Okay so after the beautiful Canadian bayside wedding and the amazing sexy sunkissed engagement session in St. Lucia I posted earlier today, my anticipation has skyrocketed and I want to be in Cabo like right now! Sooo…this fantastically fun trash the dress session was right on time! Guess where? Cabo San Lucas of course?! Guess who?? Joielala Photographie!! Oh yeah honey buns, I get to feature some of the amazing work of Taryn & Shelby from Joielala submitted via Two Bright Lights. I am a HUGE fan and have been following their work for a while now. I was super duper thrilled to see the destination wedding of Mike and Yuri posted on their blog awhile back. Although they had already promised the couple’s wedding photos and day after session to other lovely wedding bloggers to feature, they were such darlings and kind of enough to let me snag the trash the dress session!
Trash the dress sessions are always super fun and I can’t tell you how much I enjoy seeing the WHOLE wedding party get in on the action! Again, I’ve said this before but I know for a fact that I will never ever in my wildest dreams get my own wedding party to do a group trash the dress. I just won’t and I’ve come to terms with that (although I still think it would a cool experience!) Haha! So I’ll just have to live vicariously through these fun couples instead. Enjoy!
The Oceanside Bride, Yuri said: Although I had a stunt-double wedding dress for the “Trash the Dress” (TTD) shots and could have jumped into the ocean anytime, timing only allowed for shooting the day before the wedding. So Taryn and Shelby were kind enough to squeeze in shots of us in the city and the TTD session all in one day (before sunset!)
Okay phew! I think I got my Cabo fix now. That should last me through the weekend. Lol!
So want to see more of this adorable couple? Be sure to check out there amazing destination wedding photos and their day before photo session in Cabo featured around the web! Crave even more? Okay, okay…there’s even more pics of Yuri and Mike on Joielala’s blog!
And yes, TGIF! So I’m wrapping up with some other things that caught my eye this week that I thought you might like to see:
- Okay so Naomi from Enchanted Dream Weddings and Affairs seriously put all my most favorite colors together in perfect little palettes! It’s like she was in my thoughts…or maybe she has some kind of magical binoculars and peeked into my wedding planning notebook all the way from San Diego?? Hmmm…got to ask her about that one!
- These super duper cute pinback buttons from TearDrop Weddings made me smile. =)
- I’m sooo rolling up my sleeves for this DIY patterned party tray project shared by Pizzazzerie and making them host gifts for my upcoming showers.
- Plan a wedding in a snap with a customizable “wedding in a box” featured over on Brenda’s Wedding Blog! An extremely cool concept- genius if you ask me!
- And ummm I’m still trying to figure out how I can discreetly share this bachelorette sash link with my bridesmaid’s so they buy me one?? Haha- these are awesome finds from Emmaline Bride!
And I KNOW you haven’t entered yet so be sure to check out the details for the Hawaii Wedding Photography Giveaway from the very fun and talented Candice Benjamin! Contest deadline to submit is Friday, May 20th at midnight!
Okay that’s all I got so Happy Weekend Everyone!
Sooo…I have an all around gorgeous destination wedding from the very talented Kari Burgess from Eternal Reflections Photography! OMG- talk about amazing photography! I have become a serious fan. She sent in this stunning Riviera Maya, Mexico destination wedding and I can’t be more excited to share it with you all.
The couple is model-gorgeous (not to mention the entire bridal party is like “woah”), the ballroom dress takes destination wedding gown to a whole new level (the bride has convinced me all dress types can work for destination weddings!), the calla lily bouquets are simple and elegant, and the bright yellows {and PINK shoes} are simply amazing.
Kari said: “This couple really brought glam to their destination wedding! Even with the simplest of details- pearls- that her grandpa got for her grandma in Japan many many years ago. The bride wore them on her wrist, to remember the love her grandparents had together.”
Awww- I couldn’t agree more about the glam and the smallest details in this wedding seem to bring the big “wow” factor! Check it out…
From our stunning Oceanside Bride Jamie:
Craig and I met through my best friend and her boyfriend 4.5 years ago. My friend went to school with Craig and her boyfriend played hockey with him. They had a party at their place and we were both invited.
We chose to have a destination wedding because I always imagined myself getting married on the beach with our closest friends and family with us. We decided Mexico because it is relatively inexpensive for our guests and a beautiful backdrop for the wedding of our dreams. Our travel agent suggested Gran Bahia Principe Akumal because she knew we were looking for a larger resort with lots of stuff to do for our guests.
What unique elements or DIY projects did you incorporate into your big day to help make it extra special?
I had my own ipod with a playlist playing in the background as the guests waited. We also made our own slideshow and played it during the reception. We tried to include as many of the guests as we could. We had the hotel do flowers and centerpieces.
What challenges (if any) did you face while planning your destination wedding?
I found it was sometimes hard getting a hold of our wedding planner as she is very busy during the week with other weddings. I also found that everything was planned last minute, so I was in Canada stressing out about when the decisions were to be made and if they were being translated correctly. It was difficult to get an answer on how much everything was going to cost. Deciding to have a destination wedding is not always as inexpensive as people think it is. When the day came, everything ran so smooth and they wedding planners did an amazing job.
What was the best thing about having a destination wedding? Share your best wedding weekend moment!
I don’t even know where to begin, it was all amazing. First, I loved having all my friends and family there to spend the week with. It is not only a wedding but a fun vacation for everyone. I loved walking down the sandy beach isle with my dad and looking into my future husband’s eyes. We had a slight breeze and the sound of the ocean behind us. It felt very intimate. I enjoyed having all of our guests staying at the same hotel.
What is your best advice for other couples considering a destination wedding?
I have a couple pieces of advice:
- If you plan on having your hair done at the “Spa” make sure you do a trial or have a backup plan. You don’t want to be disappointed if it does not go the way you expected it to. The resort we stayed at said they do “Bridal” styles, but I am not convinced they have any training in hair or make up.
- Bring your own photographer. We brought the most amazing and talented Kari Burgess with Eternal Reflections Photography. Probably the easiest decision Craig and I made in the whole wedding process. We also had the hotel photographer take a few (it came with the wedding package). Yes, they turned out beautiful, but nothing in compared to Kari. The wedding has come and gone and we get to relive the moments that Kari captured for us every day.
I really, really love hearing all the advice from the recent real destination couples I feature here because it either helps me prepare for things still yet ahead (although we’re coming up close to our 2 month mark- eek!) or at least solidifies some of the decisions I have made and might have second guessed before.
Like this couple, we have purchased a “basic” wedding package from the resort and although it includes things like hair/make-up, flowers, and photography, I just couldn’t help but wonder would it all turn out like I would like it to. After thinking hard about it and scraping the bottom of our budget for extra pennies, we decided we would be more comfortable finding our own photographer, videographer and salon for hair and make-up. Although it will cost us more outside of the standard resort package, hearing from bride’s like Jamie helps me to feel more confident about the decision we made!
So thank you, thank you to Jamie and Craig for sharing your wedding week details and planning advice and of course to Eternal Reflections Photography for introducing me to this couple through your amazing wedding photography!
Bride and Groom: Jamie and Craig
Wedding Date: January 22, 2011
Location (City, State, Country): Riviera Maya, Mexico
Approximate Guest Size: 70
Ceremony Location: Beach Front at the Gran Bahia Principe
Reception Location: Pool Side
The Creative Team Behind the Scenes:
Venue: Gran Bahia-Principe Akumal Resort / Photographer: Eternal Reflections Photography
This wedding was submitted via Two Bright Lights!
Got an adorable engagement session for you today sent to us from the fabulous and industry-loved international wedding photographer Ms. Laura Parker! This e-session seriously made me want to hop on a plane and go take my engagement photos in San Fran. The city just offers so many great photo opportunities!
For those who don’t know, I actually grew up in Southern California right up until middle school before moving East. Most of my family still lives there (which is why we originally started planning a SoCal wedding there ourselves), but after all these years of either living in California or visiting family each and every year, I’ve still never made it up North. I’ve never been to San Francisco! Gasp- I know right! Mr. Oceanside and I talk about taking a trip out there soon (hopefully by the end of this year) and just take our time driving up and down the California coast from San Deigo to San Francisco so we can take in all that the beautiful West Coast scenary has to offer.
And that’s just what our so-in-love couple did in San Francisco! Kimberly and Jacob recently hit up some amazing spots around the city for a fabulous engagement session with Laura. These two are such a cute couple and you can see the bond, the passion and love they share through Laura’s photographs! They’ll be marrying this coming August at The Bridges Country Club in San Ramon, California. Congrats you two!
I told you, passion. Love the dramatic shot on the left and adore their playfulness on the right!
Giants fans are we?
Thanks again Laura for sharing this super cute engagement session with us! You can find Laura’s photography website here to see more of her amazing work!
This engagement session was submitted via Two Bright Lights!
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