It never stops amazing me how each wedding I photograph is unique and full of surprises. Melanie and Chris in particular had some very interesting surprises along the way! They found out just weeks before the wedding that a new location would be needed, but rolled with it and had an amazing beach wedding at the Paradisus resort in the Maya Riviera. They were married on the beach accompanied by more than a hundred guests who had traveled to Mexico for their destination wedding. The weather was kind of so-so…but then in true Maya Rivera form took a turn for gorgeous, rewarding Melanie and Chris with an incredible rainbow during the ceremony! I may not have believed it had I not been there!

Melanie before the ceremony…

Chris waiting patiently.

for the “first look” before the ceremony.

Melanie and her girls on the way to the beach for the ceremony….

Such an exciting moment as Melanie and her father entered the ceremony.

Melanie and Chris were the last ones to realize that an incredible rainbow had appeared right over the wedding chuppah.

Lauren captured this one of the happy crowd as I was photographing from a second floor balcony.

Bride and groom after the ceremony on the beach.

The reception was also held on the beach, the next image is from the “first dance”.

The two families are so united, what a beautiful thing to witness.

I love the next photo from the cake cutting.

Things got a little crazy…

Fotografa de bodas Elizabeth Medina, fotografia de boda en la Maya Riviera.

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.