Grand Bahia Principe Mexico – Shaun & Mel

Grand Bahia Principe

I’m not quite sure what planning a destination wedding is like, but Mel & Shaun certainly pulled off their Grand Bahia Principe wedding flawlessly. Having met Shaun when we both worked at Masterfile (seems like a whole other life ago), I was honoured to have him & Mel ask me to photograph their wedding. Also, he’s the person who gave me my nickname C-Free-PO  – how awesome is that! Anywho…. back to the good stuff!

It was a simple and relaxed day as I hopped from the Shaun’s room to Mel’s room. Mel’s father helped Shaun with his finishing touches, and of course helped with Mel’s mom’s dress too. It was just the cutest thing ever. The excitement was in the air, and Shaun’s doughnut socks were just perfect. By the way, they have a kitty named Doughnut, and one named Cookie too!

The gorgeous white gazebo against the most perfect blue sky was the setting for their ceremony. It was a scorcher that day, but there were fans, and plenty of water. A traditional tea ceremony started them off, followed by an extremely emotional exchange of vows by both Mel & Shaun. They cried. I cried. I’m pretty sure we all cried! There was a champagne toast afterwards, and I couldn’t help but to sneak into the group photo we took!

Why a destination wedding?

Destination weddings are great because there is such different scenery for photographs. There was this lush green garden that I felt was such a cool backdrop for Mel & Shaun. Obviously anything close to water makes me so happy too, so taking photographs on the beach by the ocean was a dream. The breeze in the air helped with the heat, and also gave Mel’s veil a chance to flow in the wind!

Mel & Shaun’s wedding day at the Grand Bahia Principe in Mexico wouldn’t be complete without an amazing dinner and a ton of fun after! We had endless meat to choose from at the Brazilian restaurant on site, and the tequila was flowing. And when I say flowing, I mean endlessly pouring. Man! These guys know how to drink tequila!! They danced the night away poolside after dinner and we even snuck away for a fun night time shot.

Love you guys!!