Let's dive into some tropical wedding dream building! I would love to share my first destination wedding photography experience, the venue, the trip and some tips if you are planning your destination wedding or planning on shooting a destination wedding!

Calgary to Cancun:

This is a standard commute done daily and frequently by many airlines. The destination wedding commute was booked via Sunwing Vacations. The upside is that you can set up a payment plan for budgeting, they have an appealing array of packages that are realistically attainable for families, and you receive a group booking discount. The downside is that they could have a better reputation than their competitors, West Jet Vacations and Air Canada Vacations. Exercise high caution if you are booking with them. There is a high probability of cancellations and last-minute changes, so have a backup plan or plan protection. The flight was delayed by 3-4 hours due to their check-in systems being down. Upon arrival in CUN, we boarded a Sunwing coach to access our resort, The Grand Palladium White Sands. Within 1.5 hours of driving, we have finally arrived at our destination at 9:30 pm.

The Resort:

Grand Palladium White Sand Resort & Spa is enormous! I still needed to explore spots despite being there a whole week and walking non-stop from 8 to 8. It can often feel overwhelming with the four hotels within the resort (Grand Palladium Kantenah Resort Spa, Grand Palladium Colonial Resort Spa, Grand Palladium White Sand Resort and Spa and TRS Yucatan Resort*), the amount of landscape diversity (they have a flamingo pool), 6 pools, 20 restaurants, entertainment, activities, beaches, tons of golf carts for quick commute in-between lobbies and so much more. This 5-star gem is stunning! As this was my first ever Mexico resort, I don't know if I will ever be as impressed by a resort as I am with Palladium. I was dwarfed by the grandiose appearance of the facility and the massive land and variety of things provided on site. This includes the wedding office that each of their resorts has. Daniel was our on-location wedding coordinator, available to the couple at any time to ensure they had everything taken care of. After chatting with him, he shared that they can sometimes have up to 5-4 weddings a day at the resort during their busy season. After sitting in on their meeting, I learned that their onsite photographers offer wedding packages. However, they are constrained (another blog coming on why you would benefit from an outside vendor for photos when doing a destination wedding). Often, their package would be 2 hours, with limited edited images (usually 25-50ish) for USD 900. Imagine how much it would be if it were to be 8 hours?

*Fun Fact: Love is Blind 4 was filmed there

You can select from 5 wedding packages and customize them to your liking. The wedding planning and package included rehearsal and day of MUA/Hair for the bride and her five bridesmaids, bouquets for all, boutonnières of all men, flower girl flower crown, flower petals for flower girl, ceremony set up with chairs, ceremony decor, refreshments, staff, officiant, and speaker system. The reception included a full buffet, LED glass dancefloor, table set up/decor set up with flowers/charger plates/table runners/guest goodie from the newlyweds, add-on of the couple's signs, DJ for the entire night with speaker set-up, projector, dessert buffet, and midnight taco snack. They receive a complimentary honeymoon villa and honeymoon breakfast in bed to celebrate, a room upgrade and a gift from the resort for the couple.

The couple has the option to pay for the wedding via credit card. The approximate total for the resort wedding "Crazy in Love" package was just under USD 10,000 for 40 guests.

It's day one to explore, location scout and be present for all wedding prep meetings. I am ready to ensure that I can set myself up for success by knowing what areas look great for group photos, couple's photo spots, the ceremony location, and angles, as well as viewing the reception to be prepared with appropriate lighting set up. Most importantly, solidify the wedding day timeline and do a rehearsal ceremony rundown. I have my trusty camera in hand, and I am ready to do a mock photography of the ceremony. This is handy for preparing you with amazing angles, knowing where everyone is placed, and ensuring your gear and lighting are suitable for photos. Post-ceremony, my job is to process the rehearsal images and ensure my gear is ready for the wedding.

The Wedding day:

It's finally here; I don't know if I got a wink of sleep from repeatedly going over everything I need to do to capture the day. The day was filled with love, anxiety, laughter, happy tears and unexpected twists. If someone had told me how the day would go, I would not have believed them. But let's not dwell on how things could have been because the day still proceeded despite hiccups, and love prevailed. The couple demonstrated their devotion, love, care and resilience. The story's moral is to be hydrated and fed during your wedding day so you do not faint during your wedding ceremony. But look at how amazing they looked...

**What to prep for a destination wedding?**

A few things to consider:

Get a reputable local travel agent for tickets/planning & wedding coordinator
Bring signs, goodie bags for your guests and small personal decor touches (this couple had fans for their guests to keep cool during their trip)
Bring a dress/suit for the ceremony (shoes are optional if you are doing a beach wedding)
Get tanning/lashes/nail/hair extensions the week of your wedding trip
Don't forget your rings (grab fake rings to avoid losing them accidentally on your journey)
Book a whole week if you can, and try to be there a day or two before your ceremony, so that you can work out the details with the wedding coordinator
Try the onsite Makeup and Hair services, or do your own makeup/hair. Remember, it was extremely humid, so bring weather-appropriate tools for your glam
Get your license for marriage ready from your registry and have a formal ceremony for the documents so it is Canada recognized and valid

Please remember that there are high (Nov-April) and low (May-Oct) seasons for weddings. This wedding was held in the first half of June; we had mostly hot (29-32 degrees and humid) and sunny weather with occasional rainstorms in the late afternoons. The resort was not crowded, and you had much room to explore. Grand Palladium has an alternative indoor option for ceremony and reception in case the weather changes. There are 8 wedding venues on the premises for you to choose from!

When booking with the resort for a wedding, they will correspond with you 1-2 months before your booked trip/wedding date. As a notorious planner myself, that can be a bit scary. Due to the massive volume of inquiries and ever-changing plans, the resorts only can communicate with you closer to the wedding date you have planned for.

Ok, so where are we going for your wedding?