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.

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.

It was hard to narrow down the photos from Karina and Richie’s wedding and trash the dress session to a reasonable number! Karina and Richie are the sweetest couple ever and their wedding was beautiful and very emotional. After going through and tagging images to include I realized that I had chosen 99 images! I wanted to share them all but if blogs were boats I know this one would surely sink, so I will confess to using the eeny meeny mini mo method to reach a somewhat reasonable number. Karina and Richie, Lauren and I appreciate the opportunity to photograph your big day, not to mention the very “memorable” trash the dress session. Gracias por ser como son y muchas felicidades a los dos!

We loved Karina’s shoes…

Headed to the ceremony, karina had not only two bridemaids but also the cutest little attendant ever helping with her train. As tiny as he was he took it very seriously and did a wonderful job, thank you Lauren for photographing him!

The vows were very emotional!

Wedding party and bride and groom photos on the beach.

Karina and Richie used traditional handcrafted Mexican toys and musical instruments as centerpieces and the reception. It looked very colorful and the guests had a great time playing with them!

Toasts and the bride and groom’s first dance…

The next morning bride and groom woke up early for a day after trash the dress session in the ocean.

Sahar and Matt’s wedding was held on the beach at one of my favorite Mayan Riviera beach wedding locations, Le Reve in Playa del Carmen. This beautiful  beach location seemed just perfect for this couple, relaxed but also elegant.  I knew the second I met Sahar that she was high energy all the way! There was seriously never a dull second, the day flew by. Thank you Sahar and Matt, for being so fantastic! All photographs by Elizabeth and Lindsey Medina.

I loved Lindsey’s next shot!

The girls look fabulous!

Following the beach ceremony and cocktails Matt and Sahar had a Persion ceremony. Somehow I ended up photographing while perched in a tree…love the photos though!

The Persian ceremony started off with a bit of dancing, the next photo is Lindsey’s.