Sunset Beach Wedding – Manuel Antonio Costa Rica – January 2018

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Love this tropical beach wedding!
The bride and groom both wore white; a stunning contrast the colorful tropical flowers. The wedding party and guests were all staying at the Buena Vista Villas in the heart of Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica. The sunset ceremony took place at the private Tulemar Beach, within the grounds. After the ceremony  the wedding party enjoyed cocktails and appetizers on the beach, under the beautifully lit trees. The party then went back to the villa for a the wedding celebration, love the mini gift bottles of the tequila. The reception on the balcony was beautifully decorated with colorful flowers and candles.
A wonderful wedding!
Wedding Planning : Tropical Occasions
Location: Buena Vista Villas, Manuel Antoino, Costa Rica
Photographer: John Williamson Photography

May the 4th Elopement – Makanda Manuel Antonio Costa Rica 2017

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I just love this couple! When they asked me if I was available on the 4th of May, I did wonder if they were Star Wars fans and they were! (Yes, I know it’s August! Just been too busy to blog :)
They stayed at the beautiful Hotel Makanda in the heart of Manuel Antonio, I met them at the hotel and we did some artistic photos on the grounds of the hotel. Makanda has recently been completely remodeled into a fabulous boutique hotel, it’s just exquisite. I think the bride and groom in black looks great against the stone wall background.
We headed down to the north end of Playa Espadilla for the wedding ceremony on the beach.

It was a  perfect intimate ceremony….and I just love the photos!

 

Want to elope in Costa Rica? and get married by a jungle waterfall?

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It’s not as hard as it sounds….
This great couple from Canada contacted me at the end of last year, with an inquiry that they wanted to elope in Costa Rica. They had a few ideas; including photos on the beach, sunset and some with nature. Plus, they wanted a legal ceremony. So we emailed back and forth, got to know each other a little bit; and came up with a plan.
The bride and groom were staying in Dominical on the Central Pacific coast of Costa Rica, I live 45 minutes north in Manuel Antonio, and know the area well. We decided on a mix of beach and rain forest for the wedding, doing the wedding in the morning at a waterfall and then meeting for sunset on the beach for some romantic photos. I put them in touch with Marcelo Galli, a wedding officiate; Marcelo and I often work together on weddings and he is an excellent officiate. Marcelo helped them choose the style of ceremony they wanted, after the wedding he gets the official documents authenticated and sent to Canada, or anywhere in the world.
We all met at 7am at the entrance to Nauyaca Falls, we had arranged to be driven up near to the falls so we only had a short hike in to the waterfall. Marcelo conducted the ceremony right next to the waterfall pool. The sunlight was just coming over the edge of the falls, and catching the mist created by the water…breath taking! We finished up at about 9:30am, and I arranged to meet them at the beach that afternoon.
We were in luck a gorgeous sunset and combined with a low tide, left beautiful reflective pools on the sand on the beach. We got some absolutely wonderful photograph, I think we captured what they were hoping for and more!
For a gallery of my adventure weddings visit my website.

Nauyaca Waterfall Wedding – Costa Rica December 2016

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This adventurous couple wanted to celebrate their marriage surrounded by nature. They loved Costa Rica and coming here for their elopement seemed like the perfect choice. After looking at several areas, they choose Nauyaca Falls. Nauyaca is a stunning set of waterfall nestled the Costa Rican rainforest just north of Dominical, Costa Rica. Nauyaca is a privately owned reserve and can only be accessed by foot or horseback. This couple got special permission to get brought close to the falls in 4×4, and from our drop off point we hiked in. We got to the falls early and the light was beautiful filtering through the spray from the cascading waterfalls. The ceremony was conducted at the base of the lower falls, after the ceremony we took some romantic photographs before the newlyweds jumped into the waterfall pool! The natural beauty of Nauyaca combined with a wonderfully happy couple made taking photographs easy! Congratulations to you both!

https://www.weddingphotoscostarica.com/rainforest-wedding-costa-rica

Elopement at Ylang Ylang Beach Resort Montezuma Costa Rica 2016

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The Ylang Ylang Beach Resort in Montezuma is a wonderful, tropical location for a beach wedding in Costa Rica. The hotel is situated right on the beautiful beach Montezuma Beach. The bride and groom chose to elope and this has got to be the most romantic elopement! The ceremony was organized by the Ylang Ylang Beach Resort and took place in their tropical gardens steps from the beach. There was a full moon on the day of the wedding and we got some beautiful photographs with the moon. The couple then had dinner on the beach under the full moon, a perfect ending to the most perfect day.

Day of the Dead Wedding – Manuel Antonio Costa Rica 2016

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Love this wedding! This couple from England love all and everything about Mexico and Day of the Dead, so they brought just that to Costa Rica for their wedding! Day of the Dead or Dia de Muertos is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico, where family and friends gather together to remember loved ones who have died, and help them in their spiritual journey. It also has a big following internationally for it’s colorful art!
The wedding party were staying at a villa in Tulemar, in the heart of Manuel Antonio. The ceremony took place on Tulemar’s secluded beach, the aisle decorated with colorful flowers.  The group stayed on the beach to enjoy music, drinks and the sunset, and later returned their villa for a “Dia de Muertos” reception dinner. The villa’s terrace was spectacularly decorated with twinkling lights and colorful Mexican paper flags, the table adorned with Day of the Dead skull place cards, flowers, candles and personal bottles of Patron tequila.
Tropical Occasions created and planned this unique wedding with the bride and groom, it was just perfect!

 

Beach and Villa Wedding – Manuel Antonio Costa Rica February 2016

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This fun-loving bride and groom came to Costa Rica for a tropical beach wedding. I had met the bride and groom at the end of last year when they came to Manuel Antonio on a planning visit with their wedding coordinator, Laura from Liquid Weddings. It’s fantastic for me to actually meet and get to know the bride and groom before the wedding – with destination weddings, it’s not always possible! I often Skype with brides and grooms before the wedding, it’s a great way to find out what people are like and what they want from their wedding photographs. Plus they can get to know me and be more comfortable for the big day.
Back to the wedding! …the wedding party were staying at the beautiful Montemar Estates in Manuel Antonio, 3 villas nestled on a mountain top over looking the jungle and Pacific Ocean.  I first went to Montemar to meet with the Bride and then Groom to capture some of that nervous fun and excitement before the wedding.
Then wedding ceremony took place at Playitas Beach about 10 minutes from the house, at the north end of the famous Manuel Antonio beach. After the ceremony we took some fun photos on the beach, and then some great light hit for some romantic couples portraits.
The wedding party then returned to Montemar Estates for cocktails, the reception dinner and then a DJ and dancing. I think the night-time party shots are great!

Wedding Planning – Liquid Weddings
Villa and Reception Loacation- Montemar Estate – Manuel Antonio
Ceremony Location – Playitas Beach – Manuel Antonio
Hair and Makeup – Monica – Hair by Monica

 

Tropical Beach Wedding at Mareas Villas – Uvita Costa Rica

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This couple escaped the concrete jungle in New York to come to Costa Rica for their tropical  wedding. They chose to celebrate their nuptials with family and friends at the beautiful Mareas Villas near Uvita.
Mareas is a great location for a destination wedding in Costa Rica; 5 star luxury, close to the beach, yet secluded in acres of virgin rainforest.
I met with the bride and her bridesmaids before the wedding to capture some of that nervous excitement of getting ready for the big day. Later, I met with the groom and groomsmen who were relaxing and getting ready at another villa in Mareas. We then headed to the beach for the wedding ceremony. After the ceremony we were blessed with the most amazing sunset. We took some beautiful couples portrait and also some fun photos with family and friends.
The wedding party returned to Mareas Villas for the wedding reception, catered by the in-house chefs and staff. A wonderful wedding in paradise!

Honeymoon Photo Shoot – Manuel Antonio Costa Rica 2016

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This couple came to Costa Rica for their honeymoon, they had opted for a small civil ceremony back at home, so really wanted some fantastic photographs to celebrate their wedding. One of the stops on their honeymoon trip was Manuel Antonio, my home town, I met them late afternoon on Playa Espadilla. There are lots of great areas for photographs, with the ocean, rocks, rivers and vegetation, I particularly like the photos with all the roots, what do you think?