Trash the Dress in Mayan Ruins and Tulum beach

On my 25th birthday on November 25th I left Toronto for my second time trip to Mayan Riviera this year. It was fun having my friends joining me for this trip to celebrate my "Champagne Birthday" and spending the whole week with them.

Ok, lets not forget the real reason why I came to Mexico. I met Osi and Juan at "Bridal Bash" organized by Megan Crouse. Megan is Toronto-based destination wedding specialist and travel agent. Coupe weeks later I got a call from Osi asking me if I was interested to photograph her wedding in Mexico in two months. Sure, I am always ready for travel and the first time I met this couple I though they would be great to work with and I was right.

We decided to trash one of Osi's wedding dresses a couple of days before the wedding. I had this idea of having Mayan Ruins as a backdrop and I could vision it too. Note to all photographers -  you must have a permit to shoot in one of the archeological sites/ruins in Mayan Riviera. First we tried to get to famous Tulum ruins, but we were told that there was some kind of government event and nobody was let in  (and we even saw the solders patrolling the area around). 

Oh, forgot to tell you - Osi and Juan are Spanish speaking which helped a lot to find out that there are some ruins in area that tourists do not know of. We were told to go to Xel-ha archeological site. 

Osi, Juan and myself sneaked in for an hour to do first part of "Trash the Dress" session at this great location. And of course we were respectful to the Mayan legacy. This site offered lots  of great locations for photographs - giant trees and ruins were perfect to get some romantic shot of Osiris and Juan. The only thing that bothered us were mosquitos!

Our second stop was Tulum beach - beautiful turquoise water and powder-like white sand.  So far I have only seen a beach this beautiful in two other locations - Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands and Holguin, Cuba.

Osi and Juan are so easy going - they would do anything I would ask them to do - run, jump, lay on sand and wait for the big wave to come and cover them :)  

The night before this trash the dress photosession I ordered a bottle of champagne to my room and brought it to the beach to use in my pictures  (I also thought champagne would make the  bride and groom more relaxed).

It was really cool photographing Osi and Juan opening bottle of champaine while waves would cover, move and push them ;-)

The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood

I was inspired by fairy tale "La Belle au Bois dormant" (Sleeping Beauty) when shooting Lucy in the wood.

Trashing the dress in "High Falls"

This past weekend I shot another "trash the dress" session, this time my brave bride was Anastasia. This beautiful waterfall - "High Falls" is located far from civilization and it takes about 1-1.5 hours to hike to the site. The site is the Peterborough Game Reserve which is around Petroglyphs Provincial Park and it is gorgeous location with its natural treasures and it is definitely worth a hike. With perfect lighting and great assistance by Natalia, Stan and Anastasia, who climbed the falls and froze in wet wedding dress - I think we did an amazing job and as result got great pictures!

Trash the dress in Cuba

Two days after I shot the wedding of Sylvia and Claude,we headed to the beach in morning to shoot "Trash the dress". This was so much fun,we all enjoyed this session!!!

Trashing The Dress in Cold Waters of Don River

Recently I shot another "Trash The Dress" session in Toronto. With still cold weather but a couple of sunny days - I got my team ready!

The team: Sarah Anders - make up artist, Katia - easy going "bride" and myself - a girl with a camera.

The day started with buying three pairs of rubber boots so we can head down to Don River and trash this beautiful Victorian style wedding dress. It went on with taking pictures and getting in the cold water in our boots!!!

Trash The Dress In Toronto

Winter is almost gone and it is time to do some "trash the dress" shoots in Toronto. Today, I had an amazing shoot with my friend Anastasia, who got married last year in August. Fantastic location, beautiful dress and gorgeous bride - all I have to say.