Amy and Brian were great to photograph because together with a great group of family and close friends they enjoyed every minute of their wedding celebration. They were married in a very special beach wedding ceremony at the El Dorado Royale in the beautiful Riviera Maya. Amy warned me that the wedding would be an emotional one, and there were quite a few happy tears! Although the resort is fairly large, their ceremony site overlooking the ocean was very private, peaceful and natural. The reception afterwards took place in a poolside palapa and was a lot of fun! Gracias Amy and Brian for including us in your wedding celebration, best wishes to both of you for a long and happy marriage! Felicidades!

A few portraits of the bride and groom from before the rehearsal dinner, this was the night before the wedding at the El Dorado Royale.

Amy’s mom helping with the veil…Amy got ready on the Casitas side of the resort which I loved because of its casual feel.

Amy and Brian did not want to see each other prior to the ceremony, but we were able to do some bridal photography with Amy, I loved being able to create these images.

The ceremony was held at the very edge of the El Dorado Royale, the view of the Maya Rivera coast was breath taking.

Brian and his guys waiting…

For Amy and her dad…

A few photographs from the beach ceremony.

The sand ceremony, so pretty with black and white sand…

I thought this shot of the whole bridal party on the beach was a lot of fun, I had never seen black bridesmaid’s dresses before and thought that they looked great with the colorful flowers.

Amy’s flowers were very bright and tropical.

Amy and Brian made a great entrance into the reception, they were ready to PARTY!

Yummy colors…

The maracas on the tables were a huge hit with the guests.

Amy’s dad gave a funny speech…

Amy and Brian, the first dance.

Mexico photographer Elizabeth Medina, wedding photography at the El Dorado Royale, Maya Rivera, Mexico. Elizabeth Medina specializes in wedding photojournalism throughout Mexico.

What a wonderful day! Because of scheduling conflicts Evonne and Forrest were unable to fit in a trash the dress session that had been contemplated for the morning after the Thanksgiving day (US Thanksgiving day that is) wedding. Instead, I arrived early in Playacar the day of the wedding in time for a photo session with just the bride and groom at noon. Looking over the images I am astounded by how many special images came from that session, held at a time of day notorious as bad for photography!…Forrest and Evonne make such a spectacular looking couple and interact in a beautiful way, and while they were initially a little unsure about what to do in front of the camera they loosened up very quickly! They also turned out to be really good at the kissing pictures, actually I think they may have even forgot about the camera completely for a while!

The resort is gorgeous and the weather was a photographer’s dream. I thought the ceremony was absolutely lovely, and I appreciated very much being able to talk to the officiant prior to the ceremony. He was very open to finding out what I thought would be the best positioning for himself relative to the bride and groom, that can make such a difference, in this case the camera (and the congregation!) could see Evonne and Forrest’s faces and expressions throughout the ceremony which makes the ceremony especially meaningful for the congregation. The icing on the cake was that after the family photo session and in the last minutes of daylight Forrest and Evonne decided to go for it and do a spontaneous mini trash the dress session before the reception! Of course Evonne had it all under control and walked into the reception an hour later looking fabulous in a second beautiful gown!

Gracias Evonne and Forrest, it was such a joy to met you both.

The groom….

I usually never see this sight because I don’t usually shoot in the sun at midday…which just goes to show sometimes its good to break the rules!

This image really makes me smile, it is just the kind of relaxed, beautiful moment that I hope to capture.

Forrest and Evonne each had a longtime friend to stand up with them. I thought it would be fun to photograph the bridal party in the “palatial” lobby of the Rui Palace Rivera Maya Resort.

Final prep…

The Riu Palcace gazebo ceremony…

After “the kiss” Forrest and Evonne jumped the broom, this was the first time one of my weddings had included this African American wedding tradition that marks the bride and groom starting their life together as man and wife.

Los mariachis….

The unexpected trash the dress session! How many couples go for a swim between the ceremony and reception?

The dinner was held in a private room, which had been decorated beautifully. Evonne used shells, candles and framed pictures of her and Forrest together as a couple to decorate the tables. My assistant and I felt so honored to see that she had even included our place cards and favors with personal notes to each of us.

OK, I won’t go into it all, I will just say that Evonne’s siblings had some VERY FUNNY surprises to welcome Forrest into their Asian family, I don’t think wedding photojournalists are supposed to laugh as they photograph, but I seriously could not help it!

Rui Palace Playacar, Mexico photography by Elizabeth Medina, Mexico destination wedding photojournalist.

I have been visiting some photographers blogs lately, and realizing that I am doing this all wrong! It seems like the idea is to talk about how amazing my new images are, but if you have been reading my blog you will know that that I have been way too busy going on and on about how wonderful the couples are that I photograph and about the incredible weddings that I am so privileged to document, oops! This entry is no different, but I really can’t help it. Marlena and Tom were so great to work with and Cabo was simply breathtaking.

When I spoke with Marlena on the phone several months ago she described her impression of my photographic style better than I have ever been able to. I really wish I had written that down! I could tell that she had put quite a bit of thought into her photography and it was so fun to spend time with her and her very kind and patient groom Tom before the ceremony creating photographs of the two of them around the grounds of the spectacular Esperanza resort. And of course what can I say about Cabo! I loved photographing there and want to return as soon as possible. It was all just perfectly gorgeous.

The welcome dinner was held at the Marquis de Cabo, overlooking the ocean, wow! We had time for a few photographs before the guests arrived.

The beautiful future bride…

Los novios…

The party set up harmonized perfectly with the setting.

The salsa band was excellent!

Preparations for the big day at Esperanza.

This one is from my assistant’s camera…I loved it!

A few images captured during the ceremony.

Wedding photography by WPJA member Elizabeth Medina in los Cabos, Mexico. Marquis de Cabo and Esperanza resort wedding photography.

Courtney and Mark were married in a beautiful beach wedding in Tulum, Mexico. Courtney had been planning the wedding for many months and her attention to detail was incredible. It was fun to continually discover new details as the day went on, like a stunningly beautiful beaded Reem Acra gown, the date written in rhinestones on the bottom of Courtney’s Manolos, feathers in her bouquet or the little frog sparkling on Mark’s lapel to mention just a few. Color was everywhere, the amazing pinks of the flowers and bridesmaid’s dresses contrasted wonderfully with the ocean blues. The bride and groom and their guests met with some unexpected challenges, the first and most minor of which was the rain that started right about the time Courtney was slipping into her dress. They took the weather in stride and were able to have a very special beach ceremony.

Courtney and Mark, I truly hope the photographs will help bring back happy memories of the day to the two of you as well as your friends and families.

Courtney’s “girls”

The beautiful bride…

The little frog on Mark’s lapel.

More details, the ceremony program was a fan in Courtney´s colors, what a great idea.

The happy mother of the groon during the vows.

The reception…

The moon was beautiful over the ocean.

Paul and Luzma were married in an outdoor ceremony at the Royal Resort’s gazebo. The Royal is located in the heart of Playa del Carmen and is a great location for a wedding. I had photographed at the Royal a few times before and it never ceases to amaze me how each couple’s different style makes each wedding unique, even in a familiar location. Paul and Luzma were one of the most enjoyable couples I have photographed, and their fiesta on the beach was an absolute blast. I hope a little bit of the romance and good times of their day shows in these photographs. Felicidades y muchas gracias Luzma y Paul!

A few shots as I arrived on the grounds of the Royal.

Luzma was such a beautiful bride.

A few photographs taken during the ceremony in the oceanfront wedding gazebo.

This image was a happy surprise, it was shot THROUGH one of the bubbles!

I just loved every one of these photographs of the bride and groom after the ceremony, I think they are all my favorite.

What trust…walking in slippery, slippery algae in a white wedding gown before the reception!

Some extra ice for the tropical drinks?

Las amigas…

A Maya Riviera sunset…

Paul and Luzma had a great Salsa band, the Balance Band. They are local to Playa and really know how to get the party dancing on the beach.

Maya Riviera wedding photojournalism by Mexico wedding photojournalist Elizabeth Medina. Located in Mérida, Yucatán, México Elizabeth is available for wedding photography in the Yucatan Penninsula, throughout Mexico and internationally.

I had been looking forward to photographing at the JW Marriott in CanCun, this was my first wedding there and I had seen pictures of the resort’s wedding gazebo, I was curious about how it would look in real life, and how it would photograph. The day was full of surprises. Things started out unbelievably hot and humid, and just about an hour before the ceremony we were hit by a huge tropical thunderstorm that had people running to take cover. The show went on though and Magda and Jaime were able to have the gazebo wedding they had planned, although we all got rained on a bit for good luck. The third surprise was that after the ceremony the weather cleared and we were able to have the photo session on the beach as planned. I was delighted with the images of the “novios” from that surprise session! Magda and Jaime were an absolutely wonderful couple to work with, I could not have enjoyed the day more.

Magdas’s first photographs in her wedding dress…

The JW Marriott gazebo, looked amazing decked out in Callah lilies.

The wedding vows…

All the guests wore white.

Relaxed portraits on the Cancun beach.

Wedding photojournalist Elizabeth Medina, wedding photography at JW Marriott, CanCun, Mexico. Elizabeth Medina is a destination wedding photographer located in Yucatan, Mexico and available for commission throughout Mexico and internationally.