Monica send us more photos of our Trash the Dress shoot at Garrafon Park today! There should be 1 more batch of photos after this. I’m thrilled we got so many good shots!
Credits and thanks:
Location: Garrafon Park, Isla Mujeres
Photography: Monica Lopez
Makeup: Vanessa Dominguez Alvarez
Dress: MOM!
Got our second batch of Trash the Dress photos this morning! (Part 1 here)
Credits and thanks:
Location: Garrafon Park, Isla Mujeres (All Inclusive, snorkeling, zip-lining, pools, hammock areas… amazing)
Photography: Monica Lopez
Makeup: Vanessa Dominguez Alvarez
Hopefully I’ll get some more next week! Couldn’t be happier with how these turned out.
This Sunday, we had our Trash the Dress photo shoot at Parque Garrafon on Isla Mujeres. There were so many beautiful locations to shoot there, and it was a gorgeous day! Don’t worry: I’ll be sure to do a full post with the professional pictures once I have them, but here are a few of my cell phone pics to keep you entertained in the meanwhile.
My makeup (and a creepy stare, sorry)
Remember the crinoline skirt I bought a few weeks ago? It was to give the dress extra "princess poof" for this shoot.
View from the buffet restaurant. WOW!
**Note: No dresses were harmed in the making of this Trash the Dress shoot.
So the past few weekends I’ve taken tons of pictures to share with you guys! Things have been pretty busy at work, but I figure I’ll keep ya’ll updated. Here goes…
Last Weekend:
Went to my friend Dama's birthday party at Black Pub Friday night
Saturday: Went to another friend's birthday party, complete with palapa and a taco stand
My "gringas"... flour tortilla, pastor, onion, cilantro and pineapple
Saturday night: Burgers in a friend's backyard (it had very cool design, but I only managed to get a shot of this light-covered palm tree)
This Weekend:
On Saturday I bought this... I'll tell you why later!
Sunday afternoon: Puerto Morelos
Saturday night: Carnaval parade in Playa del Carmen (all pictures were either blurry or blocked by pedestrians, but the costumes were great!)
What did you do this weekend?
The past month has been one of my favorites since I moved to Mexico over 6 years ago. For three weekends in a row, we found great excuses to make the 1-hour drive from Cancun to Playa del Carmen. First we went to the Taste of Playa Food Festival, then the next weekend to the Riviera Maya Jazz Festival, then last weekend just to hang out! Because who doesn’t want to wake up to this…
The most famous area of Playa del Carmen is Fifth Avenue (or “La Quinta”, as the locals call it), a pedestrian street that runs parallel to the beach. All along this avenue, you’ll find charming hotels, tons of restaurants, boutique shops, local artisanry, beautiful cafes and chic nightclubs right on the beach.
Coco Maya Beach and Night Club
A predominantly European destination, Playa del Carmen’s Fifth Avenue is ideal for people-watching. You’ll see everything from luxury travelers to backpackers all on one unique street.
My personal favorite part of Fifth Avenue is a small off-street called “Calle Corazon” (Heart Street). Calle Corazon is filled with twinkle lights, cafes and art galleries, and I lose myself in its magical atmosphere every time I walk by.
Calle Corazon
From Fifth Avenue, it’s just a one-block stroll down to the stunning Caribbean beach, where travelers can indulge in enticing meals right on the sand at oceanfront palapa restaurants. But to be honest, sometimes we don’t even make it to the beach! Our favorite thing to do is to simply walk up and down Fifth Avenue and talk about how much we want to move to Playa del Carmen.
"Jellyfish Lanterns"
What’s your favorite travel destination?
So excited! Today after work we’re leaving for a short weekend in Playa del Carmen. The company my friend works for has a currently empty 2-bedroom apartment there, so we’re going to enjoy a couple’s weekend. It’s going to be chilly, but fun! Hope your weekend is awesome, too.
While I was in Oaxaca on the Mexico Today kick-off event last June, I was asked to do an interview talking about Mexico and my city: Cancun. I was a bit nervous as I sat down in front of the camera, but I found that the words came easily to me. Talking about places I love so much was a breeze! The minutes flew by, and before I knew it, the video crew was telling me “Thanks! I think we got it.”
A few weeks later, I got an e-mail saying that Eye Candy would like to do some shots with me here in Cancun. (They call this extra footage “B Roll”… I feel very professional when I say that.) So in August, I spent a weekend hanging out with them in Party Center and on Isla Mujeres. It was a very difficult day swimming in the Caribbean Sea, eating burgers, riding in golf carts and drinking cocktails from coconuts, but somehow I got through it. 😉
This weekend I finally got to see the end result of my “My Mexico” story on Youtube. *drumroll* TA-DA!!!
**Please forgive the horrible face I’m making on the default image… very unfortunate.**
You can also see me and some of my Mexico Today partners in crime in other My Mexico videos on the “MexicoToday” Youtube page. We talk about Mexican beaches, Mexican markets, ecotourism, ancient ruins, and more.
Yesterday I came across one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a long time, thanks to a Google+ post by blogging friend Kelly.
Cancun’s OVC (Office of Visitors and Conventions) has recently launched an amazing virtual tour of Puerto Morelos, one of my favorite spots. On the virtual tour, you can see aerial views of the town of Puerto Morelos and its amazing Caribbean waters, as well as some of the town’s most luxurious resorts and tours of several of the area’s famous cenotes along the Ruta de los Cenotes.
Cenote Kin Ha
Designed by Cameleon360, the tour includes aerial views, ground views and of course 360 views. In other words, it’s a heck of a lot of fun to play around with. You can even see my new favorite spot Cenote Verde Lucero from a crazy cool “Little Planet View”:
The tour covers about 20 kilometers (about 12 miles for my American readers), and each 360 shot requires 70-80 different images to create. I don’t know how they find the patience, but I’m glad they did!
Hotel Azul Beach
Rumor has it that soon Cancun will be undergoing the same project, showing the city’s shopping, restaurants, hotels, nightclubs, etc. From there, they hope to move on to Isla Mujeres, Isla Contoy and Holbox, and possibly even Chichen Itza. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to spend a morning of daydreaming at the office with virtual tours of the entire region!
At the moment, you can see this incredible Puerto Morelos virtual tour on cancun.travel or puertomorelos.com
Disclosure: I am being compensated for my work in creating and managing content as a Community Manager for the Mexico Today Program. All stories, opinions and passion for all things Mexico shared here are completely my own.
So I was organizing all my old photos this weekend (a huge chore) and I came across these babies… some guy bungee jumping at Playa Tortugas in Cancun’s Hotel Zone.
Playa Tortugas is one of the prettiest public beaches in Cancun with some great bars and restaurants, but we never go because it gets super crowded!
I told you it was crowded.
The guy bungee jumping took a good 5 minutes to work up the courage to jump, but the crowd in the water cheered him on!
Working up his courage...
There he goes!
Flying back
And the crowd goes wild!
Have you been bungee jumping? (I’m way too chicken.)
I’ve been living in Cancun since I was 19, but had never attended a local wedding until last year. Now that I’m well into my 20s, many of my friends are starting to get engaged and get married (including myself… heh).
My best friends got married on the beach in Puerto Juarez, Cancun
I’d never before realized just how amazing Cancun is for a wedding, but in the past year I’ve had the chance to see several stunning beach weddings right on the Caribbean.
With unique chapels set under a palapa-roof, intense turquoise waters and bright white sand beaches, brides and grooms in Cancun don’t even need to buy large flower arrangements or expensive decorations to set the mood for a romantic beach wedding.
Couples getting married in Cancun can experience an elegant ceremony at one of this destination’s incredible resorts, or choose a more secluded oceanside event venue in areas like Puerto Morelos and Puerto Juarez, both located within 20 minutes of the Hotel Zone.
The gorgeous Ilse of Diamant Events
Why do so many people choose Cancun for their destination wedding?
Because people get more for their money in every way. Cancun offers amazing background colors for your beautiful wedding photos. We also have very good weather almost every time of the year.
What inspired you to choose Cancun for organizing destination weddings?
I know Cancun is still a young city and the wedding industry is growing fast around the world, and Cancun is the perfect place to do things the right way. If we all have good and certified wedding planners, we can raise the bar for quality weddings and become the world’s top wedding destination, not just the Top 10.
A daytime beach wedding by Ilse at Diamant Events
What are some fun traditions you’ve seen being used here?
An evening beach wedding by Isle at Diamant Events
Any wedding with a parasailer in the background is all right with me.
What’s your dream wedding location?
Disclosure: I am being compensated for my work in creating and managing content as a Community Manager for the Mexico Today Program. All stories, opinions and passion for all things Mexico shared here are completely my own.
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