One thing that makes photographing local weddings extra special is seeing so many friendly familiar faces! In the case of Elsa Gabriela and José´s wedding in Cholul, Yucatan it was especially true because both the bride and groom have sisters and brothers-in-law who we feel very fortunate to count among our favorite past couples!  Gabriela and José were married in Catholic ceremony in Merida, Yucatan. Family and bride and groom photos were done earlier in the day at the reception site. Please be sure to scroll down to check out the stylish way they incorporated a very large and adorable group of  little ones (not to mention their beloved pets perfectly dressed for the occasion of course), not to mention the amazing reception. This wedding was coordinated by the team at BAKU Events.  All images © 2012  Lindsey and Elizabeth Medina.

It is great to be back from a little blog haitus just in time to share some pure amazingness! Missy and Brian were married in February at the beautiful Le Blanc Spa Resort in Cancun. As impossible as it is to not love the Mayan Riviera (not to mention Tulum, Puerto Vallarta, Costa Careyes and of course Cabo where we will be shooting soon!) there is just something totally unique about Cancun! Missy and Brian’s wedding day was gorgeous, Le Blanc was a very intimate and elegant setting for the wedding with the most incredible white sand and turquoise water imaginable This such a fun and laid back group of friends and family, Lindsey and I truly enjoyed everything about the day!

First some bride and groom photos around the grounds of the resort prior to the ceremony, so glad we were able to have this time with the bride and groom because after the ceremony they were done with the photos and able to spend all their time with their guests!

Next shot is Lindsey’s…

We were joined by the family members and wedding party friends for some very relaxed portraits on the beach, I really loved these!

The ceremony site at Le Blanc overlooks the water and is very intimate and private.

Married!

The reception was held on a rooftop deck overlooking the laguna. Again very private and scenic. I would even say the location would be tranquil and peaceful but that would have to be when this very high energy group is not in the house! Pretty purple reception decor…

Missy’s brother and his fiancee serenaded the bride and groom, such a lovely gift.

The toasts… first the FOB…

A few words for the groom…

And the bride…

Thank you Missy and Brian, Lindsey and I miss you all and wish you the very best!

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.

Glad to finally be able to share Rachel and Adam’s photos! We try to keep things moving along relatively quickly and are proud to have never passed the 8 week editing mark but this wedding from late in our spring season cut it a little close for comfort. Wish as I might for a magic bullet (or a magic mouse or Wacom tablet as the case may be) as an artist I have never been able to find a way around the notion that each individual photograph deserves to sparkle and that the elegance lies in the the little touches. I am sure that each photographer has their own process and way of doing things, contrary to what common sense and practicality would dictate the polishing process at Elizabeth Medina Photography seems to involve about 87 steps, the final and most time consuming of which are customarily carried out on a computer which decided that July was a good time to take a break. (we are suspecting that the Macs may be in cahoots because the iphone decided to go for a swim in salt water, we’ll be keeping a close eye on the others for signs of rebellion). Happily we are up and running, chugging away a little slower than we’d like but definitely on track. (and Amy and Matt your San Miguel de Allende weekend is up next!)

This was such  beautiful day, super fast paced with a great couple and a really super fun group. I think the Sapphire Riviera (formerly Paradisus) in the Riviera Maya has such an ideal beach wedding set up with a very private beach ceremony site and a deck overlooking the ocean that was just perfect for Rachel and Adam’s event. Rachel is in fashion and has great style, and is just a really nice person to be around. I loved hearing that she found me through another very cool past bride.  Rachel and Adam, thank you for all your patience and good humor on the wedding day (a little warm, no?) I hope you enjoy the photographs as much as I have!

I stole Rachel for a few minutes between the Ketubah signing and the ceremony, these “stolen” bridal portraits where some of my favorite images from the day.

I loved these shoes so much!

We had time for just few bride and groom shots before the ceremony. Did I mention it was warm out?

Corlorful beach ceremony decorations, love the flip flops for the guests and  the combination of bright colors.

Rachel was not the only one with blinged out footwear, her flower girl was right there with her!

A few ceremony moments.

What do you do when you reach the end of the aisle and there are still petals in the basket?

Mazel tov!

Th ceremony was timed very close to sunset, we a very quick bride and groom photo session after the ceremony, I was very happy that Rachel and Adam we were able to capture so much variety and expression in such a short time.

A few reception details, and some of the action…

During the father of the bride’s speech…

Elizabeth Medina is Mexico’s premier wedding photographer, photographing events in the Riviera Maya, Cancun, Yucatan areas as well as San Miguel de Allende, Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos 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.