Francesca and Tommy were married in a beautiful beach ceremony at the Grand Velas Riviera Maya Resort followed by an amazing dance party overlooking the ocean. I have been looking forward to having the chance to add these photos to the blog, the photographs of the bride and groom enjoying the day so fully just makes me smile. This location was new to Lindsey and I, it is a beautiful resort with the most beautiful landscaping, a perfect setting for this laid back but elegant celebration. Basically it was a fairy tale on the beach followed by an amazing party, ending up with everyone in the pool!

I love it when there is time for bridal portraits prior to the ceremony. These of Francesca before the ceremony were some of my favorites. She looked amazing in her incredible Pnina Tornai gown.

The groom prior to the ceremony…alone and with his mother.

Photographs of the wedding ceremony on the beach at the Grand Velas…

Oops, almost lost the veil!

Grand Velas Riviera Maya wedding. All photographs (C) 2012 Lindsey Medina and Elizabeth Medina.

**update** Wedding Day photos below!

Delayed gratification… Let’s just say I am a bit challenged in this department. Back in the darkroom days one of my most pressing reasons for learning to process my own film was the fact that I could not stand to wait for the negatives to come back to see what was on the rolls of film. Somehow the anticipation and that first peek at the gems hiding on the film as it dripped dry was the very best part of photography.

Things are a little bit different now, instead of 36 shots on a roll of film (and just 12 on medium format rolls how crazy is that!) we have the opportunity to shoot hundreds (OK, thousands!) of digital images. I still can’t help but think of the digital images captured by the camera as my starting point or “negative” rather than the final image and I do my very best to make sure each image reaches its full potential in the editing process. I truly appreciate and admire the patience of our clients in the weeks prior to the “big reveal” of the fully edited set of images and nothing pleases me more than to hear that it was worth the wait!

In the case of Nathan and Maria’s wedding at the Moon Palace in Cancun the editing process took a tad longer than usual, possibly because they are such a nice couple I just didn’t want to let them go! First up, a sneak peek of a few images from the day-after trash the dress session at Cancun’s Moon Palace Resort to be followed very soon by the wedding day images. Nathan and Maria, thank you for the pleasure of photographing the two of you! We hope to see you again on one beautiful peninsula or another!  All images (c) 2012 Lauren and Elizabeth Medina.

On to the wedding day…

Wendy and Rob are seasoned travelers who reside in Scotland and obviously have a romantic and adventurous spririt. After all what could be more romantic than to be married on one of their trips?  The couple was joined by two close friends for a wedding at the Hacienda Chichi Suarez in Merida, Yucatan which was very intimate and beautiful. I  really loved the photographs that Lindsey and I were able to capture through out the day´s events in the different areas of this historic hacienda. Thank you Wendy and Rob! I hope you enjoy the photographs!  Event coordination BAKU Events. All images ©2012 Elizabeth and Lindsey Medina

Getting ready, Merida Centro, Casa de Las Sirenas:

The lovely ceremony was held in the ruins of the Hacienda´s Casa de Maquinas.

The group was serenaded by mariachis in the hacienda´s wine cellar, then it was time for a candlelit dinner on the lawn of the hacienda. Amazing!

Just couldn’t make it through this day of love without remembering some amazing 2011 couples and sharing a little bit of their wedding magic! With much love and appreciation from the whole gang at Elizabeth Medina Photography. Happy Valentine’s Day!

All images (c)2011 Elizabeth Medina Photography

Mexico… what can I say I am a little biased since this is my home. But there are no two ways about it…  I am firmly convinced that there can be no more perfect place to be married! Kim and Thomas’  wedding at the Royal Resort in Playa del Carmen is a case in point. The couple shared a very intimate and relaxed  gazebo ceremony with a very happy and spirited group of family and friends, followed by an exhilarating toes in the sand beach side fiesta. In  between we somehow managed to steal time for images of the couple enjoying each other and the moment. Kim and Thomas, we had such a wonderful time with the two of you. We hope the photographs bring back some great memories!

The first photographs are from the morning after the wedding when Lauren and I met up with Kim and Thomas for a brief “morning after” shoot.

The big day! A few detail and getting ready photos…

Not only was she amazing to start with Kim had Adrian Guerra performing his makeup art!

When the veil goes on the whole bride thing somehow seems to becomes real.

The gazebo ceremony site, lovely and the wedding colors really popped against the blue sky, turquoise ocean and palm trees!

All photographs (c) 2011 Elizabeth and Lauren Medina. Elizabeth Medina Photography, photographing weddings throughout the Yucatan Peninsula, the Mayan Riviera, Playa del Carmen, Cancun, Cozumel and Tulum, Mexico.

Matt and Monica’s was held in one of my favorite ceremony locations, the Sky Deck at the Azul Sensatori Resort in Puerto Morelos. Having heard a bit about the wedding plans from Matt I really couldn’t wait to see what the day would bring. Matt and Monica put a great deal of hard work into really personalizing the wedding, so much so that I am giving in to the temptation to divide the photographs from this amazing destination wedding into two blog posts since want to share so many of the creative details that I just can’t seem to make it fit!

Just a few details from the getting ready portion of the day. After beginning the day with the Ketubah signing in a short white sundress, Monica was married in the full length gown that she had designed and hand sewn which converted to a perfect dancing dress for the reception! (yes, you heard correctly, the very talented Monica actually designed and sewed her fabulous convertible wedding gown). Words don’t do justice to Monica’s artistry or attention to detail… The wedding had a peacock theme, which showed up throughout the day and in the custom guest signing print from Bee and Leaf.

Matt and the guys before the ceremony…

Monica with her girls…

The Jewish ceremony was held on the Azul Sensatori sky deck, I think this lovely space has a very special energy and fortunately Matt and Monica’s wedding was held a wonderful sunny day. I loved how the wedding creatively incorporated both Mexican and Jewish details and so much bright color not to mention love and emotion!

Bride and groom walked around each other in the Jewish tradition.

Matt and Monica are  married, Mazel Tov!

Coming soon… La fiesta!

Shabnam and Randall were married in a joyous and very beautiful late afternoon ceremony at The Tides Riviera Maya. Times like this I am grateful that my task is to document with images and not words since I have a feeling that if I tried to tell this fantastic couple’s story with any language other than the camera´s no one would even believe me!  It really did happen though and fortunately I have lots and lots of photographic proof… I hope you enjoy this small sample of the day’s photographs.

The Tides is located in the jungle on a gorgeous stretch of beach and basically captures the essence of Mayan jungle-chic.  A few getting ready details from the bride’s bungalow:

One of the aspects of wedding photography that I truly love is collaborating with my clients and album designer to create flush mount albums. I will confess that often when I am shooting I am imagining juxtapositions and how the images can work most expressively in a wedding album. I think that the two getting ready photos would make an awesome album spread!

Blue sky, turquoise water and the ceremony location, I loved the very light and organic yet elegant feel. Ceremony details and moments… A quick shout out here to the lovely Rebecca Elias from Luxe Destination Weddings : working with the wedding planners from Luxe is such a treat, thank you Rebecca for your great wedding day energy!

The Persian sugar ceremony…

El beso!

Fantastic second shooting from Lindsey… I loved the candid moments she captured throughout the day…

Bride and groom portraits on the beach at sunset… wow.

A few reception details and some of the fun…this was a great dance party!

Shabnam and Randall’s first dance…

Playa del Carmen wedding photography by destination wedding photographer Elizabeth Medina.

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.

Amazing, amazing, amazing… possibly the most overused adjective in the English language! One bad habit I would like to put behind me in the new year is the overuse of this superlative. Unfortunately I will have to start tomorrow because here is no way I can avoid saying AMAZING  just a few more times in describing Karah and John’s big day! Karah and John chose a destination wedding and  the Hacienda San Jose Cholul as the wedding venue. This location is truly special, it has a very intimate scale, authentic rustic charm, and of course the incomparable local Mayan culture. Located very near my home base of Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, this colorful venue has hosted some of my favorite weddings to date. The Hacienda San Jose somehow seems to attract the most amazing (oops) people and Karah and John and their whole group certainly were just that.

Karah and John’s choice of colors really complemented the location and the team from Baku Events did an amazing outstanding job with the wedding set up.

After finishing up with photos Karah and John joined their guests at the cocktail hour held near the pool, I loved being able to capture the quiet moment when they walked down the path to meet their friends and family.

One thing I love about this hacienda is the way the spaces visually separate. The walk from the pool area to the garden area area where dinner and dancing took place had a very dramatic and beautiful ambiance.

Fotografia de boda, Hacienda San Jose, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.

Walking on sunshine. Woa-o…  If wedding photo sessions had soundtracks I am pretty sure that’s what would have been playing during Ana Cristina and Rodrigo’s wedding day photo shoot at the Hacienda Chichi Suarez in Merida, Yucatan. Lindsey and I were blessed with an unbeatable trifecta… a delightfully happy, ultra low maintenance couple,  one of my favorite playgrounds, the hacienda Chichi Suarez and to top it off plenty of time on a fall day that could not have been more divine.

It didn’t surprise me for a minute that these two even had rainbows without a rain cloud in sight! Rodrigo y Ana Cristina, muchas felicidades!

The first look, bride and groom arrived at the same time in separate cars, it was so fun to see them so thrilled to meet up as bride and groom and get their day rolling.

Mexico photographer Elizabeth Medina is Mexico’s premier wedding photojournalist, covering weddings in the Merida, Campeche the Yucatan Peninsula and throughout Mexico.

It was hard to narrow down the photos from Karina and Richie’s wedding and trash the dress session to a reasonable number! Karina and Richie are the sweetest couple ever and their wedding was beautiful and very emotional. After going through and tagging images to include I realized that I had chosen 99 images! I wanted to share them all but if blogs were boats I know this one would surely sink, so I will confess to using the eeny meeny mini mo method to reach a somewhat reasonable number. Karina and Richie, Lauren and I appreciate the opportunity to photograph your big day, not to mention the very “memorable” trash the dress session. Gracias por ser como son y muchas felicidades a los dos!

We loved Karina’s shoes…

Headed to the ceremony, karina had not only two bridemaids but also the cutest little attendant ever helping with her train. As tiny as he was he took it very seriously and did a wonderful job, thank you Lauren for photographing him!

The vows were very emotional!

Wedding party and bride and groom photos on the beach.

Karina and Richie used traditional handcrafted Mexican toys and musical instruments as centerpieces and the reception. It looked very colorful and the guests had a great time playing with them!

Toasts and the bride and groom’s first dance…

The next morning bride and groom woke up early for a day after trash the dress session in the ocean.

This wedding was a lot of fun to photograph! Britni and Joshua’s wedding and trash the dress session at the Royal in Playa del Carmen, Mexico had liberal doses of both bright bright sunshine and pouring rain that seemed to alternate all day long! Britni and Joshua really went the extra mile and never lost cheer despite the changing weather. These two are so great together, it made for fun day of shooting and lots of photographs!

This has to be one of my all time favorite wedding details ever! Britni chose to wear a pair of blinged out Toms shoes for her wedding day! (at least for the portions of the day that she wasn’t a barefoot bride!) These shoes are really special because for each pair that is purchased an pair is given to a needy child. So fantastic.

I had to include this next one so you could see what great sports Josh and Britni were! We were like the mail service, and a little rain was not going to stop us!

I really never thought I would be mentioning snow in the context of wedding photography in Mexico, but thinking about Scott and Sara’s big day reminds me that weddings are a little like beautiful snowflakes in that no two are ever alike! (another similarity that occurs as I edit a mountain of images this week is that as beautiful as they both are, neither a pile of weddings or a pile of snow is very easy to dig your way out of!)

If I had to list one skill that is important in photography I would have to say the ability to be truly observant. That may seem obvious, but it can be so easy for us to get caught up in recreating a preconceived idea, following the latest trends, or worrying about the camera and lighting technology or a million other things and end up overlooking the moments that can tell the story.

Sara and Scott and their group traveled from Canada for an intimate destination wedding. The couple was very creative in making use of several different areas of the Grand Sirenis resort and the hotel’s architectural details and the natural beauty of the Mayan Riviera coastline combined to provide a striking context for the wedding  photographs. Thank you Scott and Sara!

Sara and Scott did not see each other before the ceremony, as they waited to enter I thought Scott had a lot of discipline not to turn around a take a peek at his bride!

The dance reception was held in a very breezy palapa right on the ocean, this is a really nice spot, very private and peaceful.

Elizabeth Medina is a wedding photographer located in Yucatan, Mexico, photographing weddings in the Riviera Maya, Playa del Carmen, Cancun, Yucatan and throughout Mexico.