Bride to Bride Tip:

Do not walk...RUN to Samuel Luna Photography!!! Hiring this man is the best decision you will make for your wedding. Period. Actually, this man at twice the price is the deal of the century. Book him to be your photographer before he realizes this. Unbelievable photos, highly professional and always ahead of schedule. If you need to know more than that, feel free to read below.

When planning our July 2013 wedding at The Reef Playacar, we looked online for qualified photographers for our "big day". Feeling settled on one, we tried to book and of course the photographer was already booked on our day. Feeling deflated and a definite set-back in the planning process, the first photographer recommended a few of his colleagues that we could reach out to instead. Little did we know that this would literally be the defining factor in the overall outcome of our wedding. This guy literally gave us the best wedding gift we received...the recommendation of our fabulous photographer Samuel Luna.

From the first email response l received from Samuel, his level of professionalism and timely communication should have been an indicator as to what the remainder of the experience would be like. With a portfolio more impressive than our original pick, Samuel's efficient scheduling and payment process ensured that we had definitely made the BEST choice in hiring him as our photographer. He kept in touch with me in the months leading up to our wedding and offered recommendations as to timing of the wedding based on lighting in Playa del Carmen during that time of year. When our hotel tried to change time of the beach ceremony, Samuel insisted on keeping the original time because he knew that the lighting would be ideal. 

On the day of the wedding, Samuel arrived EARLY and began shooting candid "getting ready" shots in my hotel room. Diligently shooting away, he was hard at work and yet hidden behind the scenes in that it never felt strange having a perfect stranger photographing you as you prepare for one of the biggest days of your life! He was incredibly respectful of the ladies getting ready, offered suggestions on types of shots to take, and didn't need to be instructed on when a special moment may be naturally occurring. Off to a fabulous start!

Wedding shots were unreal and when viewing them 6 weeks later back home after the wedding, you can truly appreciate the magic that this man brings to the memories of your wedding. Every moment and every emotion was captured seamlessly. Moments I didn't know occurred were photographed and I was able to experience our wedding all over again yet with more detail and emotion than the first time around.

After the wedding, Samuel photographed each of our families on the beach and was GREAT about knowing how to keep family members from directing him on how to capture shots. Once the beach photos were complete he and his assistant joined us on a stroll down 5th Avenue in Playa del Carmen to capture our unplanned first dance, shots given by local bars to help us celebrate, special moments shared between family members and more. We enjoyed Samuel and his assistants company so much we invited them to join us for our reception dinner which they kindly accepted.

The following day Samuel picked us up for our TTD shoot and drove us to a nearby beach. We shot for about an hour and a half and it rained a little during the shoot. Exhausted from the wedding day and feeling a little less "photo ready" than I did for the wedding day, we still moved through the shoot and enjoyed more intimate moments between myself and my husband than we shared on the wedding day. Samuel was great about giving recommendations since we tend to get a little awkward when left to posing ourselves!

Shortly after returning from the wedding, Samuel posted a photo on Facebook from the wedding, a few days later one from the reception and then one from the TTD shoot. For me this was like Christmas in July...I couldn't get enough and loved being able to share a few moments of our destination wedding with friends/family that weren't in attendance. Samuel also has impeccable taste and chose the BEST shots to share in those first few days.

A few weeks later, AND AHEAD OF SCHEDULE, Samuel shared the remaining hundreds of photos with me in both color and black and white, incredibly enhanced and breathtaking. From someone who typically has high expectations and tends to be let down, these photos exceeded my every wish for our wedding shots. 

I cannot imagine our wedding without Samuel and his incredible talent. Your photographer is the storyteller of your wedding. Choose wisely when selecting someone to tell YOUR story. I know we did!