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.

This was not your typical run of the mill wedding, for sure! Ever since Jaime contacted me WAY back when she started planning this Puerto Vallarta wedding I knew it would be a one of a kind day! When she settled on Las Caletas as her location I was especially sure! Las Caletas is a secluded jungle wedding spot that can only be reached by boat, and Jaime and Martin´s wedding there was a spectacular, once in a lifetime adventure! I wish I could pack the whole wedding onto the blog! Gracias Jaime and Martin for all your enthusiasm about my art and your good energy along the way and especially for being so in love and enjoying every minute of your wedding adventure in Mexico!

I accompanied Jaime and her bridesmaids on the a speed boat trip to Las Caletas…so very beautiful, this was such a fun start to the wedding day!

Once the girls arrived at Las Caletas the morning was spent relaxing on the island, with spa treatmentes, and floating in the jacuzzi. The bride and maid of honor even went for a wedding day swim in the ocean!

Meanwhile…the groom and the rest of the group had some time to enjoy Puerto Vallarta before heading to the wedding location by boat.  Lindsey did a great job documenting this part of the day, it was fun for me to see the photographs from her camera!

Finally it was time for Martin and Jaime to meet for a first look…plenty of tears all around!

Wedding site details, I love photographs that give a sense of place. Between Jaime´s planning and fabulous Las Caletas wedding coordinator Nicole there was plenty of eye candy!

Time for the ceremony…Martin as his bride arrived…

Jaime entered with both her father and grandfather, so special!

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The rings were flown into the cermony by a parrot! You certainly don´t see that every day!

Let´s not forget the fire dancers!

The trash the dress session was at sunset the next afternoon…being based on the Gulf of Mexico and doing so much Cancun photography and Mayan Riviera photograpy I just I love photographing at sunset on the Pacific coast!

Puerto Vallarta wedding photographer Elziabeth Medina, Mexico wedding photojournalist.

Wow, where do I start? Kate and Bill are such a fantastic, in-love couple and it was a joy to get to know them and photograph their “big day” and trash the dress session! Kate and Bill had actually found their wedding location through a Playa Fiesta wedding on my website. How cool is that? Arriving in Puerto Vallarta the day before the wedding, Lauren and I had time for a taste of the Playa Fiesta experience…wow, I can’t think of a better way to celebrate a wedding than at this amazing wedding hotel/beach club! Within a few hours of landing in PV we had seen whales, sampled the “Kate special” (frozen virgin lime daquiri, yum) at the open bar, and had a lunch of tuna ceviche poolside (the tuna had been caught by the guys that morning!). There were even massages for the guests on the terrace overlooking the Pacific ocean…I’ll just say if you are ever invited to a Playa Fiesta wedding, don’t miss it for anything! By far the best part for us….having the honor of being chosen to document Kate and Bill’s celebration at that wonderful wedding location in Puerto Vallarta!

A few pre-wedding photos, Bill and the guys…

Kate and her girls on the way to the ceremony…

Kate had all kinds of colorful details, these handpainted maracas from PV wedding designer Mishka were a huge hit throughout the day!

I loved Kate’s excitement all through the day…the look she is giving Bill says it all!

Just a few bride and groom photos…

The reception was gorgeous I loved the colors and the details!

Kate and Bill’s first dance as husband and wife.

Yeah you guess right.. The Macarena.

A well prepared destination bride, Kate had a second dress for the reception….it was a good thing since EVERYONE ended up in the pool at the end of the night!

The next day we headed to town for the trash the dress session, I just LOVE the challenge of finding different ways to shoot in new, out of the way locations, and I love the images from this session.

We finished up on a gorgeous semi deserted beach…wow!

Puerto Vallarta wedding photographer Elizabeth Medina, wedding photojournalism in The Maya Riviera, Cancun, Tulum, Playa del Carmen, Yucatan, los Cabos, San Miguel de Allende and throughout Mexico.

I was really excited when Jen contacted me about photographing their wedding, since it would be my first wedding in Puerto Vallarta. Finally April 20 rolled around, and I was even more thrilled, Puerto Vallarta is amazing, Playa Fiesta is a very high spirited venue devoted exclusively to destination weddings and Mike and Jen are as beautiful, and laid back a couple as a photographer could hope for. Here are just a few images from the day….

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To see a mini slideshow freom this colorful Vallarta wedding, click here.
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Jen on her balcony at Playa Fiesta, since the resort is built into the hillside the views are spectacular…and Jen is looking pretty spectacular too!

I just loved this photograph of Jen and her mom before the ceremony.

The wedding was held on a sun deck overlooking the ocean.

The ceremony was very moving and over very quickly, I was so happy to be able to be able to captue the panoramic view as well as the close ups.

Each guest had a set of maracas to celebrate the marriage. ¡qué buena idea!

Jen and Mike after the wedding ceremony.

Jen and her girls…

La cerveza…

Playa Fiesta is so pretty at night, the dance floor is actually a bridge.

Yes, there was a burro at the reception! I have photographed a lot of weddings in Mexico, but that was a first for me.

Puerto Vallarta wedding photography at the Playa Fiesta Resort, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, all photographs by Mexico wedding photojournalist Elizabeth Medina.