I’m a Wilmington-based wedding photographer and this is, objectively, not a Wilmington wedding, lol. But as a Tulum destination wedding photographer for a day, I can tell you that the light in the Yucatan in January is something I was completely unprepared for in the best possible way. More on that in a minute.
Samantha and Daniel spend a lot of time in Cancun. They have plans to move to the area eventually. So when it came time to get married, Tulum made complete sense. Not as a trend or a bucket list destination, just as a place that’s genuinely theirs. That distinction matters and it showed up in every single photograph.
Two weddings, two months, one photographer
At the end of December, Samantha and Daniel eloped in Nashville. I was there for that one too. So by the time we got to Tulum I’d already seen them at their most quiet and private, just the two of them making it official with no audience and no production. The Tulum wedding was the celebration version of that. The same love, just with their people around them this time.
There’s something really specific about photographing a couple whose elopement you already have on film. You know how they move together. You know what their real laugh looks like. You’ve already seen the moment they forgot the camera was there, so you know exactly what to look for the second time around. This gallery felt like a continuation of a story I was already part of.
The day itself
They gathered at a private Airbnb in Tulum with their closest friends and family. The ceremony happened out front, which set the tone immediately. Intimate, outdoors, surrounded by the people who actually know them. No grand venue, no formal program, just a moment that belonged to them.
The reception moved to the pool patio, which is one of those settings that photographs beautifully without trying at all. The light in Tulum in January has a quality to it that I’m still thinking about. Warm and directional in the afternoon, softer than I expected by the time the sun dropped, and absolutely wild on film. I had Portra 800 loaded and I kept reaching for the Nikon F5 because the way that stock handled the tropical light and shade was doing something I couldn’t replicate any other way.
The florals by Giosi at Rose & Reverie Co. were exactly what you’d want for a day like this. Organic, lush, not overdone. The kind of florals that feel like they grew there rather than were placed there, which in a setting like Tulum is everything. And having Lindsey from Magnolia Wedding Company running the day meant that nothing ever landed on Samantha or Daniel’s plate. They were just there, fully present, which is the only way this kind of intimate day actually works.
The part everyone is going to want to know about
They ended the night jumping in the pool with all of their friends and family.
Not staged. Not planned. Just a natural conclusion to a day that had been warm and loose and full of the right people. I was ready for it because by that point in the evening I knew exactly who these two were and I knew the night was heading somewhere like this. Some of my favorite frames from the entire trip came out of that pool.
It’s the kind of ending that only happens when a wedding day feels completely like the people getting married. And this one did, entirely.
I shot the day on digital, 35mm film, and Super 8, which I’d choose again in a heartbeat for a destination like this. The Super 8 footage in that light, around that pool, with those people, is going to feel like a memory every time they watch it. That’s the only way I know how to describe what Super 8 does at its best.
If you’re curious about what shooting hybrid actually produces in a gallery and why I choose it over digital alone, I wrote about that in depth. And if you want to know more about what working together actually looks like from inquiry all the way through delivery, that’s a good place to start.
This is also not the first time I’ve packed a bag for a wedding. Tulum was a good reminder of why I always will.
Based in Wilmington, NC and traveling for the right weddings. Destination, intimate, elopement, or something entirely your own — let’s talk.
x B
