As amazing as it is to photograph in new and exotic locations the opportunity to play on our home court is just as exciting and a very nice change of pace! Rosannette and Arturo were married in a Catholic ceremony at the Iglesia de la Tercera Orden in Merida, Yucatan‘s colonial centro. The reception was held in a lovely open air location on the grounds of the Yucatan Country Club.  This wedding was coordinated by Celebra Organización de Eventos. It was a real pleasure to document the wedding of such an enjoyable couple, I think their happy expressions can best tell the story of the day…

Lauren aced the next shot!

El baile de los novios…

Father and daughter dance…

All photographs (c) 2011 Elizabeth and Lauren Medina.

Mexico Wedding Photographer Elizabeth Medina photographs weddings in Merida, Yucatan and throughout Mexico.

Happy New Year’s! A little holiday break from shooting has meant time spent editing 2011′s final weddings. I loved noticing how the last events of the year represented so perfectly a cross section of the variety of weddings photographed all throughout the year. Very different in setting, style, number of guests, degree of formality and type of ceremony, held in different geographical locations and including people from different parts of the globe, somehow all of the events seemed to be defined by the same set of key common elements; amazingly happy and laid-back brides and grooms, relaxed good times (hey, its Mexico, comes with the territory!) and of course (and hopefully our blog readers will forgive us if we do say so ourselves) some pretty sweet once-in-a-lifetime photographs to remember them by! Coming soon to the blog as we wrap up 2011 editing: beautiful events in Merida, Yucatan, Playa del Carmen, and San Miguel de Allende. To get the ball rolling, Xochitl and Israel’s lovely, long awaited Playa del Carmen wedding at the Xcaret Eco Park. Xochitl and Israel were married in what has to be one of Mexico’s most spectacular venues and incorporated colorful Mexican elements. We were able to photograph the couple on the grounds of the park, the Catholic mass and then the  beautiful ocean side reception at the Las Posas area of the park.

Xochitl and Israel, it was a joy to finally be able to meet you and your beautiful family! On behalf of team Medina congratulations, we wish you all the best! We truly hope the wedding photographs will be a special part of your family history!

All photographs (c) 2012 Elizabeth and Lauren Medina.

The Xcaret park has a small Mayan ruin, we were photographing the bride and groom when I saw something move behind them! We had a visitor!

I think everyone, wedding photographer or not, will probably remember how they spent November 11, 2011. I really hope that everyone’s 11-11-11 was as “lucky” as ours! Trisha and Jeff were such a fun, happy couple, a joy to photograph, their wedding photography in Playa del Carmen included getting ready photographs at El Taj hotel, a Catholic mass at Nuestra Señora del Carmen Chapel on the Quinta Avenida and a reception at Las Palapas, also in Playa del Carmen. We could not help but especially appreciate the beautiful weather for our Playa del Carmen beach photographs after a near brush with rain. (I think that I actually felt 11 tiny raindrops before the weather blew over and the afternoon turned absolutely beautiful!) I would have liked to celebrate this special date by posting only 11 photographs to the blog… but of course it would be impossible to narrow down! Trisha and Jeff, congratulations, we wish you all the very best! All photographs Lindsey and Elizabeth Medina.

We had been looking forward to Amber and Jero’s wedding weekend since their engagement photographs at Yucatan’s Hacienda Temozon back in March. This time the location was the Mayan Riviera and the occasions was a two day celebration of Amber and Jero’s wedding, beginning on Friday with the civil ceremony on the beach of the Marina Maroma and finishing up the following evening with a Catholic wedding mass at the beautiful El Dorado Royale Resort. An all around beautiful event overflowing with love and happiness!

A few photographs from Friday’s civil ceremony, all images Elizabeth and Lauren Medina:

First time seeing each other as bride and groom…Amber and Jero had a more “beachy” look for the civil wedding…

A few bride and groom photos captured prior to the ceremony at the marina…

WOW… Jero’s bride made her ceremony entrance on a white horse accompanied by her parents.

The big day at El Dorado Royale. This resort is for sure one of my favorites because of the lush landscaping and beautiful ocean. Amber and Jero were married indoors in the evening but fortunately made the decision to meet for photographs prior to the ceremony which allowed us to play with some of the EDR’s beautiful scenery. Getting ready:

First look followed by photos of Amber and Jero together and off to the ceremony and reception….

I have come to realize that our editing process is basically the opposite of the norm (like quite a few things around here, now that I think of it!)…. rather than sensibly choosing “teasers” for the blog and slide show and editing this smaller group of images our custom has always been to first edit the entire set of images to taste and then when at last all of the photographs are ready finally go back and pick out some favorites to share on the blog. This “backwards” process is probably not the most expedient but we feel it results in a full set of images that we can be consistently proud of.  Unfortunately It also makes choosing images for the blog very, very difficult because once they are ready I can’t help but want to share them all! As much as I promise to keep the blog selections at a minimum I know I am fighting a losing battle. In the case of Sarah and Ed’s Catholic destination wedding Mayan Riviera’s Maroma Paradise Marina despite the best of intentions the first pass yielded 140 blog images! Even this photographer knows that is way to many for a blog post!

Sarah and Ed are a delightful couple, and their group of friends and family were very obviously loving the destination wedding experience. The wedding was every bit as joyful as it was beautiful! I hope this narrowed down (but still too numerous, sorry!) collection of images will give a little glimpse of the photography from this memorable and beautiful destination wedding.

Pre wedding photographs from Dreams Riviera Cancun…

A big shout out to Adrian Guerra who helped the beautiful Sarah with her amazing wedding look….

Denise and John were married in a Catholic ceremony in the lovely San Valentin chapel at the Valentin Imperial Maya resort. This was a very peaceful and intimate destination wedding with a beautiful and very sweet couple. I thought the photographs that Lauren and I were able to capture really reflected the elegant yet relaxed feel of the day.

Aside from shooting, editing and putting together sideshows (and lets not forget email!) Something that keeps us busy in the studio and is barely mentioned here on the blog are the flush mount albums that we create for many of our couples. (I promise to remedy this soon by blogging more of the finished albums!) Each design is a one of a kind creation that tells the story of the wedding day. Although it sometimes takes a while (an understatement in a few cases, you know who you are, haha!) we think it is important for the bride and groom be allowed to select personal favorite images, I will confess to putting much more stock in which images touch my couples hearts and help them remember how amazing it really was than those that I know supect from a photographer’s perspective to be more likely to be chosen by a judge for a wedding photography “award”.  I think that having worked in close collaboration with our clients over the years in the selection of preferred images personally designing albums that tell the day’s story visually has actually helped form our shooting style as well. At any rate it is a lot of fun to envision how it will all come together in the final album, I will confess to daydreaming about Denise and John’s wedding album, and I think Lauren is probably right there with me! Thank you John and Denise for allowing us to tell the story of your beautiful wedding in Mexico!

The hardest part of blogging has got to be narrowing down which images to include! I hear over and over from my clients how hard it is to choose which images from the wedding to include in the wedding album and of course I can totally relate! Amy and Marco traveled to Playa del Carmen, Mexico for their destination wedding. The ceremony was held in the little Catholic chapel on 5th Avenue. The reception had to be moved indoors due to an unbelievable amount of rain (sound familiar, blog readers? I am pretty sure at this point that we are statistically protected from ever again seeing a drop of rain at the Royal!) but that didn’t seem to dampen everyone’s enjoyment of the celebration one bit. I was very happy that it let up in time for bride and groom photos on the beach and that Amy and Marco were up bright and early for a fantastic trash the dress session the next morning. Guess I better stop the chatter because I know Amy and Marco must be ready to finally see some photos!

First I’ll share a little morning after TTD beauty…

And the wedding day itself…

Everyone broke out in laughter when Marco pulled out “the ring” the ceremony was pretty solemn and it took everyone by surprise!

Breaking the blog rules by posting two ring shots!

La Fiesta…mariachis, tequila, and all around good times.  We were disappointed that the beach reception was not possible due to the weather, but the guests may not have even noticed the change of venue!

This wedding will go down in history as a party to remember. Now if only this photographer could get a certain song out of her head!  Pj and Kate were married in a Catholic ceremony at the Maroma Chapel in the Mayan Riviera. The wedding preparations as well as the coctail hour and dinner reception were held at the beatiful Excellence Riviera Cancun and the wedding was coordinated by Luxe Destination Weddings. Kate and PJ are such a fun young couple who really knew how to relax and enjoy their celebration. Muchas Gracias PJ and Kate! We hope the photographs bring back lots of memories!

Elizabeth Medina wedding photographer Riviera Maya Mexico.

Ana Paulina and Gabriel will be familiar to those who have been reading the blog for a while. In August we had the pleasure of photographing Ana Paulina and Gabriel with celebrating with their family and friends their civil wedding at the beach in Uaymitun, Yucatan. Ana Paulina and Gabriel are a fantastic couple and obviously know how to throw a party so we were really looking forward to the ¨main event¨!  The Catholic mass was held at the Nuestra Señora de Libano church in Mérida, Yucatán and the amazing reception was held at a ¨casa de campo¨ in the small town of Cholul on the outskirts of Mérida. Please be sure to scroll down for a glimpse of the jaw dropping reception. It was all a bit too amazing to put into words so I will let a few of the wedding photographs do the talking!

Things ran a little bit late and the novios saw each other for the first time shortly before the sunset. We hurried a bit chasing the last light but it was worth it, I was really happy with the photographs of this beautiful couple.

The next shot is not going to win any awards…but I wanted to post it because I thought that it was such a neat detail…rather than giving her bridesmaids bouquets Ana Paulina gave them thease really neat flower bracelets.

Cholul… the ceremony site was simply breathtaking.

As a surprise for the bride and groom a video was played during their first dance of the two of them dancing together and Ana Paulina´s quinceañera! They were so cute! It was a real crowd pleaser.

Elizabeth Medina is a wedding photographer in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. She photographs weddings thoughout Mexico.

Mona and David had one of those weddings where you can’t help notice that everyone is having a really fantastic time celebrating. Well, now that I think of it… a fun group of friends and family gathered to spend a weekend in a place like Playa del Carmen, Mexico for the wedding of a beautiful couple who just  couldn’t be happier, what could be a better time than that?  The wedding day just seemed to fly by. Mona and David’s ideas for their Catholic wedding and the reception at the Kool Beach club were implemented beautifully by Luisa, Glena and Adriana of  Weddings Riviera Maya

We met up with Mona at the La Tortuga Hotel to photograph the bridal getting ready portion of the day. She had a really fun group of bridesmaids helping her prepare and lots of pretty and very well chosen details to photograph…

The ceremony was a Catholic mass at Playa del Carmen´s Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe church. David’s reaction when Mona entered the church on her father’s arm was very heartfelt, and Lindsey captured these moments.

After the mass the entire group walked Carmen along the Quinta Avenida, acompanied by a mariachi band.  (Or should I say ran? Maybe because I was running backwards and photographing simultaneously at the time but the bride and groom seemed to be moving at a very fast pace!)  Such a fun way to celebrate especially since the entire town seemed to be cheering on the newlyweds!

Mona and David had planned a private reception in the heart of Playa del Carmen at the Kool Beach Club, the next two photos were taken on the beach before they joined their guests for the fiesta.

Wedding Photojournalist Elizabeth Medina photographs destination weddings in Playa del Carmen, the Riviera Maya, Cancun, Tulum and throughout Mexico.

Minty and Giovanni’s was elegant, joyful, and best of all right here at home in Merida! It has been wonderful to photograph events close to home this fall and to see and photograph so many familiar faces. And let’s face it…  Here in Yucatan people know how to throw a party like no where else! Minty and Giovanni were such a wonderful couple to photograph, I loved the way they both absolutely lit up with happiness when they first saw each other before the ceremony. I don’t think that either of them ever stopped smiling for the rest of the night! Minty y Giovanni, me encantó poder acompañarlos en un dia tan inolvidable!

The serene image in the doorway is Lindsey´s!

I loved Giovanni´s expression when he saw Minty for the first time!

Not sure how many are in this photo but there were 20 bridesmaids in all including some of my favorite past and future brides!

I couldn´t decide between the next two images of Minty walking down the aisle on her father´s arm, so much happiness!

A few reception details, the reception was held at the Club Campestre.

Minty and Giovanni´s first dance as husband and wife.

There is no place like home! After traveling for almost all of our spring weddings it really has been a lot of fun to shoot a succession of local weddings here in Yucatan this fall!  Andy and Enid are such a sweet international couple, with Enid coming from Merida, Yucatan, Mexico and her fiancee Andy from far away England. It was wonderful to see how the bride and groom incorporated the culture and feel of the Yucatan into their wedding at the 16th century Hacienda Petcanche in Merida.  The garden of the hacienda seemed perfect for their event. Andy and Enid just seem to be so absolutely right for each other and it was a joy to see them so happy on their big day.

Andy’s very delighted expression as Enid arrived in the garden area for their “first look”.

Enid made great use of the hacienda’s colors for her fall wedding, she also managed to work quite a bit of bling into her wedding look!

Bride and groom portraits at the Hacienda Petcanche prior to the wedding mass.

The ceremony was held at the Itzimna Church, a very traditional church for weddings in Merida,

The next image belongs to my fab assistant Lauren! I loved this one.

Nothing like kicking off the wedding season with a beautiful local event that takes us back to our hacienda wedding photography roots! Having known Daniela for some time and having photographed her brother Paco with his bride Zahia back in May we knew it was going to be a wonderful day spent in very good company. Hacienda Chichí Suarez dates from the 16th century, we have photographed a few events in this location and love the way different spaces have been used in a way that has made each event seem very unique. Daniela and Alejandro had their wedding at 1:00 pm, which allowed for wonderful photography opportunities.  …I love love love seeing and working with natural light, there is just nothing like it!

The first one is Lindsey’s photo, what a lovely composition!

Daniela was an extremely beautiful bride!

Daniela and one of her “pajes”

The next one is Lindsey’s, I wish it were mine though!

The two familes together…

The reception had such colorful details! All perfectly tied toghether but very unexpected, just perfect for this afternoon wedding… a very unique twist on the hacienda setting! My regular blog readers have probably deduced, this Merida, Yucatan wedding was designed and coordinated by my friends at BAKU Events.  I really can’t say enough good things about the BAKU team, it is a real treat to watch them in action as they work their magic!

We were ablet o do a few more photographs around the hacienda grounds before it was time for Alejandro and Daniela’s ‘first dance” as husband and wife.

First dance and father daughter dance…

Many more coming soon!

Elizabeth Medina, wedding photographer Mexico.