This is the first time I photographed a Getting to Know You session in another country. We captured their session the day prior to Jill & Ryan’s wedding. The setting is beautiful and I could have photographed all day there. Excellence Resort in Playa Mujeres, Mexico has so many different locations to create photos in that it is absolutely perfect. This was captured just a few hours after our plane landed in Cancun.
Excellence Playa Mujeres is one of the few destination wedding resorts where you can shoot in five completely different environments without leaving the property. The spa has clean architectural lines and warm interior light. The pool areas open to the ocean with long sightlines. The gardens offer dense tropical coverage that changes the whole feel of a frame. Doing a getting-to-know-you session here the day before the wedding means you arrive at the ceremony already comfortable with each other and the light, which shows in every photograph.
A little behind the scenes footage captured my by assistant Brianna.
More behind the scenes footage captured my by assistant Brianna.
The bugs by the pool were out of control, good thing I always bring bug spray with me on shoots.
The spa at the resort was amazing inside.
Jillian and Ryan were set to get married here the very next day. Running the session just a few hours after landing in Cancun meant we had to move fast and trust each other quickly, which they did completely. Brianna, my second, was there with us capturing some behind-the-scenes moments that are a reminder of how much goes into a shoot like this. By the time the wedding arrived, everything felt easy because we had already spent real time together in this place.
Getting to Know You sessions before a destination wedding are something we strongly recommend. The combination of a new environment, real light, and an hour together before the day itself changes how the wedding photographs look, because you are not meeting on the most important day of your life, you are reconnecting.
Venue
Excellence Playa Mujeres | Playa Mujeres, Mexico
Second photographer: Brianna
Planning a wedding closer to home? Our guide to the best Philadelphia wedding venues and our Jersey Shore wedding venues roundup are good places to start. And if you are considering a destination wedding with a pre-wedding session, reach out here.