What a fantastic day!  With its beautiful architecture and grounds the Fairmont Mayakoba is hands down one of our favorite Playa del Carmen wedding photography locations. Corey and Jillayne were marriedon the golf course this Playa del Carmen wedding venue on a bright day in May. I love seeing the beautiful day and the sunny disposition of this very happy bride and groom captured in the wedding photographs.  The clock seems to flow in very unusual and mysterious ways when a wedding is in process and we sometimes feel that the biggest luxury we encounter at a wedding is time during the day to create relaxed and memorable photographs. Little by little I have come to appreciate as one of the most important skills an experienced wedding photographer can possess the ability to wrestle that ticking clock into submission and make every minute count!  Jillayne and Corey’s wedding stands out as one in which a relaxed schedule (and couple) allowed for a great variety of images and lighting conditions, not to mention that  starting the day somewhat early allowed for photographs not only of bride and groom candidly with their respective teams but also alone together before the ceremony (first look photographs = priceless!). Now if we could just figure out how to manage time to have enough days on the calendar to both shoot and edit our summer weddings!

Nancy and Rodolfo’s destination wedding at the Fairmont Mayakoba was the first March 2011 wedding for Lauren and I, not to mention being our very first Brazilian/Chinese/Mexico fusion wedding.  Let’s just say it was unforgettable! Nancy and Rodolfo were blessed to be surrounded by a very large group of family and friends who had all traveled from the couple’s native Brazil and other points of the globe. The couple did not miss any opportunity throughout the weekend to show their honored guests a great time! Here is a small sample of images from the wedding day (well OK, not small at all, actually way too many images for one blog post but if you scroll all the way down you will see that it really can’t be helped!).

A huge shout out to some amazing wedding pros: Fairmont Mayakoba wedding planner Belen Vivanco as well as Gabi Lavor and Fernanda Parra of Planner 1 Events. All photographs Elizabeth and Lauren Medina.

The planned beach ceremony was moved to a covered location due to rain but the yellow flowers provided a touch of sunshine.

The Fairmont Mayakoba has lovely natural vegetation and rivers run through the entire resort. Nancy and Rodolfo traveled by gondola to join their guests for the cocktail hour and reception.

The reception area was lit with red and gold Chinese lanterns, so beautiful and in keeping with the wedding’s theme.

Gold reception decor and Chinese inspired detailsso pretty and special way of celebrating the bride and groom’s ancestry.

One amazing thing about this wedding was that the bride and groom had different “looks” for the different parts of the celebration, first the traditional western wedding attire, then Chinese dress and finally a fusion of the two that was perfect for the Brazilian dance party!

Next up: getting ready part two. Nancy’s red gown was so beautiful and this look was amazing!

Back to the reception for speeches and toasts.

Time to party Brazilian style! First Balance the Band get everyone dancing, then when the Brazilian drums started this Brazilian crown took it up a whole other level!

Mexico’s premier destination wedding photographer Elizabeth Medina photographs weddings in Playa del Carmen, Cancun, Yucatan, Tulum, Puerto Vallarta, San Miguel de Allende, Los Cabos and throughout Mexico.

I think every bride and groom envision a sunny day for the wedding, Alex and Eric certainly had theirs! As corny as it sounds sometimes you just feel the love and happiness all through the day, and it was great to witness such a large group of the bride and groom’s friends and family who had not only made the trip the attend this destination wedding in but who truly seemed to be thrilled for Alec and Eric and enjoying every single second to the maximum. Such a great party!

The Fairmont Mayakoba is a really unique setting, fantastic architecture and jungle vegetation overlooking the Mayan Riviera, it seemed like the perfect venue for this Mayan Riviera destination wedding.

The first look: this is usually the only time of the day that I am in charge of setting up… so I tend to get into it and my inner movie director takes over! At this wedding I once again had the assistance of wedding photographer Hiram Trillo. His second shooter/wife Nancy (that should probably be reversed, pretty sure the wife part comes first) was also helping out and so it was really fun to find a location that allowed the Alex and Eric’s encounter to be captured from three very different vantage points. Very cinematic if I do say so myself. (how embarrassingly geeky is that anyway?) Erin’ s approach was captured by Nancy.

And the following from Nancy’s vantage point across the river.

A few wedding party photos:

The beach ceremony, Alex and Eric brought down a rabbi, from what I understand they are very hard if not impossible to find in the Cancun Mayan Riviera area.

There goes the veil!

I love the next image!

Mariachi photo by Hiram.

The decor was fantastic, Alex and Eric choose to use white flowers for the beach ceremony and red for the dinner reception. The rich red flowers really complemented the Mexican themed table decorations and wedding favors (talavera pottery shot glasses). Muy bonito!

First dance:

I loved Hiram’s photo of the father, daughter dance, great capture!

And of course we love the Hora!

Mexico’s premier destination wedding photographer Elizabeth Medina photographs weddings in Yucatan, Campeche, the Mayan Riviera, Cancun, Tulum, Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, San Miguel de Allende and Puerto Vallarta.

This photo session was so enjoyable! Jill Higgins is a professional photographer based in Georgia and would be in the Maya Rivera area photographing a wedding at the Fairmont Mayakoba. She wanted some photographs with her husband Brian, they have been married for 12 years but apparently had spent very little time on the “other side” of the lens and had few photographs of them as a couple. I was so happy the way things worked out to make the session a reality. As it turned out we would also be in the Playa del Carmen area for a wedding the next day, so timing was perfect. It is a little intimidating being commissioned by another photographer but it was great fun getting to meet Jill and Brian. Aside from being a great looking couple they are very sweet and laid back, we even had a chance to hang out and talk shop afterward!

T+L Magazine, which faithful readers of this blog may remember is one of my favorite publications, (along with Elle Decor, but that is totally off the subject of this post!) describes it as Maya goes Zen, I don’t know about that, but the way the mangrove swamps are integrated into the architecture is fantastic. Great place for a photo session with a great couple!

Elizabeth Medina specializes in wedding photojournalism. She photographs weddings in the Maya Riviera, Tulum, Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, San Miguel de Allende, Los Cabos and throughout Mexico.

Stacey and Charles chose an outstanding location for the wedding, the MK Blue at the Fairmont Mayakoba near Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Not only does the MK Blue have a very upscale, relaxed vibe, it is surrounded by incredible scenery and was the perfect setting for this very special celebration. I loved how the colors chosen for the wedding reflected so perfectly the colors of nature. Thank you Stacey and Charles for the honor of being your wedding photographer!

The gorgeous bride before leaving for the ceremony.

I lvoe photographing texture.

Stacey travelled to the ceremony in a private gondola, such a beautiful and peaceful time before the ceremony.

I loved this photograph with the Mexican flag!

The bride arriving at MK Blue…

The beach wedding ceremony, such special moments to photograph.

I loved the non-matching group of bridesmaids, this is one of my favorite “trends”.

Brida and groom at sunset.

I loved the shoe table! What a great idea for a beach party!

Just a detail shot…

MK Blue is made of bleached wood, the look is really different for the Maya Rivera.

A few candid images from the reception.

First dance and the party…