Wow, where do I start? Kate and Bill are such a fantastic, in-love couple and it was a joy to get to know them and photograph their “big day” and trash the dress session! Kate and Bill had actually found their wedding location through a Playa Fiesta wedding on my website. How cool is that? Arriving in Puerto Vallarta the day before the wedding, Lauren and I had time for a taste of the Playa Fiesta experience…wow, I can’t think of a better way to celebrate a wedding than at this amazing wedding hotel/beach club! Within a few hours of landing in PV we had seen whales, sampled the “Kate special” (frozen virgin lime daquiri, yum) at the open bar, and had a lunch of tuna ceviche poolside (the tuna had been caught by the guys that morning!). There were even massages for the guests on the terrace overlooking the Pacific ocean…I’ll just say if you are ever invited to a Playa Fiesta wedding, don’t miss it for anything! By far the best part for us….having the honor of being chosen to document Kate and Bill’s celebration at that wonderful wedding location in Puerto Vallarta!

A few pre-wedding photos, Bill and the guys…

Kate and her girls on the way to the ceremony…

Kate had all kinds of colorful details, these handpainted maracas from PV wedding designer Mishka were a huge hit throughout the day!

I loved Kate’s excitement all through the day…the look she is giving Bill says it all!

Just a few bride and groom photos…

The reception was gorgeous I loved the colors and the details!

Kate and Bill’s first dance as husband and wife.

Yeah you guess right.. The Macarena.

A well prepared destination bride, Kate had a second dress for the reception….it was a good thing since EVERYONE ended up in the pool at the end of the night!

The next day we headed to town for the trash the dress session, I just LOVE the challenge of finding different ways to shoot in new, out of the way locations, and I love the images from this session.

We finished up on a gorgeous semi deserted beach…wow!

Puerto Vallarta wedding photographer Elizabeth Medina, wedding photojournalism in The Maya Riviera, Cancun, Tulum, Playa del Carmen, Yucatan, los Cabos, San Miguel de Allende and throughout Mexico.

Sometimes I think that the hardest part of the whole wedding for me as a wedding photojournalist is choosing out of the hundreds of images from the wedding a few favorites to represent the day. That is especially true for a wedding like Michelle and Steve´s destination wedding in Cancun. Such a fun couple to photograph and a very emotion and action packed day! The day after the wedding we got to spend more time together doing a ¨trash the session at different locations around the resort. It was s much fun to document Michelle and Steve enjoying each other in that beautiful location. Michelle and Steve, we loved spending time with you and your families, we couldn´t be happier for you! Mazal tov!

Steve´s ¨first look¨ at his bride…

We ran (literally!) across Dreams Cancun for a photo session/rock climbing adventure before the ceremony.

The Ketubah signing prior to the ceremony.

The ceremony location was the Dreams, Cancun gazebo, so pretty.

The reception in the Dreams ballroom.

The wedding band came all the way from the states, when I saw how they had everyone dancing I could understand why.

The trash the dress session the next day, also at Dreams, Cancun. Michelle and Steve were up for anything which made it so much fun!

Elizabeth Medina is a wedding photojournalist based in Mexico. She photographs destination weddings throughout Mexico including Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, the Riviera Maya, Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos.

One aspect of destination wedding photography that I really enjoy is being able to meet people from literally all over the world who have come to Mexico to be married. What a wonderful thing! Kora and Arek’s group was very international,  with the bride and groom being of Polish descent, and it was fun to observe the warmth and spontaneity of the group! And how much kissing and dancing took place! The wedding was held on a terrace near the ocean at the Alegro Playacar in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. It was actually raining at the time the ceremony was supposed to begin, but everyone optimistically waited a bit and it cleared up and turned out to be a beautiful afternoon and evening. Congratulations Arek and Kora! It was a great honor to be your wedding photographer!

The ceremony site:

What a beautiful bride! And very calm, if you consider it was minutes from ceremony time and those are raindrops in the background!

After the rain the sky and ocean were very pretty!

We were able to do take some photographs on the grounds of the hotel before the reception began.

So pretty and peaceful!

kora’s maid of honor was so happy to catch the bouquet!

We were able to do a “day after” session the early next morning. Here are just a few images from that photo session.

Elizabeth Medina is a wedding photojournalist in Mexico, she photographs events in Cancun, Playa de Carmen, Tulum, Merida, Yucatan, Puerto Vallarta, San Miguel de Allende and throughout Mexico.

One question I get asked often is whether I encounter many “bridezillas”. Sometimes I wish I had a few juicy horror stories to make my response more interesting….but the real answer is that I meet no bridezillas at all, or groomzillas for that matter! Erin and Josh were such a good example of the brides and grooms I am fortunate to be able to photograph. Happy to enjoy celebrating the day to the fullest and not into sweating the ¨small stuff¨ (a very helpful trait for destination brides since things do not always go as expected! It was one of those rainy days that suddenly turn beautiful, I was so glad that Erin and Josh decided on a ¨first look¨and bride and groom photographs on the grounds of the Aventura Spa Palace…well worth it!I

The rings…

A relaxed portrait of the beautiful and very happy bride…I thought her elegant but natural style was perfect for a destination wedding!

The ¨first look¨

It can be a bit of a challenge to photograph such a tall groom…step stools are just not practical on the beach! I had to dig into my photographer’s bag of tricks for these portraits…I can take no credit for the smiles though, that was Erin’s doing.

Bright tropical colors in Erins’ bouquet…

Photographs around the grounds of the Aventura Spa Palace, it was great to have plenty of alone time and not be rushed.

One of my favorites…

The resort is a bit differnt from others in the Mayan Riviera in that it has baysrather than a sandy beach, it makes for interesting photographs I think.

I loved the next two images…

Ceremony time. Erin arrived with her father in a horse drawn carriage, very dramatic!

The ceremony was held in a gazebo overlooking the ocean, so peaceful. Here are a few ceremony moments.

After the ceremony there was a champagne toast, afterwards we had time for family photos and a few very spontaneous shots of the bride and groom in the changing light.

Erin and Josh’s reception was great. They had the first dance, cake cutting and speeches near the ocean right around dusk. Then the sit down dinner portion of the reception was held in a the fantastic Mexican restaurant at the resort. (Totally off topic but I have to give a shout out here to the staff of the Palace resorts…I really think their attitude and level of service is second to none.)

Elizabeth Medina Mayan Riviera wedding photographer at the Aventura Spa Palace Resort. Elizabeth is a wedding photojournalist specializing  in destination wedding and photographing in Yucatan, Cancun, and throughout Mexico.