Ariel AMW

A huge thank you to all of the amazing entries!!!! It was seriously hard to make the final decision and Matt and I know all of your weddings will be amazing!!! We are so very excited about our 6 finalists! If you would like to see who they are go check them out here: Destination Wedding Photography Giveaway Don't forget to vote for your favorite couple!!! - Ariel and Matt

Hi Guys!! This is the last day to enter!!!! So any of you who have not yet entered but want to, now is the time to do it!!! We have so many amazing entries.... This past weekend Matt and I printed out all of your entries and spread them all over our living room floor! We spent a couple hours reading all of them and it was a blast! Needless to say, it has been TOUGH! We will be Skyping with many of you over the next week before we officially launch our 6 finalists!

Just wanted to give all of you an update since there are just two more days to enter the contest!!!! We have an amazing collection of entries and we can't wait to Skype with many of you in the next week. Let's just say, you guys are making it really tough on us!! If you still haven't entered head on over to our Facebook page to fill out the entry form: Giveaway Entry Form For all of you that have entered, we will be emailed you in the next day to begin setting up Skype meetings!!

Hi Ladies, We photographed a wedding there last year. The ceremony was out on the gazebo, followed by a cocktail there as well which we thought was super pretty!!! The reception followed on the beach, it was a beautiful location, breezy, the biggest thing to consider is lighting. Dream's does bring a couple portable lights out to the reception area but once the sun goes down it does tend to get a bit dark. If you will be having your reception on the beach, consider talking with Dreams about stringing laterns or tea lights etc... to add ambiance. Also, make sure your photographer is very proficient at of camera lighting ps. be aware you may have a couple visitors on the beach See pictures below. Bride got her makeup done at the hotel's spa, they did a fabulous job Bride had a musician playing for the ceremony Cocktail hour in the gazebo Mom was not to happy about the visitor under the table Hopefully this helps you look forward to your own wedding day!!! Happy planning ladies!!!!

There have been some amazing entries!!! As Alyssa said, you still have 11 more days to enter so if you haven't done so yet you still have plenty of time!!

or Pink and Yellow

Hi Ladies!! From a photographers standpoint, we absolutely love vibrant colors, it's always so much fun to see what our brides are coming up with for color combo's. Last year I swear we had three weddings in a row that were navy blue and pink! For the beach I think that navy blue with pink would look great but I would definitely consider adding some yellows or oranges to make your colors really pop against the sand/ocean. One of our brides recently had navy accents but all of her flowers were orange and pink. I thought it was stunning (her wedding was on a farm but I think the colors would work equally well for a beach)! Another one of our brides who got married in mexico chose yellow and blue We just recently shot a wedding where the bride had chosen yellow and grey, pictures are still being edited but I have to say this is one of my new favorite color combo's. Pinterest is such a great (addictive, be prepared to give up hours of your life) resource when comes to details/colors etc...

Hi There!! My husband and I spent a week in the Riviera Maya and Tulum recently while we were photographing a wedding, it's beautiful!! If you're not completely attached to Playa Del Carmen, I would highly recommend looking at Tulum if you're looking for something more intimate and quiet. There is still a lot going on in the Tulum area but it tends to be less night clubbing and partying (aka, quieter) I'm not sure if this place is to small for your group but I would definitely look into Casa De Las Olas: http://www.casadelasolas.com/ or (for something a little bigger, without the resort feel) Las Ranitas: http://www.lasranitashotel.com/ Happy Planning!!! Best, Ariel

A lot of our couples lately have had uneven wedding parties!! I definitely don't think it's weird. As essandpea said, you have to pick and choose what traditions are right for you and your fiancé, these day's it's definitely not necessary to follow the rules. Have 2 girls per guy (what guy doesn't like that if you're going to have them announced into the reception or walk down the aisle for the ceremony (or maybe consider having the guys up at the front for the beginning of the ceremony and just the girls walk down the aisle). Also, from a photographic stand point having an uneven bridal party is fun and forces the photographer to get creative and mix it up when it comes time for the wedding party pictures!

Thanks Alyssa!!! We are so excited for this contest! We can't wait to read all the entries!!!

Hi Girls (and guys)!! We just wanted to introduce ourselves We are Ariel and Matt a traveling wedding photography duo based out of New England! We super excited to be a part of BDW (it seems like an amazing resource) and hopefully get to know some of you guys over the coming months!! We both love traveling and are pretty familiar with Costa Rica, Mexico and the Hawaiian Islands, we can't wait to be able to share advice/ideas regarding planning destination weddings, especially when it comes to photography! We look forward to getting to know you all!! Cheers Ariel and Matt

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