Lindsey here…I am taking over the blog today to share a few pictures from Caro and Jerry’s bride and groom session. It was a beautiful day and we had this entire rustic hacienda all to ourselves. This magical setting was the perfect backdrop to photograph our good friends and Lauren and I enjoyed every second of it. Thank you Caro and Jerry for giving us the honor!

All photographs (c)2013 Lindsey and Lauren Medina.

All photographs (c)2013 Lindsey Medina.

I am such a fan of my couples. It is hard to explain but I can´t help but think that people like these brides and grooms are what makes the world go round! I always find myself in admiration that such beautiful people exist, happy that they have found and committed to each other and thrilled that they living the experience of a dream wedding in Mexico

A note to all of my very patient spring 2010 couples who are caught in the time warp known as wedding season. As someone who is terrible at waiting myself I an only imagine how hard it must be to wait for the photographs to be ready! Of course at the same time I know the photographs are memories that will last a lifetime so rushing the finishing touches is just not an option! I will continue to plug along but wanted to take a second to tell my clients I appreciate your confidence (and at this time of year your patience) more than you can begin to imagine. It will be worth the wait I promise!

Jamie getting ready…

The ceremony was held on the pier over the beautiful bright blue water.

After the ceremony we did some beach photographs and then onto the reception which was held on an open covered terrace area.

A few reception details…first dance and father and bride dance.

Lauren and I were able to sneak out of the reception with Jamie and Aaron to steal a few twilight photographs.

The hardest part of blogging has got to be narrowing down which images to include! I hear over and over from my clients how hard it is to choose which images from the wedding to include in the wedding album and of course I can totally relate! Amy and Marco traveled to Playa del Carmen, Mexico for their destination wedding. The ceremony was held in the little Catholic chapel on 5th Avenue. The reception had to be moved indoors due to an unbelievable amount of rain (sound familiar, blog readers? I am pretty sure at this point that we are statistically protected from ever again seeing a drop of rain at the Royal!) but that didn’t seem to dampen everyone’s enjoyment of the celebration one bit. I was very happy that it let up in time for bride and groom photos on the beach and that Amy and Marco were up bright and early for a fantastic trash the dress session the next morning. Guess I better stop the chatter because I know Amy and Marco must be ready to finally see some photos!

First I’ll share a little morning after TTD beauty…

And the wedding day itself…

Everyone broke out in laughter when Marco pulled out “the ring” the ceremony was pretty solemn and it took everyone by surprise!

Breaking the blog rules by posting two ring shots!

La Fiesta…mariachis, tequila, and all around good times.  We were disappointed that the beach reception was not possible due to the weather, but the guests may not have even noticed the change of venue!

Nothing like kicking off the wedding season with a beautiful local event that takes us back to our hacienda wedding photography roots! Having known Daniela for some time and having photographed her brother Paco with his bride Zahia back in May we knew it was going to be a wonderful day spent in very good company. Hacienda Chichí Suarez dates from the 16th century, we have photographed a few events in this location and love the way different spaces have been used in a way that has made each event seem very unique. Daniela and Alejandro had their wedding at 1:00 pm, which allowed for wonderful photography opportunities.  …I love love love seeing and working with natural light, there is just nothing like it!

The first one is Lindsey’s photo, what a lovely composition!

Daniela was an extremely beautiful bride!

Daniela and one of her “pajes”

The next one is Lindsey’s, I wish it were mine though!

The two familes together…

The reception had such colorful details! All perfectly tied toghether but very unexpected, just perfect for this afternoon wedding… a very unique twist on the hacienda setting! My regular blog readers have probably deduced, this Merida, Yucatan wedding was designed and coordinated by my friends at BAKU Events.  I really can’t say enough good things about the BAKU team, it is a real treat to watch them in action as they work their magic!

We were ablet o do a few more photographs around the hacienda grounds before it was time for Alejandro and Daniela’s ‘first dance” as husband and wife.

First dance and father daughter dance…

Many more coming soon!

Elizabeth Medina, wedding photographer Mexico.

I hope no one minds if I take a few minutes break from shooting, editing and blogging up a storm to share a little studio project. This little book is volume one, (volume two will naturally feature Mexico’s fantastic beach wedding destinations) was done as a personal project to showcase some of our wedding photography  in Mexico’s incomparable haciendas and historic homes. I truly feel that there is nothing better than a destination wedding in Mexico and that Mexico’s haciendas are magical wedding destinations. Having photographed a good number of weddings at haciendas in Yucatan and throughout Mexico and just love for people to find out about the amazing locations for wedding photography in Mexico through my work!

Those that have been reading this blog for a while already know that I consider travel + leisure magazine as one of my photographic influences so I hoped this project would reflect a bit of that  T+L vibe. Being busy with work for my clients I turned to Karen Dahlquist for the design and layout of this book. That proved to be a great decision because it was way too hard for me to choose just a few images from each wedding/location! I would have given up had I not been able to send folders of images for Karen to wade through! Maybe because I was at all the weddings and have great memories of each one, but I just loved how it all came together. Not sure if amazon.com will be calling soon but I do hope it will give a bit of exposure to Mexico’s haciendas as wedding locations.

Here are a few glimpses at the book’s contents. This spread is dedicated to the Hacienda Xcanatun this is a wonderful wedding location. (Zach and Lolita I can’t wait!)

Another absolute favorite, Hacienda Las Trancas is located in Central Mexico and is a magical destination. I am looking forward to shooting Amy and Matt’s wedding next summer at this location!

The hacienda wedding photography volume includes several weddings from Yucatan’s magnificent group of haciendas operated by Starwood Resorts. This group of haciendas include amazing locations like Temozon, (So excited about upcoming 2009 weddings at that location), San Jose (love, love this one!), Santa Rosa, (very cool hacienda venue, I photographed the very first wedding at Santa Rosa!) and of course Hacienda Uyamon in Campeche, Mexico.

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The Hacienda Chichen Itza, it has been several years since I photographed at this location but I would just love to photograph another wedding at the hacienda.

Well, enough of all that… but please stop back soon for Alex and Drew’s wedding at the Royal in Playa del Carmen, to be followed by Katherine and Jim and Kelly and Michael both at the Azul Sesatori! I can’t wait to post each of these colorful one of a kind weddings to the blog, to be followed by Benny and Sandra’s Maya Rivera wedding and finally Jessica and Scott’s incredible San Miguel de Allende wedding.

Mexico wedding photography by Elizabeth Medina, a wedding photographer based in Yucatan, Mexico and available for photographic coverage throughout Mexico and internationally.

Shana and Jeff, what can I say? Sometimes you meet a couple who seem so perfect for each other it just seems to prove that destiny is hard at work! Or as they say in Spanish that each person has a “media naranja” or “half orange” waiting to be found! In other words a dream team, two of a kind or “tal para cual”…know what I mean? It was an honor to be able to capture a bit of the magic of the day these two were married in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

Jeff is an amazing graphic designer and the couple was able to put a personal creative touch into many of the wedding details like the very unique invitation which featured their story and the favorite flower of both, the daisy.

The beautiful bride before the ceremony. I love doing bridal portraits prior to the ceremony whenever there is time, and the photographs are always some of my favorites. I think there are probably about 5 women in the universe that could pull of a dress like this one, it looked absolutely perfect on Shana!

Jeff and Shana put a special twist on the sand ceremony or unity by incorporating their families and wedding party.

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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-

I am not one to divide up my blog posts, but Natalia and Raul’s wedding will be an exception since it is vacation time here in Yucatan and I can’t wait until next week when it is all finished to share photos from this special wedding! Natalia and Raul were one of my favorite couples of all time before the wedding day even arrived! I was so happy that they planned a photo session prior to the wedding date. The wedding was a large one with many guests and this pre wedding photo session was a fantastic way to get to know each other better and to have plenty of time to really enjoy the photography without the hurry and nerves of the “big day¨.  I loved hearing Natalia say that she did not regret it, in fact it was the best thing they could have done! Here are just a few photos for now…stay tuned for many more images from the fabulous ¨big day¨in my next blog post coming next week!

The wedding was held at Natalia´s family´s beautiful old hacienda. This photograph of the bride surrounded by the beauty of the hacienda took my breath away even before I pressed the shutter of the camera.

Bride and groom….the first look was very moving, I am saving your tears for the slide show!

Natalia and Raul, just a few more for now, the rest to follow soon!

Hacienda wedding photography by elizabeth Medina in Merida, yucatan, Mexico.

Sometimes we meet a couple and notice right away how very beloved they seem to be by friends and family. Usually when that happens by the end of the day we also end up thinking the couple is the just the greatest and that is just what happened with Shannon and Jeff. I loved receiving Shannon’s emails and almost don’t want to send off the photographs because then she will have no reason to email! The ceremony was held on the lawn of the Hilton Cancun which overlooks the ocean. By some miracle it rained on the golf course which is just across the road and not one drop on the wedding! It was truly a beautiful day. And a great party!

The “first look”, i would recommend this to anyone getting married, I loved the portraits of Shannon and Jeff taken before the cermony.

A few details from this destination wedding.

The ceremony was beautiful and I was so appreciative of Shannon’s videographer, who was considerate and non obtrusive enough to film from behind the last row of guests. This makes such a huge difference in the photographs, I think the photograph below would NOT be the same with a videographer standing front and center next to the best man, between the bride and groom or in the center of the aisle as is so often the way at destination weddings.

The reception was held in one of the Hilton’s ballrooms. I guess it should come as no surprise that the banquet service was fantastic.

The first dance…

A funny toast…

And a great party. DJ Mannia really knows how the crowd moving, but I think this group did not really need much encouragement!

Cancun, Mexico wedding photojournalism by destination wedding photographer Elizabeth Medina.

See, I wasn’t kidding about blogging up a storm! Brandy and Matt were married in a Catholic ceremony at the Our Lady of Carmen chapel on Playa del Carmen’s Fifth Avenue. The chapel is so pretty, and Brandy and Matt folloed up the ceremony with a stroll down the Quinta Avenida accompanied by a mariachi band. The reception was held at Lunata, a small “boutique” hotel, also located on the Quinta Avenida. The garden of the hotel was totally transformed through the vision of Brandy and her event designer Jennifer McCrackin with the aid of Playa del Carmen’s Ajua weddings.  Spectacular! Brandy and Matt could not be a nicer couple or seem more perfect for each other so it was an absolute pleasure to photograph their very special day.

Preparations….

Heading out to meet Matt for pre-ceremony photographs at the Royal Resort.

The beautiful bride before the ceremony.

A relaxed portrait of the groom…

The Catholic chapel, tiny but very pretty, it overlooks the ocean.

Bridal party photos at the altar don’t usually have palm trees in the background! Only in PDC!

A few detail shots of the table decoration, it was gorgeous and I know not easy to pull to in this part of Mexico.

Playa del Carmen wedding photography by Elizabeth Medina, destination wedding photojournalism in Playa del Carmen.

Did you ever waste time worrying about something that never ends up happening? The day of Zahia and Paco’s wedding the weather did not start out in a very promising way…as I drove to the beautiful Casa Faller mansion in Merida where I was to do a portrait session before the wedding ceremony it was dark and dreary, I was sure it was going to rain at any moment. I also knew that the location would be fully set up for the reception and that finding place to photograph could be difficult. Finally I was worried that the bride might not be ready in time for a complete photo session since the mass was very early by local standards and I thought if it was raining she might not even want to risk going out in the bad weather before the ceremony! When I reached the venue to my surprise things immediately fell into place. The weather cleared up just as Zahia (who looked amazing in a gorgeous Vera Wang gown) arrived. A few minutes later Paco drove up in the cutest vintage Mercedes Benz. Gracias Paco y Zahia, ¡me encantó hacer las fotografías de tan linda pareja!

The two of them seemed so relaxed and happy on their big day, it was so much fun to photograph them! The grounds of the Casa Faller looked amazing (the wedding was coordinated by Baku Events) but were indeed completely taken over by caterer Rigel Gonzalez’ very large crew, but the lovely house itself was a perfect setting for the portrait session and the family portraits that followed. Perfect!

There was time to photograph some of the details, I love those photogrpahs to include in the album,. I thought Zahia’s shoes were especially pretty.

The couple with their immediate families.

I would love to include a photograph of each of the children that participated, but this being Merida there were almost 20, I loved seeing so many familiar faces from past photo sessions and all as cute as could be!

Elizabeth Medina is a wedding photographer based in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. She photographs destination weddings throughout Mexico and is a member of WPJA, Wedding Photojournalist Association.