We hired Claudia for our wedding at the Barcelo Maya Palace in May 2013. Photography was one of the most important parts of the wedding for me, so I spent a lot of time reviewing our options before deciding on Claudia. It was the right decision!

My main reason for choosing Claudia is that I love her candid style. She manages to capture so many intimate, special moments throughout the day that help to tell the complete story of your wedding. She offers several different packages so that you can choose the amount of time / coverage that is best for you. We were on a tight budget and could only afford to hire her for 3 hours; however, this was enough to cover getting ready, the ceremony, family photos and photos of me and my groom. When you see how hard Claudia and her assistant work and take into consideration their experience, equipment, travel time, etc... I think the packages are priced fairly and competitively. Remember: you get what you pay for!

Whenever I had to get in touch with Claudia during the year leading up to our big day she was always quick to respond, friendly and professional. I liked that she has an official contract that you sign, so I was confident booking her even though we'd never met. Plus, the fact that she accepts many types of payment was very convenient. As a typical bride, I had many questions and she was always happy to answer them and put my concerns at ease. She is very familiar with most of the resorts in the area and was able to provide tips on the best ceremony locations, times, etc...

A few weeks before the wedding she sent an email asking for details about the wedding and any specific photos we wanted to have taken. She has a typical schedule that she follows and key moments that she captures; however, if there are any specific shots you'd like to get, she is very accommodating. I didn't have any specific requests as I figured she'd know best what to capture; however, I realized after the fact that I didn't get any shots of my bouquet by itself (oops), so be sure to ask for that if it's something that you would like. 

It was great to finally meet Claudia in person on our wedding day! She showed up right on time and was very friendly. She got right to work and did a great job of unobtrusively taking photos of me getting ready. Meanwhile, her assistant (her brother, Armando) took photos of my groom getting ready, etc. During the ceremony, they managed to capture all the important moments without ever getting in the way. I didn't even notice they were there! They also got many beautiful photos of the audience which is a wonderful way to remember the special feeling of that day. 

After the ceremony, we went down to the beach to take "traditional" photos with our families, etc (we didn't have a wedding party). It was an absolutely beautiful spot with the ocean in the background but the day of our wedding was very bright so everyone was really trying hard not to squint. Claudia tried to help the situation with some tips and techniques (keep your eyes closed, she'll count to 3, open you eyes on 3 and she'll take the picture). However, it was obvious that the sun was really bothering a few people so it would have been nice to try another spot that wasn't so bright. As a result, most of the pictures with our family have at least one person squinting in them.

Next it was time to get pictures of just the two of us. We've never been professionally photographed before, so I was a bit nervous and uncomfortable. (Plus, the sun and wind were a bit of a challenge...)  Claudia had us try a lot of different spots / poses and did her best to get us to laugh and relax. However, I would have appreciated a bit more coaching in how to stand, look, etc as we look awkward in some of these photos. In the end, though, I'm happy that we got a handful of stunning shots in a variety of settings. 

Now came the hard part: waiting the 4-6 weeks for the online gallery of our pictures! I know Claudia is an in-demand photographer and we got married in the high season; however, 6 weeks seems like an unusually long time. I can't speak for any other Cancun-based photographers, but I have several friends who've recently been married locally and none of them had to wait nearly that long (one friend's photographer even had a slideshow of his shots ready to play during the reception!). 

When we did finally get the online gallery, it was worth the wait! We are really happy with the results, and Claudia was quick to send the DVD with all the photos on it. Now we're trying to narrow them down to our favourites to make into an album... it's a tough process!

Anyhow, overall we're so glad that we chose Claudia to document our big day. It was a wonderful decision and she did not disappoint! You can't go wrong with Claudia and her team.