Cuernavaca, Mexico. The Catholic Wedding Mass was part of a weekend full of family and faith, as well as spiritual and symbolic ceremonies.
The reception took place in the Hacienda de Cortés, the former home of Hernan Cortez from the 16th century. The couple loved the soul of the old hacienda, the grounds of which were overgrown and beautiful, and which was anchored by amate trees.
“You can really feel that someone lived here,” says David, describing the place.
This soulful feeling was very important to the couple, both because of their shared beliefs and because of their shared Hispanic roots. Sara, a lawyer with the Padua Law Firm, was born in Mexico City. David’s family is originally from Nicaragua.
David, a chef, recently started David + Michael Cordúa Events with his kitchen colleague and father Michael. (Houstonians will recognize Michael as the talented restaurateur and pioneer who brought Latin American staples like churrascos, américas, and artista to town.)
An allusion to the past and present
The couple’s wedding and reception locations enabled them to pay homage to their past, even as they build their dream futures together. After the religious ceremony in the cathedral, they hosted a spiritual circle and cocoa ceremony inspired by Aztec and Mesoamerican traditions.
“We wrote the spiritual vows ourselves,” says Sara. “And the symbolism of the ceremony was important to us.”
“We exchanged cocoa with each other by candlelight,” explains David. “There was a poetry reading. It was beautiful.”
The wedding could be just as beautiful as their love story, a classic story of old acquaintances who discover they are truly soul mates.
“We’ve known each other since high school,” recalls Sara, a graduate of the Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart. “I intersected with his sister for a year. And David and my brother Tony were close friends with Strake [Jesuit]. They hung out a lot and our parents knew each other too. “
“I spent a lot of time in their home in high school,” says David. “It’s like we grew up in each other’s homes.”
David graduated from Strake in 2000 and attended Santa Clara University and Le Cordon Bleu Paris. Sara graduated from Duchesne and later Harvard, and received her JD from the University of Texas School of Law in 2011. The two would not see each other again until 2010 at a party.
It would be another six years before they did more than see each other at the occasional events or parties hosted by mutual friends.
“Tony took me to the Hola Houston Launch Party at Hotel Zaza,” Sara recalls. “And David’s mother [Lucia] was there and she remembered me and my nickname. “Saralita, David is single,” she told me.
“It doesn’t have a filter,” laughs David. “I can totally see her say that.”
Friends reunited
Lucia Cordúas nudging aside, David was impressed by Sara’s intelligence and beauty. Their promotion was a three and a half year affair that included jazz club appointments and story sharing. David suggested at the couple’s house last year, just before a party that both families attended.
“It was only fitting to have everyone there when I suggested,” says David. “Just, I was so nervous when I asked her to marry me that I dropped the ring. From the fourth floor balcony. My eight-year-old niece found it.”
“We made her a ring bearer,” says Sara affectionately.
The couple originally planned a ceremony on March 28, 2020, a grand gala with more than 200 guests joining them and their families in Cuernavaca. Obviously, the pandemic has disrupted their plans.
“It was such a tough decision,” says Sara. “There were only three or four reported cases of COVID in Mexico at the time, so we wondered if we might still be able to do that. But there was just no going.”
An intimate affair
So they waited. And Sara, who joked that she was patient throughout her three and a half years of advertising, turned out to be not only patient but resilient as well. The couple decided on the November date, selected the guest list for around 60 people and had bespoke masks made.
“It was a much more intimate experience, but it really increased the volume of the emotions,” says David.
Their wedding was streamed live to those who couldn’t be there, and Sara notes that they received “a lot of virtual love”.
“We have these as additional memories,” she says.
And for their first dance they chose a song with multiple levels of meaning, “Si Nos Dejan” by Luis Miguel.
“It means ‘if they let us,'” says David. “And I like that it’s a little bit of forbidden love. Both here is this boyfriend’s younger sister, and so much was forbidden in 2020 so it’s like asking if the year would allow us that . “
Lights out, wings up
The couple agree that their favorite part of their wedding was when the lights went out in the cathedral.
“Cuernavaca is the city of eternal spring,” says Sara. “And it almost never rains. But in the middle of our ceremony, [during a reading from the Song of Solomon] On the line that says, “Deep water cannot still love, and floods cannot sweep it away.” There was this clap of thunder and the pounding rain, and there was it in the dark. But it was beautiful. “
Their honeymoon in French Polynesia, with stops in Tahiti, Bora Bora, and Morea, spent weeks relaxing on the beaches, enjoying fabulous cuisine, and practicing French together.
“Sara’s parents were on their honeymoon in Tahiti, and we’ve never been,” says David. “So it felt like another homage to the family. And it’s really impressive how deeply rooted French culture is.”
Back in Houston, Sara and David celebrated their first Christmas as a married couple and now, two months after their husband and wife journey, they still exude what they know was a profound experience. They are both healthy, as are their families. They have a new home to settle in. And they are carried by the love that surrounds them.
“We had so much support from family and friends,” says Sara.
“It will feed us forever,” agrees David.
“It’s in our love tank,” Sara continues. “The love tank is full.”
Wedding dress: Sareh Nouri
Bridal flowers: Lya Studio
Groom’s Tuxedo: Joseph Aboud
Lady of honor: Leone price
Maid of Honor dress: Badgley Mischka
Bridesmaids: Megan Padua, Katie Padua, Kaylee Scanlin, Michelle Cordua, Elisa Cordua Tavera, Cristina Cordua Yanez, Ariana Nizza and Rebecca Kramer
Best man: Michael Cordua
Best Man’s Tuxedo: Fought
Groomsmen: Francisco Padua Jr., Alejandro Padua, Antonio Padua, Max Cordua, James McConn, Antonio Chalita, Gonzalo Navarro, William Mirshak, Alex Tavera, Mitch Yanez
Place of the religious ceremony: Cuernavaca Cathedral
Celebrant: The Reverend John Walsh, LC
Receiving location: Hacienda de Cortes
Band / DJ: SOU Jazz, DJ Cesar music station
First dance song: “If you leave us” Luis Miguel
Dance teacher: Lisa Joubert LOVEDANCEHtx
Dance floor: hand painted by Misael Luna
Guests: Justin Garcia, Paris Woods, Nick Scurfield, Chef Dom Lee, Roberto Mejia, Brad Basker
Honeymoon Resorts: The SLS, London’s West HollyWood, St. Regis Bora Bora, the Sofitel Moorea and the Bardessono in Yountville
Wedding planner: Yuri Torres
Masks: Flower wedding masks handmade by Lucia Cordua, Acuwellness and LED masks
Rehearsal location: Posada del Tepozteco in Tepoztlan, Mexico.
— —.
Do you know of a Houston wedding that should be considered for publication? Email [email protected].