Peter and Francesca were married on the beach at the Hotel Esencia, a very lovely villa style boutique hotel in the Mayan Riviera. The wedding day was one of the very windiest days I can remember experiencing with the exception of actual hurricanes, just crazy windy, but it did not seem to slow anyone down a bit! One of the best things that I have noticed about destination weddings is that the cool people are the ones who are sure to attend. This crowd absolutely proved that theory true, it was a great party!

Esencias’s wedding coordinator Damarys Diaz was joined by Mayan Riviera wedding planner Yazmin de la Mora in making this beautiful day a reality. A few photos of the beautiful beach wedding details.

The cocktail hour, and dinner reception were held poolside overlooking the ocean.

Elizabeth Medina Photography specializes in destination wedding photojournalism, photographing weddings in the Mayan Riviera, Cancun, Yucatan, Costa Careyes, San Miguel de Allende, Puerto Valarta and throughout Mexico.

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!

In the months leading up to the wedding I got to know the groom, JP, pretty well, we chatted several times on the phone as the plans for the wedding at one of my very favorite venues, the JW Marriot Cancun came together. Up until a few days prior to the wedding I had not really had any contact with Carolina. I assumed that JP was doing most of the wedding legwork, and that Carolina was either too busy with work to do much wedding planning or maybe she just wasn’t that in to the photography aspect. As one who often needs to do a fair bit of delegating on a daily basis this hypothesis seemed logical, but actually it could not have been more wrong! Carolina turned out to be a star wedding planner and all about doing whatever it takes for great photos, it was a lot of fun to see how the details came together and photograph in some off the path locations that she had scouted. Lauren and I were very happy to get to know Carolina and JP and their group and are very excited about the photos both of the event at the JW Marriott as well as the TTD session at Secrets Maroma beach.

The ceremony was held at the gazebo, it was a little windy that day, but so pretty!

The reception decor and some of the action,the wedding guests had front row seats to a spectacular view of Cancun’s tuquoise water.

Just a few images from the TTD session, this session was done at Secrets Maroma Beach, what a gorgeous resort!

So beautiful! Miko and Kenji were married in a very intimate and spiritual ceremony at the Hacienda Uayamón in Campeche, Mexico. Uayamón is truly one of the Yucatan Peninsula´s gems and I could not feel more happy that so many people have become familiar with this magical hacienda through my work. I tend to get multiple emails every week asking about this location which tells me one thing… that many of my blog ¨readers¨ actually skip my ramblings and just look at the pictures. Which is something that I endorse wholeheartedly! This hacienda is far off the beaten path in the state of Campeche and Kenji and Miko experienced some interesting adventures along the way that I am sure will make fun stories someday. Their spiritual wedding ceremony was truly moving and I felt honored to be present, the atmosphere was simply magnificent and not something I can easily describe in words. Rather than trying I will let the images speak. Congratulations Miko and Kenji, and thank you.

Kenji and Miko symbolically joined two candles to light one single flame, but their individual flames continued to burn next to each other throughout the ceremony.

Wedding photographer Elizabeth Medina, wedding photojournalism in Yucatan, Campeche, Riviera Maya, Cancun and throughout Mexico.

Paraiso de la Bonita is a very charming boutique hotel near Puerto Morelos in Mexico’s Mayan Riviera. It is a favorite travel destination for Crystal and Kevin and of course absolutely perfect for this fantastic couple’s destination wedding. I loved the colors and the resort’s unique vibe, which seemed to be Mexican with a kind of chic twist. Gracias Crystal and Kevin for sharing your day!  Muchas felicidades!

I really love to look for little details that communicate a sense of the feeling of a place.

The first look….so glad Kevin and Crystal planned this and a pre wedding photo session, it really made the day go smoothly.

The ceremony site at the beach of the Paraiso de la Bonita, very secluded and beautiful.

The beautiful guest below is one of the few peopel I have ever seen take more photographs than I do! I am sure she got some great shots thoughout the day!

A few reception details…

What a joyful day! I actually tried my best not to photograph this wedding! Believing I could not guarantee to be back from Kate and Bill’s Puerto Vallarta wedding in time I told Robin I was unavailable and recommended a couple of very talented fellow photographers. Fortunately for me Robin was firm in her decision and not a person who lets logistics stand in the way. When she did some legwork and started finding ways to make it possible I turned out to be putty in her hands! I was almost afraid to see what she could convince me to do on the day of the wedding! Of course she and Heath are as nice a couple as I could ever imagine working with and the wedding was both a warm and happy tradition filled celebration and a feast for the eye. Thank you Robin and Heath for not taking no for an answer! I loved photographing the wedding!

Girls and guys before the wedding…

Robin and Heath chose to do a “first look” before the ceremony.

The ceremony site was just beautiful and meaningful as well.

I loved this one!

Lauren captured the next image, nice!

Robin

Destination wedding photographer Elizabeth Medina, wedding photojournalism in the Riviera Maya. www.elizabethmedina.com