Best friends. Sunny day in paradise. Perfection. Jannae and Ryan, thank you so much for letting us be part of your very unforgettable day.

Jannae and her flower girls before the ceremony…so much excitement and anticipation during this part of the day! The time always seems to fly by.

.

The girls were not the only one with colorful footwear!

The bride looked amazing! I just love it when there is enough time for a few bridal portraits before the action begins.

Time to go! Jannae and Ryan were so excited to see each other before the ceremony!

After the big reveal we were able to do some photography on the grounds of the Riu Palace, it was a very warm and bright day and I really appreciated the bride and groom being such good sports.

The bright maraca wedding favors were custom painted in Puerto Vallarta by Mishka Designs. I dare any Mexico wedding guest to try not to have a good time with these!

Kind of like parades or fireworks destination weddings are spectator sports!

A few post ceremony beach photographs of the new husband and wife….

La fiesta started off with a mariachi band…

When Meagan first reached out to us about shooting her wedding the date was still almost a year away. It was incredible how time flew and when John and Meagan´s big day rolled around we knew that we would not have missed it for the world! Faithful blog readers will have noticed that we had a string of Barcelo weddings this spring, and that each and every one was picture perfect. Maegan and John, you were a joy to photograph. Best wishes to the two of you!

The first look and bride and groom photographs before the ceremony…

The ceremony was held at the Barcelo´s Playa Azul, a gorgeous secluded stretch of beach.

The next two images are both from the same moment, Lindsey´s is first and then mine.

The next shot is either Lindsey´s or one I stole from her….

It was a beautiful day. But the weather…unbelievably atrocious! This tropical storm wedding made me feel blessed to be photographing Tania and John, a bride and groom with the amazing ability to roll with it all and never let the weather put a damper on the day´s festivities. I don´t think it ever stopped pouring down all day or night, but thankfully it cleared just long enough the next morning for some outdoor bride and groom photographs before the storm rolled back in and completely soaked us all! Thank you, Tania and John and best wishes! Lauren, thank you for your detective work!

Good energy. Sometimes you just can´t help but feel surrounded by it. Hayley and G. are such a joyfully spirited couple, Lindsey and I had an amazing time photographing the two of them as they lived their ¨big day¨ in Mexico to the fullest.

I know Hayley and G. will not mind a little parenthesis for a shout out to studio teammate Lindsey… Lindsey has been a part of Elizabeth Medina Photography since she began helping out in high school. We have been through a lot together on this crazy, crazy journey! Aside from her role in keeping things running smoothly as studio manager, Lindsey has also been an incredible photography assistant and second shooter as well as attending college full time and taking on independent photography projects as well! Congratulations, Lindsey on your graduation, and on being the amazing person you are, I could not be more proud or excited about what the future has in store!

Hayley before the ceremony… I think I already mentioned the good energy, it was apparent from the start that bride and groom were walking on sunshine and that this was going to be a very happy day!

Time to go get married!

The ceremony site was surrounded by tropical vegetation and overlooked the bright blue Mayan Riviera water, it was a very peaceful and intimate.

The next two photos are Lindsey´s…

Hot pink really popped against the natural colors of the bright blue ocean and bright green palms!

La fiesta… the Barcelo Mayan Palace has a very long stretch of undeveloped beach, it is quite amazing actually. The reception was held at Playa Azul´s palapa, this was a fun, fun group and a great party!

The next morning, time to trash the dress. I am pretty sure that Hayley and G. had to be totally exhausted from their reception fun the night before… but they gave the TTD session their all, even when we were joined in the ocean by a very good size Manta Ray!

The next shot is SO Hayley and G.

Mexico destination wedding photography at the Barcelo Mayan Palace in the Mayan Riviera by Mexico´s premier wedding photographer Elizabeth Medina.

One of my very favorite wedding venues, a couple who could not have been more relaxed and happy, a fun, emotional group of family and friends…this wedding weekend seemed to flow. It was a real treat to get to know Amy and Matt. We started off with a very informal mini photo session before their rooftop welcome dinner at La Posadita restaurant in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato. The next day the action took place at the amazing Hacienda Las Trancas. I have photographed some fantastic weddings over the past years at Las Trancas and have to say that it never gets old! Well actually the hacienda is already really, really old, but somehow I am always surprised to discover something new each and every time I visit.  I can’t say enough about this very special piece of Mexico and the hacienda’s staff of local people who care so personally for each of its guests.

Feliz aniversario Amy y Matt! We hope the photographs bring back lots of happy memories!

The next one is Lindsey’s, it is one of my favorites because it really seems to me to capture Matt and Amy together.

Amy seems to pretty much be laughing and smiling all the time, but I was happy to be able to capture more serious portraits as well.

A few photographs from the welcome dinner festivities…

The sunset was amazing.

The wedding day… at the one and only Hacienda las Trancas, Hidalgo, Mexico.

The following image is one of my favorite photographs ever.

The next two images from the first look are from my camera and Lindsey’s respectively. If you take a good look at the left side of the first image you will see that we also had some very discreet back up by both of the moms!

Amy presented each of the mothers with the flowers they would carry down the aisle prior to the beginning of the ceremony, thank goodness for waterproof mascara!

Mexico Hacienda Wedding, San Miguel de Allende wedding photography by Mexico’s premier wedding photographer Elizabeth Medina.

Glad to finally be able to share Rachel and Adam’s photos! We try to keep things moving along relatively quickly and are proud to have never passed the 8 week editing mark but this wedding from late in our spring season cut it a little close for comfort. Wish as I might for a magic bullet (or a magic mouse or Wacom tablet as the case may be) as an artist I have never been able to find a way around the notion that each individual photograph deserves to sparkle and that the elegance lies in the the little touches. I am sure that each photographer has their own process and way of doing things, contrary to what common sense and practicality would dictate the polishing process at Elizabeth Medina Photography seems to involve about 87 steps, the final and most time consuming of which are customarily carried out on a computer which decided that July was a good time to take a break. (we are suspecting that the Macs may be in cahoots because the iphone decided to go for a swim in salt water, we’ll be keeping a close eye on the others for signs of rebellion). Happily we are up and running, chugging away a little slower than we’d like but definitely on track. (and Amy and Matt your San Miguel de Allende weekend is up next!)

This was such  beautiful day, super fast paced with a great couple and a really super fun group. I think the Sapphire Riviera (formerly Paradisus) in the Riviera Maya has such an ideal beach wedding set up with a very private beach ceremony site and a deck overlooking the ocean that was just perfect for Rachel and Adam’s event. Rachel is in fashion and has great style, and is just a really nice person to be around. I loved hearing that she found me through another very cool past bride.  Rachel and Adam, thank you for all your patience and good humor on the wedding day (a little warm, no?) I hope you enjoy the photographs as much as I have!

I stole Rachel for a few minutes between the Ketubah signing and the ceremony, these “stolen” bridal portraits where some of my favorite images from the day.

I loved these shoes so much!

We had time for just few bride and groom shots before the ceremony. Did I mention it was warm out?

Corlorful beach ceremony decorations, love the flip flops for the guests and  the combination of bright colors.

Rachel was not the only one with blinged out footwear, her flower girl was right there with her!

A few ceremony moments.

What do you do when you reach the end of the aisle and there are still petals in the basket?

Mazel tov!

Th ceremony was timed very close to sunset, we a very quick bride and groom photo session after the ceremony, I was very happy that Rachel and Adam we were able to capture so much variety and expression in such a short time.

A few reception details, and some of the action…

During the father of the bride’s speech…

Elizabeth Medina is Mexico’s premier wedding photographer, photographing events in the Riviera Maya, Cancun, Yucatan areas as well as San Miguel de Allende, Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos and throughout Mexico.