My dream wedding was to be married on the beach in Playa Del Carmen – my favorite vacation spot. When we got in engaged last summer, we decided to give ourselves a year to save up and plan for the wedding. We decided to have it at home so all of our friends and family can attend.

We already had a tripped booked to Playa Del Carmen in November 2012- about eight months prior the wedding. Instead of getting married on the beach, like I had dreamed, we decided to have our engagement photos on the beach. That was the BEST idea ever. I get the beautiful beach photos and get to have all my friends and family with me for a wedding at home.

When I found Sweet Fire Photography,  I knew she was the photographer I wanted. I contacted Lori immediately and the process was simple and easy. She had a few options for routes to take for the photos. I wanted beach photos but the jungle photos she had were beautiful too. We selected a jungle-beach route in Playa Del Carmen.  

Planning what to wear for the photos was daunting. We needed photos for our invitations, the wedding web-site and to display at our wedding. I always dreamed of having photos in a long white dress on the beach, but that may not be the best option for engagement photos. The goal was to find a short white dress but it was September-October and, I struggled to find the right outfit. Then I found a beautiful long white dress on clearance. Immediately, I knew that was the dress and I bought it. But then I thought the long white dress might be too wedding like for our engagement photos. I continued to look for another dress, but without any luck. Not only do you want the right dress for the beach - something soft and flowy, but you want the right color too. Our wedding colors are white and black with pops of bright red flower. Black seemed to harsh and I could find another white dress that fit the beach   A week before leaving, I found a red dress online – on clearance. When it arrived, the color was a little different than the photo – BUT it was BETTER. The red popped and immediately I knew it would be perfect in the jungle photos. The red dress said jungle and the white dress said beach. Which one do I wear???

Lori recommended both – as long as I didn’t mind changing quickly behind a tree. Perfect!! We did the jungle with the red dress and switched to white for the beach. He wore jeans and a more causal button up white shirt for the jungle. Then switched to light summery dress pant and button up white shirt for the beach. Our two friends came with us to Playa and helped us out. They carried our 2^nd outfits and helped us change.

Lori was wonderful to work with. I was self-conscious about my body – I swell up if any gluten gets in my diet and I always swell up when I travel.  Lori guided us how to stand and pose to hide my swollen belly and legs. She guided us how to place our legs, tilt our heads and of course, I couldn’t stop smiling.

Immediately after the shoot, Lori uploaded some teaser photos to Facebook so we could share them with friends and hold us over until she can finish editing them.

We just received all of the photos today and every photo is perfect!!! They are so amazing – such wonderful color saturation and lighting!  I HIGHLY recommend Lori and Tanya from Sweet Fire photography if you are looking for a photographer in the Riviera Maya. It was an amazing experience and I’m so happy I got to have my beach "wedding" photos. ;)