Maia & Sidney Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya Wedding

Maia and Sidney were married on July 2^nd, with a ceremony and reception at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya in Mexico.

I had been excited about this wedding ever since Sidney proposed to Maia. He had the most amazing Paris proposal planned out, and he brought me along to cover it. I was so impressed by these two and their love story as I covered that proposal, and I’ve been looking forward to this new chapter in their lives.

Of course, this wedding was also special for me on a personal level. Maia is my cousin, and she’s been supportive of me and my career since the beginning. She always said that I would get to shoot her wedding someday—and now that day had come!

Riviera Maya Destination Wedding

Almost all of Maia’s and Sidney’s family members flew down to Mexico to be there for this happy occasion. It was great to be around this huge crowd—it turned into a week-long party with everyone gathered together like that.

On the day of the wedding itself, I went back and forth between Maia’s and Sidney’s hotel suites, since I was shooting the wedding entirely on my own. But even with how busy I was, I made sure to take the time to get pictures of Maia in her dress. She had retrofitted her mother’s dress to wear for the wedding, which was especially important to her because her mother, Djidji, had passed away years ago, and she wanted to have a tribute to her in the wedding. At one point, I was even able to snap an image of Maia holding a picture of her mother on her own wedding day wearing that same dress.

Of course, my personal favorite moment was when the cigar makers came out. They rolled personal cigars for everyone, and I got a great shot of Sidney puffing on the cigar.I was definitely a unique touch.

Maia & Sidney, it was an honor to photograph your wedding. Thank you for being some of my biggest fans since day one.

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Invitations, day of details and printable by Ten Penny Creative