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.