We love our local California weddings, but we ABSOLUTELY love shooting destination weddings! Rosie and I have a special place in our hearts for Mexico. Rosie’s family is from Mexico and I grew up always traveling to somewhere new in the country: Cabo, Puerta Vallarta, Mazatlan, Cancun, and Playa Del Carmen.
Cancun is an amazing destination to visit in the Caribbean. The entire landscape is filled with lush jungle, pre-historic natural beauty and modern luxury. This Mexico destination should be at the top of your wedding planning list. The main draws are the finest all- inclusive resorts amongst the emerald coastlines and jungle landscape.
We want to help make the coordination and day of photography process both smooth and fun! Let’s do this!
Choosing a professional:
We know you probably got it all covered but if you want to maximize the experience and fully soak in your stay in MX, we recommend you hire a planner that will help facilitate things when you arrive. The planner could be a resort employee already built into your wedding package, or a private vendor that will give you a more tailored experience and make sure all of your requests are executed. We do provide destination wedding planning that you can pair up with photography since we are a husband and wife team. Rosie will put together your full itinerary or simply schedule the day remotely if you’re just looking for someone to keep in contact with all of your vendors and make reservations. And yes, we are fluent in Spanish.
Choosing a date:
If you are planning a wedding somewhere that your are not familiar with the weather patterns, please do your research. Your coordinator and local wedding venue will let you know the best times for a wedding. The last thing you want is to get a smashing deal on the trip and find out its because of Hurricane Season. Plan accordingly, ask the professionals, and trust the locals.
Book your Flight:
Booking your flight can be as much as a headache as making table seating charts. You want to make sure your group is together and you don’t choose a flight with 2-3 connections. We recommend you catch a red eye into Cancun with a departing flight before 11am so you don’t get back home at 11pm with a long drive ahead of you. The departure day should not have any festivities and be treated as a non vacation day. You will have quite a bit of luggage to carry around, be a little sun burnt, and maybe a tad hung over. Pro tip: Avoid Viva and Spirit Airlines. It will cost just as much as the AeroMexico or Alaskan Flights in the end after all the fees. Save yourself the headache and use the more known airlines.
Choosing your Experience:
Remember, you are choosing to get married in Mexico because did not want to have a “traditional” wedding. Don’t get stuck on the usual wedding festivities. Think about the experience you want to have with the people you love. Here are some great ideas of festivities you can do with your guests leading up to or after the wedding.
-Group snorkeling trip to Isla Mujeres after/before the wedding
-Visiting Xcaret Theme parks (highly recommended)
-Welcome Dinner (all inclusive will cover the food bill)
-Brunch after the wedding day (all inclusive will cover the food bill)
-Enjoying the nightlife in Playa Del Carmen/Cancun
-Free day, where your guests can choose what they want to do and get the most out of the tropical getaway.
Remember to take it easy on the itinerary if your group is over 30 people. Letting everyone have their own unique experience outside of the wedding day will be greatly appreciated by your guests.
Invite your guests:
Typically, our couples keep their guest count on the smaller side since it takes more planning to attend a destination wedding. Consider that many with high demanding jobs, multiple children, or budget limitations may not be able to attend. The sweet spot for a destination wedding guest count is 30-50 guests. We recommend that couples invite their immediate family and close friends to keep the itinerary less extensive so you can enjoy spending time with all of your guests.
Hire the vendors:
If you are going with an all inclusive resort, they will already have all of your vendors chosen for you. However, you may want to customize that selection by opting out of some of their choices: like photography or wedding planners. The major drawback of all inclusive destination weddings is that you miss out on the personal interaction with you wedding vendors. Sometimes it makes it easier, but many things can go wrong in the end. Our couples are usually very picky when it comes to two things, photography and coordination. If you have someone to perfectly execute your vision and document it beautifully, everything else such as food, decor, and entertainment flow seamlessly. The last thing you want to happen is to have an epic wedding but do not like any of your portraits or find out that non of your preferences were made by the onsite planning team. We will have several remote meeting prior to your wedding and even meet you on the day of arrival to go over details. You will be amazed how much more enjoyable your experience will be by bringing in your own photographer and planner to your Mexico destination wedding.
Planning the Wedding:
By having us help plan your destination wedding, we can help you in two ways: Full wedding planning, or day of coordination. The total price for each is determined by itinerary, flight rates, and number of nightly stay needed to execute your event.
With Full Wedding Planning, it includes:
-3 1hr Virtual Meetings leading up to wedding date
-Decor Ideas (building a board on pinterest)
-Logistics (research plane tickets, hotel rates, all inclusive flight, transportation and lodging)
-Daily Itinerary planning
-Invitations, guest list, and guest confirmation
-Vendor Interviews, booking, and communication with resort staff
-Handling Budget for vendors, gratuity, etc
-Assisting with decor and communicating with resort staff on day of (we are fluent in Spanish)
-We will arrive depending on the itinerary and depart after the wedding has concluded and festivities have come to an end. (we reserve the right to make our own flight and hotel arrangements)
Day of Coordination:
-3 1hr Virtual Meetings leading up to wedding date
-Handling Budget for vendors, gratuity, etc
-Communicating with Resort Staff
-We will arrive depending on the itinerary and depart after the wedding has concluded and festivities have come to an end. (we reserve the right to make our own flight and hotel arrangements)
The Wedding day:
Leave it up to Nick and Rosie to help make your destination wedding dream a reality. We will be there from start to finish to make sure your wedding experience is perfectly planned and photographed in an unforgettable way. We cant wait to hear about where you want to get married in Mexico!
Check our this gallery from Suzie and David’s Wedding at Mahekal Beach Resort which was voted #15 of the Top 20 Resorts in Eastern Mexico by Condé Nast Traveler – Readers’ Choice Awards 2022.
