Nacho Mama’s Wedding

After being matched on Bumble, Valeria Swartz-Diaz and Ryan Fields’ very first date was to the Nacho Mama’s in Canton Square. Over the restaurant’s signature hubcap margaritas, “Valeria told me how she planned to get married there one day,” laughs Ryan. “I thought it was something cute to say on the first date, but as we continued dating, I learned she was completely serious.”

Not only was she serious, but with each passing year her stipulations got more specific. Valeria, a speech language pathologist at Kennedy Krieger Institute, knew she wanted a vintage-inspired wedding at the popular Mexican restaurant, with Elvis as the officiant, a disco lounge, guests encouraged to dress in era attire, and some authentic Baltimore Hons.

And after Ryan proposed to Valeria at sunset in Taxco, Mexico, one of the first things he said was, “call Nacho Mama’s.”

“Ryan so lovingly trusted my vision,” says Valeria, who made an online lookbook on their wedding website to inspire guest outfit choices.  “A typical wedding dress code is casual, formal, or semi-formal,” says Valeria. “Our invitation instructed guests to ‘wear something retro.’ Think Elvis in Mexico or JFK and Jackie O . . . and made it so fun to see everyone’s interpretations.” 

The two went to Hampden’s HonFest in June of 2023 to recruit a couple of Hons. They also decided to have the wedding at the Nacho Mama’s Towson location, since it could easily accommodate their 144 guests, and they’d have to do very little to decorate inside the restaurant. “The Baltimore memorabilia made for great conversation-starters among the Baltimoreans in attendance and the out-of-towners,” says Valeria. She also wanted the day to include activities, so they had a fortune-teller, a “dress up with the Hons”—think feather boas, flamingos, and lots of cat’s-eye glasses—Bawlmerese lessons during happy hour, and guests taking photographs in the Natty Boh car parked out front, a 1950 Jeepster, with one-of-a-kind National Bohemian branding.

Even Ryan, a sales and marketing manager at Opici Family Distributing, got in on the offbeat theme. “I resisted the idea for a while, but when I realized how serious she was about bringing her vision to life, I made it my goal to take as many of her crazy ideas as I could and incorporate them into our day in a cohesive way,” says Ryan. He started adding his own touches too, like programming an old rotary phone to make an audio guestbook. “The messages got funnier as the night progressed,” says Valeria. Ryan also retrofitted a 1950s TV set with a working tube so they could play old Elvis movies in the lounge.

They were having so much fun with the creative aspect of planning that they decided not to hire a wedding planner. Ryan’s sister Linsey Fields, who owns an invitation and letterpress business, created handmade invitations and sourced custom papel picado—cut paper flags—from Mexico for decoration. Valeria also wanted open seating, so Ryan had the idea to have diner-style paper placemats printed with the menu, details of the wedding, fun facts about them, and a place for guests to write their name to reserve their seats.

“It was different than a traditional wedding in many ways,” says Valeria, including the ceremony. Frank Raines, the Elvis impersonator who officiated, was found “by chance by Ryan’s mom on a pickleball court in Millville, Delaware, amid our online search for the perfect Elvis,” laughs Valeria. He worked a ton of puns into the vows and had all the guests laughing and then sang “Blue Moon” for their first dance.

While guests ate quesadillas, birria, ceviche, and churros, Valeria and Ryan snuck away for a private dinner in the storage area at Nacho Mama’s so they could have some quiet time as husband and wife and just kind of soak it all in.

After a night of dancing under the disco ball, the couple was driven away in the vintage car with Natty Boh cans bouncing behind. “The wedding was a love letter to our favorite city and favorite musical artist and favorite restaurant,” says Valeria. “Viva Baltimore!”

Beauty Makeup by Ashley Ryan Bouquet Single bouquet of Blue Skies flowers from Safeway Caterer & Dessert Nacho Mama’s Honeymoon Vietnam Invitations Compound Press Location Nacho Mama’s, Towson Music Marco Avila Officiant Elvis impersonator Frank Raines Photography Stacey Vigliotti Transportation A 1950 Jeepster Wedding Dress Cherie Sustainable Bridal