Chasnie and I have been friends with Jonathan and Fallon for a while now. So when they asked us to photograph their wedding, we were beyond excited. Destination wedding photography has always been something we love to do. So finding out the wedding would be in Tulum Mexico was an added bonus!

One thing that was out of the ordinary for us with this wedding is that it would be our first international destination wedding after having our son Zayden. He was still too young to leave him behind with family or a sitter so this meant bringing him along. To do this, we had to get a baby passport (which is hilarious!) and also figure out child care for while we would be shooting. Thankfully, Chasnie’s parents were itching for a vacation and decided to come along!

The traveling part of destination wedding photography is always a little stressful. Packing up all the gear you need and making sure it’s safe is kind of a chore. Throw in packing for a newborn and things got a bit wild. We had three bags for gear, two big suitcases for clothes, diapers, strollers, car seat, and the list goes on. We were totally that family that you feel bad for as they lug all their baggage into the airport! I also had the misfortune of dealing with three bulging discs in my low back. This made it so Chasnie was on duty for carrying Zayden 100 percent of the time. Thankfully, Zayden does pretty dang good on planes. We even had people tell us they didn’t realize there was a baby on the flight.

When we finally arrived at the Dreams Resort and Spa in Tulum Mexico, we instantly knew why Fallon and Jonathan chose this location. The staff was all extremely helpful, the resort was beautiful, and the surrounding area was amazing.

The day before the wedding we had big plans to go to some local pyramids and take pictures. Unfortunately, there was a miscommunication when asking if pictures were allowed. Apparently, you can take pictures all you want, you just can’t take pictures of people wearing a wedding dress and suit. For this type of shoot, you need a special permit from a special department to be issued. This process can supposedly take months for approval, so instead, we hired a driver to take us around town so that we could make the best of the situation. And my oh my did Tulum deliver! We had a great little city street to work with that even gave us the opportunity to use a guy juggling machetes! We also found a great little cliff area on the ocean that made for some epic images! 

With destination wedding photography, planning can always be a little tough because you don’t actually get to do anything on site until you arrive. But on the day of the wedding, things went off without a hitch. The weather was great, everyone was ready to celebrate, and you could feel the love between Jonathan and Fallon. There was also an extremely sweet and unplanned moment during the ceremony where Jonathan said a mini set of vows to Fallon’s daughter Parker (insert weeping and emotional emoji here). Thanks to Jonathan’s dad (who was also the officiant) for throwing him that curveball.

I’ll let the images tell the rest of the story for this wedding. No doubt you’ll be able to tell just how amazing his day really was!

-below is some word about this wedding from the bride.

Married initially July 8, 2017 – with only ourselves, Parker, siblings, nephews, and parents in attendance, we chose a quiet little park near downtown and proceeded to dinner and drinks after. Now, with our marriage legitimate the three of us were able to move into the home we had just purchased! We could then start the planning for our destination wedding!

I had heard of the Dreams Resorts and Spa locations and that kept coming back to me in my head, once we realized and confirmed that the one located in Tulum Mexico was excellent, we were set! From there started a TON of communication with their on-location wedding planner. We also knew we wanted Vinson Images to do our destination wedding photography.

We wanted our wedding to be very crisp, clean and classic so that our guests could enjoy the beautiful paradise we were already in. Plus neither Jon nor I are very flashy people to start with.

Ceremony: We went with a slight upgrade of their all white “avant-garde” chairs on the beach. we went with no ribbons or trim, just simple and sleek. We chose a simple wooden four-post canopy just next to the water. It was perfectly simple for a short and sweet ceremony! My mother and I ordered and arranged all the flowers together. I really wanted something soft and simple and went with light pink silk peony flower bouquets. Bridesmaids’ dresses were a fun part of the wedding planning haha! Originally we thought to have just our one sibling standing with us, and then added a few others to the party!

The bridesmaid dress was ordered mistakenly which caused a switch with the original “Junior Bride” and bride’s dresses, no big deal…just rolled with the punches here! Bridesmaid dresses were ordered from Tobi. Junior Bride aka my daughter Parker’s ceremony dress came from Etsy: TutuGirl – Sleeveless Tutu Dress in white. My ceremony dress came from Etsy as well! After my first choice was not able to be used any longer, I was thrilled when I came across this Etsy Shop and will be giving them a look for any kind of formal dresses needed in the future! RenzRags: a simple lace and tulle spaghetti straps maxi dress, A-line full-length ball gown. We didn’t wear any shoes for the ceremony and everyone had the option to do the same for the reception! For Parker and myself, we chose sandals for low maintenance! Hers were brown Sam Edelman sandals and mine was baby blue.

Due to personally being a hairstylist and make-up artist by trade; all bridal party got ready together in my suite. Bridesmaids, Junior Bride and Mothers all received a Pure Fine Silver ring band specially made for each person! David Adam’s Fine Jewelry, located on the historic downtown Fayetteville Square. Along with that, the bridesmaid’s gifts included: Monogrammed Turkish Towel Blankets, customized baseball cap with ceremony date and location embroidered on, and various little hair products that fit the travel theme.

The Groom wore: Pants- Jos A Banks in Oxford Grey, Shirt- David Donahue in White, Coat- Peter Miller in Navy Blue, Socks- Walker Brothers in Grey Polkadot with red accents, Shoes- Cole Hahn in Burgundy Brown (worn in our Tulum Outing Pictures). Groomsmen wore same to similar pants and a white button up collared shirt. Groomsmen and Dad gifts: personalized Yeti Tumblers.

Reception: Here we stayed true to our clean, classic and non-flashy theme. We opted for all white tablecloths, white avant-garde chairs, and simple white with silver table settings.  For our little Secret Jungle Garden Reception Party,  we strung strands of garland lights across the top of the dance floor and seating area. We also added a few tea lights to each table to keep it simple and tie in the above lighting. The DJ provided our guests with excellent tunes and the food and service were outstanding as well.

We are advocates for beach resorts and all-inclusive weddings. We are actually just big fans of traveling in general. Because of this, our priority was to let our guests enjoy themselves as much as possible!

Destination Wedding Photography | Tulum Mexico

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