We have been wanting to share photographs of this sweet couple for a while now. Here´s hoping that this will be the start of recovering from the busy wedding season and being caught up again with editing and blogging! Samantha and Miguel´s civil wedding was held at the Casa Faller in Merida. Although it was not possible to photograph the religious wedding we were so happy to have the opportunity to photograph Samantha and Miguel and their joyful group of family and friends for the celebration of the civil wedding. The event took place at the Casa Faller in Merida, Yucatan, coordinated by our friends at Baku Events. Samantha and Miguel we are looking forward to more photos of the two of you very soon!

Elizabeth Medina Photography, Mexico´s premier wedding photographer, photographing weddings in Merida, Yucatan and throughout Mexico.

Bright sunny day, turquoise ocean, beautiful laid back couple, smiles all around… lots of love and a crazy, crazy party, ie. the perfect destination wedding. Vanessa and Sean… the wait is over, I hope the wedding photographs take you back to  your very memorable day at Azul Beach!

Mexico’s premier wedding photographer photographs Mexico destination weddings in the Mayan Riviera and throughout Mexico.

Geral and Manolo… such a happy, beautiful couple, just enjoying every bit of their amazing wedding day experience and having the very best of times with their family and friends. The wedding day passes so quickly and it is marvelous to see a couple that seems to live every single moment to the fullest. Gracias Geral and Manolo!

Bride and groom met before the ceremony for photos.

A few photos from the Catholic ceremony at the Nuestra Señora de Libano church.

Reception decor, wow, I loved all the color!

Parent dances…

Geral with her sisters and the bride and groom with their friends.

I think this would be the first time an inflatable lobster has appeared on the blog… guess there is a first time for everything!

Fotografía de boda, fotógrafo de bodas, Yucatan, Mexico.

Beautiful couple, amazing location…I am just about speechess! (and if you have been reading this blog and are thinking that its about time, since this is a photo blog, not a collection of essays! But I really do photograph the most amazing couples and sometimes I just can’t help babbling on. Feel free to skip to the good stuff, you know, the images!)

Kathy, Claudio and Lauren and I were so fortunate to have the use of a historic family residence on the very lovely Paseo de Montejo here in Merida for this wedding day portrait session. This home is one of the two ¨casas gemelas¨ or twin houses,  very striking turn of the century European inspired landmarks, and it was a delight to see that this incredible mansion is being cared for with such love and respect. Kathy and Claudio were a pleasure to photograph and if it hadn´t been for the fact that they needed to go get married I could have happily continued to shoot away!

Elizabeth Medina destination wedding photographer located in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. Wedding photojournalism throughout Mexico.

I think it is no secret to anyone reading this blog that we love, love, love all our brides and grooms, they are the very best people! I certainly can´t imagine a sweeter job than documenting their love for each other. We hope you enjoy our tribute to some of the most special people anywhere, all of the amazing couples we were privileged to photograph during 2009. To view the slide show please click here and allow a moment for loading.

Monica and Francisco held their destination wedding at one of my very favorite locations. The Hacienda Temozon is a just a spectacular and unique wedding venue. Dating from 1655 this authentic Yucatecan hacienda is full of history and local flavor. For those not familiar with the area, Yucatan has its own cuisine and culture, the Mayan langueage is still spoken here and Yucatan is home to wonders like the pyramids of Chichen Itza….sorry for rambling, but I can’t help but be thankful to live in an area with so much spririt!

I also could not feel more honored or proud to be entrusted to photograph events such as Monica and Francisco’s Mexico wedding or happier to have had Lauren as my assistant photographer throughout the day. Monica y Francisco, les deseo todo lo mejor y espero verlos en Merida para festejar el aniversario!

Elizabeth Medina wedding photojouralism Yucatan Mexico. Elizabeth Medina specializes in destination wedding photography and photographs events in Yucatan, the Mayan Riviera and throughout Mexico.

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 loved photographing Alex and Drew´s Playa del Carmen Wedding! The wedding was held at the Royal in PDC. We have photographed several weddings at that location and honestly I ahve to say that no two have been alike and that I have loved them all! One thing I love about this resort, which is located right in the heart of Playa del Carmen, Mexico is that everyone present seems to be having such a good time. I think that Alex and Drew´s wedding more than proves the point! And as if a gorgeous beach location, happy guests and a beautiful (and ultra laid back) bride and handsome groom were not enough how about a zippy blue, green and yellow color scheme to melt a photographer´s heart? Simplemente perfecto!

The beautiful bride before the ceremony…

Bride and groom details…I LOVED the use of yellow and blue!

Alex and Drew had a dry erase board for guests to write messages, this was SUCH a hit, the messages were SO  funny and a great way to get wedding guests to actually use the disposible cameras!

Playa del Cament photographer Elizabeth Medina, destination wedding photography in Playa del Carmen 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.

emedina_book_tsip

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.

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.

Tina and Garrett were married in a beach ceremony at the Sandos, Playacar in Playa de Carmen. i was very pleased to be their wedding photographer.The weather was very iffy that day, it actually rained right before the ceremony…but fortunately it stopped just in the nick of time and the afternoon was beautiful. The Sandos Playcar is located on a stretch of pristine beach and was a fantastic location for the next morning’s “trash the dress” session at sunrise. It was beautiful and such a pleasure to spend time with this delightful couple. Graicas Tina and Garrett, more photos are coming very soon!

If I had a little “photographer’s favorite” insignia for my blog posts I might put it on this photo, I think Tina’s beautiful spirit comes through.

Getting ready…

The flowers arrive…

The ceremony…

yes, There is a story here…the bestman had an unusual responsibility during the ceremony.

6 am, a beautiful new day and time to trash the dress…

What a day! Although a storm was brewing at sea this was one of the brightest, sunniest days ever. A “little” on the warm side but very, very beautiful and so lucky to have a fun, fun couple like Betty and Chris to photograph. It struck us that Betty and Chris seemed to be such a case of opposites attract, they had such very different styles but seemed absolutely PERFECT together. What could be more fun than to capture the moments for such a magical couple?

The bride had a great time with her girls…not bridesmaids this time but the best flower girls ever! The girls were so excited to get all dressed up and accessorized and then travel to the wedding gazebo with the bride in a horse drawn carriage.

When Betty and her girls arrived at the gazebo they entered the ceremony accompanied by a full mariachi band.

The bride’s entrance, a great capture by Lindsey.

The ring bearer did a great job. he was so serious about it all, barely cracking a smile before the wedding, I love both of the guy’s expressions as the bride made her entrance.

Since Betty speaks both English and Spanish Chris had learned enough Spanish to read his vows in her language, how sweet is that?

Quiet moments after the ceremony…

Bride and groom had a private carriage ride after the ceremony.

And we were able to do some photography on the beach at dusk, fantastic.

Cancun wedding photography at the Moon Palace Resort, Cancun, Mexico by Ddestination wedding photographer Elizabeth Medina,. Elizabeth Medina is available for commission throughout the Maya Rivera, Yucatan, and Mexico.