If ‘wedding’ and ‘rain’ are two words that really don’t belong in the same sentence then I think ‘Mexico beach wedding’ and ‘hurricane’ don’t even belong in the same dictionary! Donna and Patrick’s wedding had an unexpected guest in the form of Hurricane Ida as it passed by Playa del Camen, Mexico on its way through the Atlantic. Despite some wind and rain the wedding went off as planned in the gazebo. Destination weddings are so much fun and such relaxed affairs, I had the distinct impression at times that the guests were to busy enjoying themselves to even notice the weather! Despite the very unusual weather  it was a very beautiful wedding and such a treat to be able to document it all and I was thrilled to be able to photograph Donna and Patrick on the beach the next morning.

It stopped raining just long enough for Patrick and Donna’s “first look” before the ceremony. Lindsey photographed the moment from a balcony.

The bride and groom photos were moved indoors due to the weather, Donna and Patrick are such a beautiful couple and such troopers!

The first dance…

The next morning we were able to hit the beach for a morning after session. It was so peaceful and quiet, the only other people out were a few surfers taking advantage of the rare occurance of surfable waves in Playa del Carmen.

Wedding photojournalist Elizabeth Medina, wedding photography at the Royal in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

Paul and Loly are a wonderful couple from California, it was a true honor to have them fly in from California for their anniversary photo session. What can I  say… each and every bride and groom I photograph is a rockstar and I am so blessed to be their photographer!    Loly and Paul, thank you so much for trusting me with such important photographs, it was a privilege.

After a bit of deliberation (Mexico´s states of Yucatán and Campeche are both studded with so many unique and amazing haciendas!)  Campeche´s  Hacienda Uayamón was chosen as the location for the photo session. I really can´t say enough good things about Hacienda Uayamón, it is a gem,  a fairy tale location run by the nicest people around. Absolutely nothing could be more satisfying than hearing people say that they have found and fallen in love with their Mexico wedding location through my photography and this year I look forward to returning to fantastic spots with couples who have found their locations right here on this blog. What could be better?

The next shot is Loly and Paul´s style…they really enjoy each other.

Elizabeth Medina is a wedding photographer located in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico and photographing weddings in Yucatan, Campeche, Mayan Rivera, Cancun and throughout Mexico.

Or should I say a hot day with a hot couple?  :-)  Also true! It had to be one of the hottest days of the year, hopefully of the century! But with the clear blue sky and the gorgeous turquoise blue Playa de Camen water just perfect for a wedding, especially with Megan and Michael, a lovely couple who didn’t need much encouragement to go for it and fit in a mini trash the dress session before the reception. (Did I mention it was a hot day?). These two have so much fun together, it was fun to see all the laughter in the photographs!  Congratulations to you both! Lindsey and I wish you all the best in your life together!

Megan and her girls on the way to the ceremony…

My new favorite hammock photo…

Speeches…

First dance…

Hi everyone!…This is Lindsey (Elizabeth’s daughter/team mate), my photos pop up every now and then on this blog, but this is my first actual post! I thought it would be nice if I went ahead and wrote the post myself, as Ivonne and Daniel are close friends of mine and we had such a wonderful time during the session.

Ivonne and Daniel are a very sweet couple who live here in Mérida, Yucatan. They were married way back in early March. Although we were on the other side of Mexico that weekend and not able to share in their special day it was a pleasure for  Elizabeth and I to photograph them in April after they returned from their honeymoon, especially because we were able to have the session at Merida’s newest wedding venue, Hacienda Hunxectaman. We think it is so great when the bride and groom decide to have a photo session on a different day than the wedding, it is so intimate, relaxing and special… and how awesome to get to wear the wedding dress again!

Ivonne and Daniel are such a wonderful couple, they were so enthusiastic throughout the session, it was truly a wonderful experience to photograph them. Ivonne y Daniel, gracias por ser tan linda pareja!

Hacienda wedding photographer Elizabeth Medina, Merida, Yucatan fotografia de bodas, Elizabeth Medina Phototography.

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!

J

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.

When we met up with Mulu in the salon at the Dreams Resort in Cancun there was tension floating in the air along with the hairspray. Her relatives, including her father who was to walk her down the aisle had been scheduled to arrive the day before but instead had been stranded in a far off airport, unable to reach Cancun in time for the afternoon wedding ceremony. Fortunately the wedding story turned out happily, the resort graciously allowed for the ceremony time to be moved back and Mulu´s family arrived just in the nick of time for this once in a lifetime celebration.

I have to admit that I love all my clients. Something about spending their happiest day ever focusing on capturing all the joy they are experiencing seems to have that effect! Mulu and Sean were an extra extra special pair! After having such a fabulous time spending their wedding day and trash the dress session with this beautiful couple at Dreams resort in Cancun it makes me sad to think they live so far away! Mulu and Sean, thank you for all your kindness in sharing your day with us!

Mulu was such a beautiful bride as I am sure Sean would agree!

Bride and groom with the whole wedding party

This next one is just silly! Can´t have a destination wedding without speedo man, right?.

Mulu and Sean did a ¨first look¨ and some portraits before the wedding, such a great idea to have a private moment before the wedding day craziness begins.

The next two shots were taken when Mulu walked up the to the ocean front gazebo.

Sean´s wrote his own vows and they were very moving.

The beach reception…

The sunrise trash the dress session at, gulp, 6 am the moring after the wedding. It was actually dark when we started!

The Dreams Cancun lighthouse is one of the reasons Mulu and Sean chose the resort so it was fun to incorporate it into the trash the dress photos.

Cancun wedding photographer Elizabeth Medina, wedding photojournalism in Cancun Mexico-

What a wonderful day it was! Linda and John are high school sweethearts who traveled to Mexico to be married an intimate ceremony on a breathtaking beach in the Mayan Riviera. Having photographed a few weddings at the El Dorado Royale and other Karisma resorts, and knowing that Linda had planned her details very carefully I knew that it would be a beautiful event and it certainly was that! It was so much fun for Lauren and I to get to know and spend time with John and Linda, there couldn’t be a nicer couple and we felt like old friends by the time we finished up the trash the dress session the next morning! Linda and John, I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I have! Congratulations to the two of you!

Some detail photos from the getting ready portion of the day…don’t let these tranquil images fool you, Linda was a blur of perpetual motion the whole time!

A relaxed portrait of John before the ceremony.

Time for the beach ceremony…so beautiful!

One of the best details I have seen to date…Linda and John used stones inscribed with meaningful words like love, family, dream as paperweights for the ceremony programs. After the ceremony each guest threw their stone into the ocean with good wishes for the bride and groom’s new marriage.

So much love!

The reception was held at the Tucanes palapa, I wish I had 2% of this group’s dancing ability!

A few images from the TTD session the next morning…

Mayan Rivera photographer Elizabeth Medina, wedding photojournalism at the El Dorado Royale Resort, a Karisma resort in Mexico.

What fun! Destination weddings are such a great combination of vacation and celebration. Kristin and Ryan were the perfect bride and groom for a destination wedding, being low maintenance, ready to enjoy it all in the company of a wild group of friends and relatives and very good sports about photography! We had plenty of time for bride and groom photos in lots of different locations around the beautiful Iberostar resort, both before and after the ceremony and early the next morning at the trash the dress session. I will let the images do the talking….Thank you, Kristin and Ryan, we loved spending time with the two of you on your big day in Mexico!

Kristin before the ceremony…

And Ryan…

They met for a “first look” in this charming little courtyard.

And some photographs in the jungle…the iberostar is really neat because it has a wide variety of spaces.

Kristin and her attendants arriving a the ceremony location on the beach. I really don’t know how I managed to get a clean shot since the bridge was quite busy. Pretty fortunate!

A few photographs from the beach ceremony….

The sand ceremony…

Photographs after the ceremony…

We snuck out of the reception for a few fun night photographs with this carousel that Kristin and Ryan had spotted earlier in the week, what a great idea!

In spite of the wild party, the next morning Kristin and Ryan were up nice and early for a trash the dress session, I wasn’t kidding when I said the bride and groom were good sports! I think it was worth the effort!

Being a little bit allergic to perfume I guess I have never been able to get on board with the concept of aroma therapy…somehow it just doesn’t seem right that something that makes me sneeze could really be therapeutic. After photographing John and Jessica’s beautiful wedding in Careyes, Mexico I will say I am a true believer in color therapy. Actually Jessica is probably thinking about now that I want to keep her photographs all to myself…I guess they are so much fun and put me in such a good mood remembering this fantastic weekend in an amazing destination on Mexico’s Pacific coast that I have been working on them a little longer than strictly necessary! They are all yours now though John and Jessica! I hope they put a smile on your faces like they have mine! Thank you so much for allowing Lindsey and I to document such a special event, it could not have been more lovely.

The wedding ceremony and reception were held at a private villa overlooking the ocean, the next image was taken after the rehearsal at the villa.

The rehearsal dinner was held down the Costa Careyes beach at Playa Rosa, true to its name it was a celebration of pink.

The preparations and bridal party photos were done at the El Careyes Resort, a perfect location!

I love non matching bridesmaids dresses, Jessica’s color palette was brilliant!

The ‘first look’…then portraits of bride and groom and the wedding party around the resort grounds followed.

The wedding location was fantastic, it had several levels that were perfect for the cocktail hour, ceremony and dinner Julie Cambrell, a fab wedding coordinator from Colorado was on-site and made sure all ran flawlessly. The sunset ceremony…

A few details of the many details and a bit of reception action…

The next afternoon we travelled down the beach with John and Jessica to a secluded cove to “trash the dress” at sunset.

Elizabeth Medina, destination wedding photography at Costa Careyes, Jalisco, Mexico.

Dreams Tulum is one of my favorite wedding locations, I have photographed there several times but it is so amazing to see how even in a familiar location no two weddings are ever the same! Kim and I share something in common (unfortunately for me it is not being a young dark haired beauty, Kim has that one covered!) We do share our love of photography though, so it was extra fun to collaborate with Kim and Matt creating images of their beautiful wedding and the trash the dress session the next day. I wish I could post the whole wedding to the blog but here is a sample….Thank you Kim and Matt, I loved spending my B-Day with such a great group!

Pre ceremony photos, Kim and Matt chose not to see each other before the ceremony.

The ceremony, I loved this image of Kim entering the ceremony on her father’s arm.

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Just a few ceremony moments

Trashing the dress at sunrise!

Tulum Wedding Photography by Mexico wedding photojournalist Elizabeth Medina. Wedding photography in Tulum, Playa del Carmen, the Mayan Rivera, San Miguel de Allende, Cancun, Puerto Vallarta and through out Mexico.

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.

Sometimes I think that the hardest part of the whole wedding for me as a wedding photojournalist is choosing out of the hundreds of images from the wedding a few favorites to represent the day. That is especially true for a wedding like Michelle and Steve´s destination wedding in Cancun. Such a fun couple to photograph and a very emotion and action packed day! The day after the wedding we got to spend more time together doing a ¨trash the session at different locations around the resort. It was s much fun to document Michelle and Steve enjoying each other in that beautiful location. Michelle and Steve, we loved spending time with you and your families, we couldn´t be happier for you! Mazal tov!

Steve´s ¨first look¨ at his bride…

We ran (literally!) across Dreams Cancun for a photo session/rock climbing adventure before the ceremony.

The Ketubah signing prior to the ceremony.

The ceremony location was the Dreams, Cancun gazebo, so pretty.

The reception in the Dreams ballroom.

The wedding band came all the way from the states, when I saw how they had everyone dancing I could understand why.

The trash the dress session the next day, also at Dreams, Cancun. Michelle and Steve were up for anything which made it so much fun!

Elizabeth Medina is a wedding photojournalist based in Mexico. She photographs destination weddings throughout Mexico including Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, the Riviera Maya, Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos.

One aspect of destination wedding photography that I really enjoy is being able to meet people from literally all over the world who have come to Mexico to be married. What a wonderful thing! Kora and Arek’s group was very international,  with the bride and groom being of Polish descent, and it was fun to observe the warmth and spontaneity of the group! And how much kissing and dancing took place! The wedding was held on a terrace near the ocean at the Alegro Playacar in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. It was actually raining at the time the ceremony was supposed to begin, but everyone optimistically waited a bit and it cleared up and turned out to be a beautiful afternoon and evening. Congratulations Arek and Kora! It was a great honor to be your wedding photographer!

The ceremony site:

What a beautiful bride! And very calm, if you consider it was minutes from ceremony time and those are raindrops in the background!

After the rain the sky and ocean were very pretty!

We were able to do take some photographs on the grounds of the hotel before the reception began.

So pretty and peaceful!

kora’s maid of honor was so happy to catch the bouquet!

We were able to do a “day after” session the early next morning. Here are just a few images from that photo session.

Elizabeth Medina is a wedding photojournalist in Mexico, she photographs events in Cancun, Playa de Carmen, Tulum, Merida, Yucatan, Puerto Vallarta, San Miguel de Allende and throughout Mexico.