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.

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.

Matt and Monica’s wedding… part two, AKA La Fiesta! I have to share a few photos from the post ceremony cocktail hour, muy mexicano! The Azul Sensatori Zavaz Plaza was decorated with personalized papel picado streamers, so pretty! Monica’s very talented cousin Bianca (whose vocals and guitar were a very important part of the ceremony) surprised the bride and groom by joining the mariachi singers, this was amazing! All photographs Elizabeth and Lauren Medina.

Everyone had a chance at the piñata~ and then as the sun set we were able to dash to the beach for bride and groom photos.

The reception had a peacock theme and it was worked into all of the details from the custom maracas to the guest signing board…This wedding had so many beautiful personalized details, the guest signature board from Bee and Leaf  fit the peacock theme perfectly!

we loved all the action which started off with an incredible first dance followed by the hora…

Elizabeth Medina Photography is Mexico´s premier destination wedding photographer, overing weddings in the Mayan Riviera, Cancun, Tulum, Merida, Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta and throughout Mexico with a relaxed, natural style.

Matt and Monica’s was held in one of my favorite ceremony locations, the Sky Deck at the Azul Sensatori Resort in Puerto Morelos. Having heard a bit about the wedding plans from Matt I really couldn’t wait to see what the day would bring. Matt and Monica put a great deal of hard work into really personalizing the wedding, so much so that I am giving in to the temptation to divide the photographs from this amazing destination wedding into two blog posts since want to share so many of the creative details that I just can’t seem to make it fit!

Just a few details from the getting ready portion of the day. After beginning the day with the Ketubah signing in a short white sundress, Monica was married in the full length gown that she had designed and hand sewn which converted to a perfect dancing dress for the reception! (yes, you heard correctly, the very talented Monica actually designed and sewed her fabulous convertible wedding gown). Words don’t do justice to Monica’s artistry or attention to detail… The wedding had a peacock theme, which showed up throughout the day and in the custom guest signing print from Bee and Leaf.

Matt and the guys before the ceremony…

Monica with her girls…

The Jewish ceremony was held on the Azul Sensatori sky deck, I think this lovely space has a very special energy and fortunately Matt and Monica’s wedding was held a wonderful sunny day. I loved how the wedding creatively incorporated both Mexican and Jewish details and so much bright color not to mention love and emotion!

Bride and groom walked around each other in the Jewish tradition.

Matt and Monica are  married, Mazel Tov!

Coming soon… La fiesta!

Sonja and Dave were married at Le Reve in Playa del Carmen, Lauren and I loved photographing these two, not only do they have amazing energy and planned a beautiful wedding with an elegant but rustic feel (insert big shout out to le Reve wedding planners Arlenis and Mariana and their team, as well as the fantastic Planner 1), they also proved themselves to be up for anything, and definitely not the kind to let a little rain get in the way of having a great time! Between the wedding day and trash the dress session I know this is a very long post but I can’t help wanting to share! Getting ready, Sonja’s mom seeing her daughter as a bride…

Such lovely flowers…very much in sync with the wedding’s organic chic theme.

Bride and her girls before the ceremony…

Just as bride was set to enter the ceremony the rain rolled in! Everyone ran for cover and fortunately it passed and the show could go on!

Reception decor, so relaxed and beautiful.

As the guests were seated for dinner I noticed that the bride and groom were not to be found… going out for a few photographs of the exterior I found them in  this beautiful spot just  having a moment together while waiting to be announced and join their guests.

I will have to say my expectations of Sonja and Dave actually showing up for the planned trash the dress session were a little low… not only was it very early the morning after the wedding… it was actually RAINING! Fortunately they were up for it and I loved the images we captured both between and during the rain showers!

I guess I would have to say that other than the opportunity to make good use of my share of the creativity (something I am convinced we are all blessed with!) my favorite thing about photographing weddings would be the fabulous people met along the way, whether they be colleagues and clients. Shani and Steven,…WOW! Lindsey and I have loved getting to know the two of you very much, thanks for sharing your celebration at the Mayan Riviera’s Azul Sensatori Resort. The first photos I am posting are from the morning after trash the dress session, followed by the wedding day images.  All images Elizabeth and Lindsey Medina.

Wedding day at Azul Sensatori. It had looked like it might rain but turned out to be a fantastic day!

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….

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!

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….

I know, I know, things have been moving slower than usual here on the blog… fortunately not for lack of photos but because there are so many! Being so busy shooting and editing the images from weddings on both coasts (and points in between!) has meant a portfolio bursting wide with photographs but very little time to blog! Here’s a little taste of spring from John and Ashley’s late March wedding at the Mayan Riviera’s beautiful Azul Sensatori Resort. I felt so blessed to photograph such a truly lovely couple on their very special day!

A few ceremony moments on the beach at Azul Sensatori.

After the ceremony Ashely and John did their ‘first dance’ on  the beach accompanied in song by one of their family members, beautiful!

The next two are from Lauren’s camera, so lovely!

The day’s schedule and relaxed vibe allowed for plenty of daylight for photos of the bride and groom, this part was so much fun!

Wow, Ashley!

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.

Bright sunny day, turquoise ocean, beautiful laid back couple, smiles all around… lots of love and a crazy, crazy party, ie. the perfect destination wedding. Vanessa and Sean… the wait is over, I hope the wedding photographs take you back to  your very memorable day at Azul Beach!

Mexico’s premier wedding photographer photographs Mexico destination weddings in the Mayan Riviera and throughout Mexico.