Starting the year off right… Mattie and Julian’s lovely destination wedding in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico was our first of 2011 and photographing this couple’s big day got the new year off to a great start! Mattie and Julian and their group of family and friends home base in Mexico was the Dreams Puerto Vallarta Resort. On the day of the wedding the group traveled by boat to Las Caletas, a beautiful secluded inlet where Mattie and Julian would be married on the beach and later dance the night away. I would love to include this wonderful couple’s entire destination wedding on the blog but since that is impossible here is a glimpse…

The scenery on the boat ride to Las Caletas was breathtaking.

Arriving at Las Caletas…

Mattie and her girls arrived early and had time not only to prepare for the wedding but also to relax and enjoy the beauty of the island and the bridal “casita”.

No bridezilla here!

Las tres hermanas….

Mattie and her girls….

Meanwhile Lauren captured this image before departing Puerto Vallarta with the groom’s party and wedding guests.

Mattie and Julian did not see each other before the ceremony, I was very happy to be able to capture these bridal images of Mattie in the  jungle as the groom and guests arrived at the island.

The birght ceremony details were very lovingly planned including hand painted maracas to shake at the kiss, Mexican papel picado banners, and bright and colorful pashminas, all in the weddings starfish theme.

Bride and groom’s first glimpse of each other at the altar and ceremony moments….

The reception atmosphere was so pretty with many, many candles.

Las Caletas has the very best fire dancers I have seen and Mattie and Julian were very brave!

Lauren and I met up with Mattie and Julian the next afternoon for some day after photos starting on location in Puerto Vallarta and finishing up on a nearby beach at sunset.

Elizabeth Medina is Mexico’s premier destination wedding photographer, photographing weddings throughout Mexico in locations including Puerto Vallarta, the Riviera Maya, Cancun, San Miguel de Allende and Los Cabos.

As a wedding photographer I think I can tend to have one foot firmly planted in the future. Going over details with couples who have reserved dates for our upcoming weddings or chatting about availability with prospective brides and grooms means that at any given time my agenda is more likely to be flipped open to a date months away than the actual week in progress. Maybe this futuristic reality is one reason I look forward the chance to hit pause and thankfully reflect on the previous year’s weddings. Revisiting moments from our 2010 weddings (as I hope my amazing 2010 brides and grooms will continue to do for years and years with their own images!) brings back especially vivid memories, each chapter of 2010 was unique and special and each couple oh so very  inspirational!

Warning, this sideshow goes by quickly, but then of course so did 2010! All slide show images Elizabeth, Lindsey and Lauren Medina. Music by the very talented Tiger Darrow is featured with our gratitude. (Regular blog readers will remember Tiger from Ember and Jon Paul’s Mexico wedding). If you love Tiger’s song as much as I do be sure to check out Tiger’s new albums!

Elizabeth Medina is Mexico’s premier wedding photographer, photographing weddings in the Yucatan, Mayan Riviera, Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Costa Careyes, San Miguel de Allende and Los Cabos.

This blog post is the last to feature a 2010 event and is all about enjoying a taste of Mexico’s natural beauty with a wonderfully sweet newly wedded couple. First we played in the jungle and the waters of a cenote near Akumal and then as the sun set it was time to travel down the coast for photos on a secluded Tulum beach. Krista and Mark… we loved our adventure with the two of you, but maybe I should have just kept quiet about the catfish!   :-)

Shabnam and Randall were married in a joyous and very beautiful late afternoon ceremony at The Tides Riviera Maya. Times like this I am grateful that my task is to document with images and not words since I have a feeling that if I tried to tell this fantastic couple’s story with any language other than the camera´s no one would even believe me!  It really did happen though and fortunately I have lots and lots of photographic proof… I hope you enjoy this small sample of the day’s photographs.

The Tides is located in the jungle on a gorgeous stretch of beach and basically captures the essence of Mayan jungle-chic.  A few getting ready details from the bride’s bungalow:

One of the aspects of wedding photography that I truly love is collaborating with my clients and album designer to create flush mount albums. I will confess that often when I am shooting I am imagining juxtapositions and how the images can work most expressively in a wedding album. I think that the two getting ready photos would make an awesome album spread!

Blue sky, turquoise water and the ceremony location, I loved the very light and organic yet elegant feel. Ceremony details and moments… A quick shout out here to the lovely Rebecca Elias from Luxe Destination Weddings : working with the wedding planners from Luxe is such a treat, thank you Rebecca for your great wedding day energy!

The Persian sugar ceremony…

El beso!

Fantastic second shooting from Lindsey… I loved the candid moments she captured throughout the day…

Bride and groom portraits on the beach at sunset… wow.

A few reception details and some of the fun…this was a great dance party!

Shabnam and Randall’s first dance…

Playa del Carmen wedding photography by destination wedding photographer Elizabeth Medina.

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.

Amazing, amazing, amazing… possibly the most overused adjective in the English language! One bad habit I would like to put behind me in the new year is the overuse of this superlative. Unfortunately I will have to start tomorrow because here is no way I can avoid saying AMAZING  just a few more times in describing Karah and John’s big day! Karah and John chose a destination wedding and  the Hacienda San Jose Cholul as the wedding venue. This location is truly special, it has a very intimate scale, authentic rustic charm, and of course the incomparable local Mayan culture. Located very near my home base of Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, this colorful venue has hosted some of my favorite weddings to date. The Hacienda San Jose somehow seems to attract the most amazing (oops) people and Karah and John and their whole group certainly were just that.

Karah and John’s choice of colors really complemented the location and the team from Baku Events did an amazing outstanding job with the wedding set up.

After finishing up with photos Karah and John joined their guests at the cocktail hour held near the pool, I loved being able to capture the quiet moment when they walked down the path to meet their friends and family.

One thing I love about this hacienda is the way the spaces visually separate. The walk from the pool area to the garden area area where dinner and dancing took place had a very dramatic and beautiful ambiance.

Fotografia de boda, Hacienda San Jose, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.

Warm holiday wishes to all our very special couples and friends from team Medina! For all those who are feeling a little chilly about now (it is actually even a bit nippy here in the Yucatan) here comes a little bit of sunshine in the form of a blog post! Kate and Cam were married in November in a bright and colorful beach ceremony at the beautiful Secrets Maroma Resort in the Riviera Maya. The bride and groom seemed to be having a wonderful time at the beach ceremony and cocktail reception as well as the dinner reception which followed at the deck of the Dreams Riviera Cancun resort. I hope you enjoy the photographs from this bright and colorful wedding!  A few details from before the ceremony… the rings, invitation and the bride’s pretty aqua blue jewelry…

Bridal preparations… Kate and Cam’s nicknames for each other are Boo and Sparky and it was fun to see that Kate’s dress hanger even incorporated those pet names!

Bride and groom exchanged gifts and special notes before the ceremony…

Finally it all came together and it was time to go get married!

Time for the ceremony… the arch was so pretty with the bright hanging rose pomanders… the flowers and ceremony set up was provided by Cancun’s Planner 1 Events, beautiful! Kate chose to include custom painted maracas and printed details like the special signs for the reserved seats in the ceremony, these really special personalized touches were from Mishka Designs in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

The cocktail hour was held on the beach at Secrets Maroma, the mariachi band and bright maracas added to the fun Mexico ambience.

Bride and groom photos after the ceremony…

A few photos from the reception at Dreams Riviera Cancun. First dance…

Mexico´s premier wedding photojournalist Elizabeth Medina photographs weddings in the Mayan Riviera, Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Yucatan, Puerto Vallarta, San Miguel de Allende, Costa Careyes and throughout Mexico.

December, crazy December… time has been flying by! Its hard to believe that 2010 is almost a wrap, this was such a great year with some of the most amazing couples ever. I am really excited about sharing the final 2010 weddings here on the blog!  Ashley and Mark were married in a colorful beach ceremony at the Dreams Riviera Cancun resort in the Mayan Riviera. Lindsey and I were blessed to be this sweet couple’s wedding photographers on that sunny day in paradise.

Mark and Ashley honored Mark’s mother’s memory throughout the day, one way they did this was by including her engagement ring in the photographs.

This is a photograph of a detail from Ashley’s dress, so intricate and beautiful!

Some last minute bridal preparations…

and Ashley and her group of girls, so bright and pretty in crisp white, navy blue and yellow!

Ashley was so beautiful and relaxed, the ultimate low maintenance bride, she even stayed calm and cheerful when the photographers temporarily misplaced her groom!

Ashley and Mark met up before the ceremony for some bride and groom photos…

Beach ceremony at Dreams Riviera Cancun…yellow flowers on the chuppah and blue sky above…

The next two are Lindsey´s…

You may kiss the bride!

Something I get asked about quite a bit is if it will hurt the photos if the bridal party has an “uneven” number of bridesmaids vs. groomsmen. I love to photograph a bridal party like Ashey and Mark’s that is a little asymmetrical, I think it lets me play a little more with the compostion of the wedding party photos and adds a little extra zing. What do you think?

A few bride and groom photos after sunset…

And time for the reception, held on the ocean front deck.

Mayan Riviera Wedding Photography by Elizabeth Medina Photography, wedding photojournalist Elizabeth Medina photographs weddings in Cancun, Yucatan, Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas, San Miguel de Allende and throughout Mexico.

Ember and Jon Paul tied the knot in a gazebo ceremony at the Royal Resort near Playa del Carmen’s Quinta Avenida. It was a great day and Lindsey and I were delighted to be their wedding photographers! Destination weddings can be so much fun for everyone, especially in the case of a thoughtful (and really fun!) couple like Ember and Jon who seem to want nothing more than to make sure that their friends and family are well taken care of and having an amazing time. Congratulations to you both, we wish you all the best!

The beautiful bride, a few pre-ceremony getting ready photographs.

I love to find out that my current brides get inspiration from brides whose weddings I have already photographed! Yes, Britni if you are still reading this blog, that shout out would be for you! And in this case the inspiration is especially fantastic… Toms Shoes are super special because for each pair purchased a new pair is given to a child in need. Ember’s comfy but sparkly Toms seemed like the perfect wedding shoe for this fast moving and very energetic bride!

Bridal portraits, I love it when there is time for these!

Jon Paul and some pre-ceremony photos with his entourage….

Ember and John Paul discovered a wonderful young singer named Tiger Darrow and were able to bring her to Mexico to provide the music for their wedding… she did a fantastic job and her performance added a special dimension to the wedding… certainly an artist to watch!

Jon Paul at the altar as Ember makes her entrance on her father’s arm…

The ceremony was held at the Royal’s gazebo overlooking the ocean.

A photo of the whole group, then a few bride and groom photos on the Playa del Carmen beach.

Time to party… the cocktail hour and dinner reception were held in the Royal’s ballroom, it was a great party.

After the reception the bride and groom where serenaded by a mariachi band as they lead their guests to continue the party on the Quinta Avenida….

Remember the old question about being trapped on a desert island and who you would want to be trapped with? Jean and Walt’s amazing wedding and next day trash the dress session at the Moon Palace in Cancun brought a similar question to mind.  Lauren and I now know without a doubt the answer to the question “If you were trapped in pouring cats and dogs rain at 6 AM (usually known as “sunrise” but that implies being able to see the sun) on a one hour march around an enormous resort hoping for a chance to trash the dress who would you want to be marching with?”  Jean and Walt were such a fun, patient and laid back couple I can’t think of anyone I would rather spend an hour of pre daylight limbo with. Thank goodness our faith was rewarded and the sun made its appearance! First the photographs from the relaxed and beautiful wedding day (I know Jean worked hard on the decorations and it all looked fantastic!) and finally the TTD photos that I think were worth the trouble. Congratulations Jean and Walt!

A few bridal photos from before the ceremony…

The ceremony was held in a gazebo overlooking the ocean…

Bride and groom beach photos after the ceremony….so much fun to photograph these two…

Jean had a really funny surprise for Walt… an xbox wedding garter!

Photos from the next day TTD session,

Walking on sunshine. Woa-o…  If wedding photo sessions had soundtracks I am pretty sure that’s what would have been playing during Ana Cristina and Rodrigo’s wedding day photo shoot at the Hacienda Chichi Suarez in Merida, Yucatan. Lindsey and I were blessed with an unbeatable trifecta… a delightfully happy, ultra low maintenance couple,  one of my favorite playgrounds, the hacienda Chichi Suarez and to top it off plenty of time on a fall day that could not have been more divine.

It didn’t surprise me for a minute that these two even had rainbows without a rain cloud in sight! Rodrigo y Ana Cristina, muchas felicidades!

The first look, bride and groom arrived at the same time in separate cars, it was so fun to see them so thrilled to meet up as bride and groom and get their day rolling.

Mexico photographer Elizabeth Medina is Mexico’s premier wedding photojournalist, covering weddings in the Merida, Campeche the Yucatan Peninsula and throughout Mexico.

Sometimes people ask me about my ¨typical clients¨  which I have to say is a question that completely stumps me. We have been so blessed to meet and photograph amazing brides and grooms from literally every continent, photographing very intimate  weddings and affairs with surprisingly long guest lists, beach weddings, church weddings, extremely formal and elegantly casual affairs, crazy parties and more reserved celebrations. I think the common thread that seems to tie together all our couples is their willingness to go the extra mile to have special photographs to remember and celebrate their ¨big day¨. Oh and of course they are all simply beautiful people and totally crazy about each other!  On a more random level a common trait that seems to appear would be that we have photographed many, many graphic design professionals, both brides and grooms, which is totally fantastic! I love knowing that our beloved jpegs will be in good hands and get put to many creative uses. In this case the beautiful bride is an experienced graphic designer and when Ana Mercedes reached out to me over a year ago she already was excited about the photographs. It was hard to have to wait an entire year for the photo session at the Quinta Montes Molina! Ana y Lucio, espero que les gusten las fotos y que no les haya cansado demasiado!  Fue muy especial fotografiarlos, gracias y un abrazo!

La primera foto es de Lauren… estaba increible el cielo!

I told you she was beautiful…

Lucio was all smiles waiting for the first glimpse of his bride!

The “first look” on the front porch of the Quinta Montes Molina, very special.

Photographs of the couple in different areas of this historic home.

Bridal details, Ana’s bouquet and shoes…

We captured some very special bridal portraits of Ana in the interior of the quinta… I could have photographed a few more hours (or days, haha!) and not run out of interesting locations but of course Ana and Lucio needed to get married!

Bride and groom on the grounds of the quinta at sunset…

Ana and a few of her damas…

Denise and John were married in a Catholic ceremony in the lovely San Valentin chapel at the Valentin Imperial Maya resort. This was a very peaceful and intimate destination wedding with a beautiful and very sweet couple. I thought the photographs that Lauren and I were able to capture really reflected the elegant yet relaxed feel of the day.

Aside from shooting, editing and putting together sideshows (and lets not forget email!) Something that keeps us busy in the studio and is barely mentioned here on the blog are the flush mount albums that we create for many of our couples. (I promise to remedy this soon by blogging more of the finished albums!) Each design is a one of a kind creation that tells the story of the wedding day. Although it sometimes takes a while (an understatement in a few cases, you know who you are, haha!) we think it is important for the bride and groom be allowed to select personal favorite images, I will confess to putting much more stock in which images touch my couples hearts and help them remember how amazing it really was than those that I know supect from a photographer’s perspective to be more likely to be chosen by a judge for a wedding photography “award”.  I think that having worked in close collaboration with our clients over the years in the selection of preferred images personally designing albums that tell the day’s story visually has actually helped form our shooting style as well. At any rate it is a lot of fun to envision how it will all come together in the final album, I will confess to daydreaming about Denise and John’s wedding album, and I think Lauren is probably right there with me! Thank you John and Denise for allowing us to tell the story of your beautiful wedding in Mexico!