As amazing as it is to photograph in new and exotic locations the opportunity to play on our home court is just as exciting and a very nice change of pace! Rosannette and Arturo were married in a Catholic ceremony at the Iglesia de la Tercera Orden in Merida, Yucatan‘s colonial centro. The reception was held in a lovely open air location on the grounds of the Yucatan Country Club.  This wedding was coordinated by Celebra Organización de Eventos. It was a real pleasure to document the wedding of such an enjoyable couple, I think their happy expressions can best tell the story of the day…

Lauren aced the next shot!

El baile de los novios…

Father and daughter dance…

All photographs (c) 2011 Elizabeth and Lauren Medina.

Mexico Wedding Photographer Elizabeth Medina photographs weddings in Merida, Yucatan and throughout Mexico.

Hola blog readers…  I know, I know! Long time no blog! Crazy but this month marks the five year anniversary of this little wedding photography blog! (and even more amazing the website itself has been going strong for over a decade!) Ironically we seem to have celebrated this blogging milestone by playing blog hooky, stealing extra time to work on images from some very special weddings as well as other very exciting creative projects. Jared and Wadia’s wedding is more than enough reason to pick things up. This lovely couple reside in the US but incorporated a great deal of Yucatecan charm in their wedding celebration, beginning with the welcome dinner at the Hacienda Chichi Suarez in Merida. An enormous amount of rain that fell over the weekend, however far from slowing anyone down it only seemed to add to the adventure! Wedding photography coming soon! All photographs Elizabeth and Lindsey Medina.

Here are few photographs from Wadia and Jared’s casual photo session and the hacienda welcome party that followed. Location: Hacienda Chichi Suarez, Event Coordination: Icela Cardenas, Celebra Events.

After being an extremely warm and humid afternoon the skies finally opened up and poured just as the party was to start!And no this did not stop anyone from having a fantastic time!

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.

One final blog post for Alexis and Alain’s wedding, of course you know I could not resist sharing photographs from the hacienda trash the dress session! Lindsey and I great time wandering around Yucatan with Alexis and Alain! I know that from the time I first met Alexis months before the wedding she had a vision of a hacienda TTD session, it was such a pleasure to be able to see the result come to life so many months later. Alexis and Alain, congratulations and we hope to see you in back Merida in the future!

All photographs (c)2011 Lindsey and Elizabeth Medina.

Alejandro and June’s hacienda wedding in Merida, Yucatan… where to begin?  We were fortunate to spend a great deal of time with this very sweet couple, starting off the day prior to the wedding with a bride and groom photo session at the Hacienda Teya and finishing up with a visit to the happy couple on their honeymoon in Tulum! (they invited us, honest!)  The wedding day was full of photo opportunities, the bridal “getting ready” took place at the historic Gran Hotel in Merida’s “centro”, and it was so awesome that June and her party were able to literally cross the street to arrive at the Catholic ceremony at the very lovely Iglesia de la Tercera Orden. For those that are not familiar with Merida, this colonial city is home to many very special Catholic churches and June and Alejandro chose a beauty for their Catholic marriage celebration. I hope you will scroll all the way down for a little taste of the Hacienda wedding reception and the “eco chic” Tulum TTD session which was a fun adventure! June and Alex thank you so much, it has been wonderful to get to know the two of you and we appreciate all your collaboration along the way!

OK, this next image of June’s dashing groom is not going to do anything to dispel the idea that we are a little old fashioned here in Merida.  :-)

You guessed right, there is a back story for the next photograph! It seems that back in the day before June and Alex started dated Alex commented that when he met the girl who would push/jump start his old Falcon he would marry her… and you know who that beautiful girl was!

Getting ready on the wedding day, El Gran Hotel.

The next image is one of my favorites, it just says Merida to me.

Just a few images from the reception at Teya…

And finally the trash the dress session in Tulum at an eco chic hotel called Azulick…muy rustico but a great spot for June and Alex’s final photo session!

Could someone please tell me how to sign up for blogger’s anonymous? I just popped in with the idea of adding five or six images from Amber and Jero’s engagement photo session and somehow I have uploaded more than twenty photos! Amber and Jero, it was so much fun hanging out with the two of you at the amazing Hacienda, Temozon . These engagement photos were just the beginning and we can’t wait for your wedding weekend!

Mexico Wedding Photographer Elizabeth Medina, hacienda wedding photography, engagement photo sessions, wedding photography in Merida, Yucatan 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.

Sometimes people ask me about my ¨typical clients¨  which I have to say is a question that completely stumps me. We have been so blessed to meet and photograph amazing brides and grooms from literally every continent, photographing very intimate  weddings and affairs with surprisingly long guest lists, beach weddings, church weddings, extremely formal and elegantly casual affairs, crazy parties and more reserved celebrations. I think the common thread that seems to tie together all our couples is their willingness to go the extra mile to have special photographs to remember and celebrate their ¨big day¨. Oh and of course they are all simply beautiful people and totally crazy about each other!  On a more random level a common trait that seems to appear would be that we have photographed many, many graphic design professionals, both brides and grooms, which is totally fantastic! I love knowing that our beloved jpegs will be in good hands and get put to many creative uses. In this case the beautiful bride is an experienced graphic designer and when Ana Mercedes reached out to me over a year ago she already was excited about the photographs. It was hard to have to wait an entire year for the photo session at the Quinta Montes Molina! Ana y Lucio, espero que les gusten las fotos y que no les haya cansado demasiado!  Fue muy especial fotografiarlos, gracias y un abrazo!

La primera foto es de Lauren… estaba increible el cielo!

I told you she was beautiful…

Lucio was all smiles waiting for the first glimpse of his bride!

The “first look” on the front porch of the Quinta Montes Molina, very special.

Photographs of the couple in different areas of this historic home.

Bridal details, Ana’s bouquet and shoes…

We captured some very special bridal portraits of Ana in the interior of the quinta… I could have photographed a few more hours (or days, haha!) and not run out of interesting locations but of course Ana and Lucio needed to get married!

Bride and groom on the grounds of the quinta at sunset…

Ana and a few of her damas…

Aaahhh, Yucatan! One thing that never ceases to surprise me is how few people outside of Mexico seem to even know the state of  Yucatan (as opposed to the more touristy state of Quintana Roo with Cancun and the Mayan Riviera are a part) exists! Yucatan is a very unique state (it was even a separate country for a while there!)  full of quirks, interesting customs, an amazing local cuisine (panuchos anyone?) and more history than you will find just about anywhere. Legend has it that if a traveler drinks the water of  Yucatan he will become a resident for life (and take my word for it they don’t share this information until after it is too late!). Pierre, who hails from France, and Andrea share a love of sailing and it is only fitting that this lovely couple’s Mexico civil wedding be held on the beach in front of Las Tunas, Andrea’s family’s beach house in the village of Telchac Puerto, Yucatan. Here are a few images from a very intimate and special wedding celebration.

Yucatan’s Gulf of Mexico coast has one of the world’s largest populations of flamingos, a group flew overhead right after the ceremony.

Merida, Yucatan Mexico wedding photography, Elizabeth Medina is Mexico’s premier wedding photographer, photographing weddings in locations throughout Mexico.

Maybe it has to do with lunchtime being almost here, but I can’t help but thinking of Ky and Cody’s destination wedding in Mexico as just plain delicious. So much yummy color and texture and of course such a sweet, sweet couple! It is no secret by now that I am always delighted to have the Hacienda Uayamon as my photographic playground. What is a little hard for me to wrap my brain around is the idea that I have the privilege to be photographing amazing couples who have found, chosen and traveled long distances to such a remote location after falling in love with it through the photographs on this very blog. Ky and Cody, I appreciate so much all you did to make the hacienda wedding a reality, I loved spending the day with the two of you and your families, thank you so much for appreciating my vision and  letting me be part of your wedding.

Ky looked amazing…

The “first look” brought on a few tears.

We were able to do quite a bit of photography of the bride and groom around the grounds of the hacienda.

Gotta love all the color and how it “popped” against the backdrop of the rustic hacienda walls.

Cody spotted this little ‘tortulita” sitting quietly right above the spot where we were photographing.

Bride and groom taking a little break…

The ceremony was held in the ruins of the chapel, I think this site is simply magical.

The reception was set up in the hacienda grounds, and of course the use of color was again evident.

I love the next image of the intimate dinner served under the giant Ceiba tree, it really evokes to me of how it felt to be there.

Elizabeth Medina is Mexico´s premier wedding photographer. Specializing in destination weddings she covers events in Yucatan, Campeche, Mayan Riviera, Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, San Miguel de Allende and throughout Mexico.

Vern and Andrea are an awesome couple who traveled from New York to be married in two unique and  beautiful ceremonies at the very lovely Hacienda Petac near Merida, Yucatan which were coordinated beautifully by our friend Colleen Casey-Leonard. The details and ambiance of this wedding were really quite special. I really think that the Hacienda Petac is a perfect spot for an adventurous couple planning a destination wedding a little bit off the beaten path. We were excited to discover this location!

This wedding was photographed by Lindsey, I was fortunate to be able to go along and help out as her bag carrying assistant/second shooter. After all the years we have been shooting together it was great to have the tables turned at this wedding, having never actually had the opportunity to assist or second shoot before I found the experience very freeing.

I loved Lindsey’s image of Andrea as she walked through the hacienda to meet up with Vern prior to the ceremony. Wow!

Photographs of bride and groom around the hacienda prior to the ceremony…this hacienda is truly one of the most beautiful in Yucatan. It is very intimate and has an extremely peaceful atmosphere. Vern and Adrea were able to reserve the entire hacienda for their group, how amazing is that?

The next shot is mine, since I knew the bride and groom were in good hands I was able to have some fun photographing around the hacienda. Yucatan and its people are so special, it is wonderful to live is such a unique location.

The first ceremony was an authentic Mayan ceremony performed by a  Mayan Xaman. It was held under an enormous Ceiba tree at sunset, very fitting because that tree figures prominently in the local Mayan culture.

The second ceremony was held by candle light in the hacienda’s chapel and was very beautiful as well.

Lindsey Medina, destination wedding photographer, hacienda wedding photography in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.

I hope to be forgiven for a blog post heavy in both wedding day detail photographs and superlatives. I met Zach and Lolita several months prior to the wedding when they came to Merida, Mexico for a site visit to their wedding venue, the Hacienda Xcanatun. I was delighted to be able to meet “my” bride and groom in person and very excited knowing their celebration would take place not only in Merida but at one of my very favorite destination wedding locations!

For those who might be unfamiliar, Yucatan’s haciendas are true hidden gems, as former plantations they are incredible historic sites, very unique to this part of the Peninsula and not found in the Mayan Riviera or Tulum, areas that have been developed recently. Xcanatun dates from the XVIII century and is now a wonderful boutique hotel, it is charming and intimate with an upscale feel, and was the perfect setting for this very lovely wedding. Zach and Lolita, Lindsey and I wish you all the very best! Felicidades a los dos!

Lolita on her way to meet her groom for a “first look” and bride and groom photgraphs on the grounds of Hacienda Xcanatun, these two are so great together!

The backdrop of the ceremony was the hacienda chapel, it was very peaceful and beautiful.

The dinner reception was held on the hacienda’s outdoor terrace. Zach and Lolita had music all throughout the evening, an orchestra accompanied the ceremony followed by a traditional Yucatecan trio (perfect for the location and ambience!) and finally after dinner a local salsa band had the guests on their feet!

Lindsey and I were able to “escape” the reception for a few minutes with Zach and Lolita for a few nigh time photos…

Wedding photographer based in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, Elizabeth Medina photographs weddings in Yucatan, Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, Cancun, the Maya Riviera, Tulum, San Miguel de Allende and throughout Mexico, with a relaxed, natural and expressive style.

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.