One of the best things about being a destination wedding photographer is the opportunity to travel to new and different places. Even better is how some of the very special places have a way of becoming tried and true familiar favorite locations! The Hacienda las Trancas in Guanajuato, Mexico is definitely one of these. Having returned several times this lovely location feels like home, yet I have to say that each wedding shot in this location has been very unique and special! Sarah and Oscar are a very special couple, as I edited the images from their wedding day I was struck by how everyone present seemed to not stop smiling ear to ear all day long! I am sure that this was the case for Lindsey and I as well! Oscar and Sarah…. gracias y muchas felicidades!

This was an all around a beautiful destination wedding at the Royal Resort in Playa del Carmen! I hope this small sample of the day’s photographs gives a little glimpse into the day that Roza and Gerard spent with family and friends who traveled to celebrate their marriage in the Royal’s beautiful gazebo overlooking the ocean in Playa del Carmen. (some from all the way around the world!). Roza and Gerard we are so happy for the two of you and thank you for letting us share in your day!

The bride and wedding party (bridesmaids and groom’s ladies!) made a very dramatic and beautiful entrance to the ceremony.

Pretty ceremony details! There is nothing like a turquoise ocean as a backdrop of course!

Some photographs on the beach during the cocktail hour…

Bride and groom, this photo was taken in the gazebo where they said “I do”.

All photographs 9c) 2011 Elizabeth Medina and Lindsey Medina. Elizabeth Medina Photography, Wedding Photographer Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

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 am happy to be able to share the photographs from Tracy and Bryan’s beautiful destination wedding. The couple’s Jewish ceremony was held at sunset under a chuppah which overlooked a beautiful Mayan Riviera beach, at Karisma Resort’s El Dorado Royale Resort. The day the couple spent with friends and family was really wonderful with much emotion, fun and enthusiasm on the dance floor. Icing on the proverbial cake? Getting to spend time the next morning with Tracy and Bryan for a morning after trash the dress session! All photographs Elizabeth and Lindsey Medina.

First a few images of the many taken the morning after….

Now the wedding day… Tracy and her girls under the beautiful palm trees.

Bryan and Tracy met for a “first look” before the ceremony, the photo below is bryan’s reaction to seeing Tracy for the first time as a bride. You know we love doing this, especially because it allows us to photograph the bride and groom (and in this case the family) together before the ceremony, leaving more time for bride and groom to spend having fun with their guests post ceremony. And despite common belief, I have witnessed over and over that this private encounter does anything but diminish the emotional impact of the processional,  if anything the opposite seems true!

The Jewish ceremony began right at sunset, very lovely, I hope the photographs are somewhat able to do justice to the moments.

I have a huge appreciation for the way family is included in the Jewish wedding ceremony! Tracy and Bryan each entered the ceremony on their parents arms

Mexico Wedding Photographer Elizabeth Medina Photography, photographing weddings thoughout Mexico.

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.

Such a beautiful beach wedding! Yari and James are an awesome couple! We loved being able to share in the oodles of laughter (and more than a few happy tears!)  these two shared with their friends and family throughout the day. By the end of the evening we felt like we had made a whole new group of friends (not to mention a new branch of the Medina clan). It was very clear that many hours had been spent lovingly and carefully planning this lovely vintage inspired beach wedding. The Azul beach resort in Puerto Morelos, is one of our favorites in the Riviera Maya, it was perfect for this intimate event. I hope the photographs reflect a bit of the happiness and bring back wonderful memories for the bride and groom! All photographs Lauren and Elizabeth Medina.

This destination wedding had a vintage theme that was carried out elegantly, the brooch bouquets carried by the bride and bridesmaids were amazing!

Elizabeth Medina Photography, Mexico’s premier wedding photographer, photographsdestination weddings, offering wedding coverage throughout Mexico and internationally.

Santhy and Heyden’s Merida wedding was an amazing day. The happiness of this beautiful couple was really a joy to photograph. Having gone into the day with no preconceived expectations of what was to come we finished up the day feeling like we had made wonderful new friends and successfully captured some of the love, happiness and outright gorgeousness of it all in our photographs. What could be better?

This Merida, Yucatan wedding was beautifully organized by BAKU EVENTS, the ceremony was held at the Merida’s Izimna Church and the Reception at the Quinta Montes Molina on the Paseo de Montejo. Santhy y Heyden, esperamos que les gusten las fotografias de su boda! Felicidades!

Seriously, could Claudia and Jorge have chosen a more beautiful and unique location for their wedding than the Hacienda Uayamón in Campeche, Mexico? Neither the distance nor the somewhat out of the way location prevented a large group of family and friends from being part of this very memorable celebration. Here are a few photographs from the hacienda and the wedding mass held at Campeche´s Cathedral. This beautiful wedding was coordinated by our friends at Baku Events, they did a flawless job of bringing the couples vision to life on the big day! First a few details from the ¨getting ready¨part of the day at the hacienda…

Then it was off to the city of Campeche for the wedding ceremony.

Back to the hacienda… wow!

Fotografia de bodas, Campeche, Mexico. Elizabeth Medina Photography, ofrece fotografia de bodas en Mexico en destinos que incluyen Merida, Yucatan, Campeche, La Riviera Maya, Tulum, Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, San Miguel de Allende y Los Cabos.

Mexico… what can I say I am a little biased since this is my home. But there are no two ways about it…  I am firmly convinced that there can be no more perfect place to be married! Kim and Thomas’  wedding at the Royal Resort in Playa del Carmen is a case in point. The couple shared a very intimate and relaxed  gazebo ceremony with a very happy and spirited group of family and friends, followed by an exhilarating toes in the sand beach side fiesta. In  between we somehow managed to steal time for images of the couple enjoying each other and the moment. Kim and Thomas, we had such a wonderful time with the two of you. We hope the photographs bring back some great memories!

The first photographs are from the morning after the wedding when Lauren and I met up with Kim and Thomas for a brief “morning after” shoot.

The big day! A few detail and getting ready photos…

Not only was she amazing to start with Kim had Adrian Guerra performing his makeup art!

When the veil goes on the whole bride thing somehow seems to becomes real.

The gazebo ceremony site, lovely and the wedding colors really popped against the blue sky, turquoise ocean and palm trees!

All photographs (c) 2011 Elizabeth and Lauren Medina. Elizabeth Medina Photography, photographing weddings throughout the Yucatan Peninsula, the Mayan Riviera, Playa del Carmen, Cancun, Cozumel and Tulum, Mexico.

Wadia and Jared, Part 3… the Quinta Montes Molina reception. This party combined the best of both worlds.. no holds barred Mexican dance party meets amazing high energy Hora…so much fun to experience! All images Lindsey and Elizabeth Medina.Event coordination: Icela Cardenas, Celebra Events.

Timing is everything, Lindsey caught the firework studded grand entrance to perfection:

Mexico wedding photographer Elizabeth Medina, photography in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.

Wadia and Jared’s wedding was such a beautiful day but I really can’t even begin to explain the crazy, crazy weather. I am guessing that the 2012 couples will not need to worry about rain on their wedding day at all, as I am pretty sure we used it all up in spring and summer 2011! It truly rained buckets all through the portion of the day leading up to the sunset ceremony, but somehow spirits stayed high and I could tell that the bride and groom and their guests were enjoying every minute. I love how the day’s photographs tell the story!  All images Lindsey and Elizabeth Medina.

The day began with getting ready photos for bride and groom, Wadia’s bridal preparations at Rosas and Xocolate on the Paseo Montejo just down the stree from the wedding location.

Jared getting ready to meet his beautiful bride and get the day started…

A few portraits at Rosas and Xocolate, then off to the Quinta to meet up with the rest of the wedding party.

Wedding party and bride and groom photos at the Quinta Montes Molina… Wadia is from Mexico and Jared from the states but they make a fantastic couple. Jared is such a great guy and it came as no surprise that he had such a large group of  friends make the trip to Mexico for the wedding.

The Jewish ceremony was held at sunset in the gardens of Quinta Montes Molina.

We have photographed many Jewish weddings, the bride and groom wrapped up together in the prayer shawl is one of the elements I find very special. El beso is not too bad either!

All eyes were on Jared as he breaks the glass…

Mazel Tov!

Coming soon… La fiesta!

Mexico wedding photographer Elizabeth Medina offering fine art wedding photography in Merida, Yucatan, Cancun, Mayan Riviera, Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas, San Miguel de Allende and throughout Mexico.

Hola blog readers…  I know, I know! Long time no blog! Crazy but this month marks the five year anniversary of this little wedding photography blog! (and even more amazing the website itself has been going strong for over a decade!) Ironically we seem to have celebrated this blogging milestone by playing blog hooky, stealing extra time to work on images from some very special weddings as well as other very exciting creative projects. Jared and Wadia’s wedding is more than enough reason to pick things up. This lovely couple reside in the US but incorporated a great deal of Yucatecan charm in their wedding celebration, beginning with the welcome dinner at the Hacienda Chichi Suarez in Merida. An enormous amount of rain that fell over the weekend, however far from slowing anyone down it only seemed to add to the adventure! Wedding photography coming soon! All photographs Elizabeth and Lindsey Medina.

Here are few photographs from Wadia and Jared’s casual photo session and the hacienda welcome party that followed. Location: Hacienda Chichi Suarez, Event Coordination: Icela Cardenas, Celebra Events.

After being an extremely warm and humid afternoon the skies finally opened up and poured just as the party was to start!And no this did not stop anyone from having a fantastic time!