Category Archives: at Mayan Ruins

Weddings at Mayan Temples, Belize (Xunantunich, Cahal Pech)

When luxury hit the jungle and the spirits hit the ruins (Chaa Creek & Cahal Pech)

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I don’t even know how to start describing this wedding… was unexpected and amazing!

We start with few classic bridal portraits around Chaa Creek, jungle lodge. The plans are blooming right now and everywhere I looked was green and tons of colourful flowers. On our way to the car, we just stopped around and snap… The property is amazing. The jungle at it’s best!

To read the story from Cahal Pech, please visit my other website dedicated to weddings/events at Mayan Ruins only. Click Here.

“WOW!” Wedding at Xunantunich and San Ignacio Resort Hotel (Belize)

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When I blog about a wedding or event, I usually choose 1 word to define a wedding. And first word is coming in my mind when I’m thinking about this wedding is “WOW!” One of the most beautiful and amazing weddings I ever had the pleasure to photograph. I’m still blown away about memories. I have goosebumps while I am writing this and an amazing feeling. I am soooo happy about everything!

Jessica & Michael… guys, I heart you both! I had many emails with Jess and I get to know what she likes, I loved her personality (very much similar with mine actually) and I loved Michael, also. I was in shock when I heard (days after the wedding) that he actually avoid photos as much as he can…  Well, Michael, I was convinced you love doing this… because you, guys, were one of my best models I ever had.

This is also a sample of a COMPLETE Wedding Day. Start with Getting Ready Moments until end of reception… I captured everything. I finally had my NIGHT Bridal Photoshoot… I’m thinking about this from a while now, but by the time when I have to do this, usually everyone is tired. Well, not Jessica & Michael!

I am in love with veils… and Jessica’s veil was her mom’s… WOW! A 40 year old veil an amazing combination with a lace pure white wedding dress. Of course, red bouquet and red shoes. Phenomenal!

When they asked me what place from Cayo I suggest them to get married, somewhere around San Ignacio town… I did not even blink: San Ignacio Hotel Resort! I am hunting a wedding there from years now and finally, I was lucky enough to have the chance doing it here.

2012 Wedding Rings are a must on a Maya Carving Calendar.

You can CLICK on photo to see it larger and also Click the arrow on right side of photo to see the album… or just scroll down the page.

 

 

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2012 Wedding Rings, Maya Calendar. Click on photo to see it larger. Click the arrow on right side of photo to see the album... or just scroll down the page.

 

I start with Getting Ready moments, details and of course, family photos:

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Getting Ready / Family Photos - Click on photo to see it larger

Wedding Details

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Getting Ready

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Bridal photos before ceremony

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Bridal photos before ceremony

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Moments before ceremony: family photos

- The Reveal of Bride was at San Ignacio hotel on an amazing setting (everything is phenomenal there) so they could enjoyed together Walking down the aisle

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The Reveal was at San Ignacio Hotel Resort, Cayo, Belize

…walking down the aisle start from the hotel, until the mayan temple and was tons of fun!

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Fun walking down the aisle

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Fun walking down the aisle

the Wedding ceremony was on the top of middle temple so I could have the view of majestic Maya Temple Xunantunich! The bride was announced with a Conch Shell

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Here comes the bride. Shell announcement

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Blue morpho butterfly release

After the legal ceremony, they were blessed in mayan language and had an authentic maya ceremony. Extremely different than everything I ever saw before (thank you, Iraida! for planning this one)

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Authentic Maya Ceremony

Than, we start …bridal photoshoot around  Xunantunich, at sunset time (OH!!!!)

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Bridal Photoshoot at Maya Temple Xunantunich

 

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Bridal Photoshoot at Maya Temple Xunantunich

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Bridal Photoshoot at Maya Temple Xunantunich

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Bridal Photoshoot In the heart of the maya temple Xunantunich

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On top of Xunantunich, Maya Temple, Belize 2012

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180° top of Xunantunich, Maya Temple

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Top of Xunantunich.

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Bridal Photoshoot at Maya Temple Xunantunich

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Bridal Photoshoot at Maya Temple Xunantunich

..the reception was back at San Ignacio Hotel Resort. What an amazing location.. with an amazing Jungle view…

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The Reception at San Ignacio Hotel Resort

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Bridal Photoshoot around resort

more family photos…

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Family Photos

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First dance

They signed the papers in complete dark as we loved the lights around the resort…

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Signing the Papers, late evening

and night bridal photos on my favourites spots from around the hotel (honeymoon appartment, the staircase, the cozy veranda… everything was just PERFECT, waiting for photos…

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Night Bridal Photoshoot in Honeymoon Suite

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Candle light and champagne bridal photos

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Romantic Night Bridal Portraits at San Ignacio Hotel Resort / The Staircase

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The Wedding Cake

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This was Our Wedding!

This is one of the most complete weddings I ever photographed (we start at 11 am and finished almost at 11 pm…). You can definitely tell the difference between few hours photoshoot and a full day. I could never achieved this if I would be hired for few hours only… Keep in mind that our night photoshoot start around 10 pm . I was convinced that they won’t want do it, but… “photos are REALLY important”… and yes, I hope you agree that worth every minute.

Guys, I know that after your wedding you’ll heart Belize and cherish this place forever!

Thank you, Belize Weddings for making this possible. Thank you, San Ignacio Hotel Resort, for all your efforts and amazing hospitality and thank you Jessica & Michael for making me the honour to photograph your wedding!

The team that made this wedding the way it was:
-The staff of San Ignacio Hotel Resort that decorated the place the way I was hoping for for our night photoshoot
- Iraida Gonzalez, the senior justice of the piece that was the wedding coordinator and also oficiated the ceremony
- me, I captured everything the way it was Good to know that I do  Bridal Photoshoots after your wedding day… is not too late. You just need to contact me and I can make it happen.Behind the scenes…most of the photos from the top of Xunantunich were done like this… my work is my passion and I’m doing my very best to achieve my visions and my goal. 

Oli Rusu behind the scenes
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Oli Rusu behind the scenes

 

 

 

 

 

 

A different kind of wedding: at Ka’ana & Xunantunich

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“Michelle & Adric,

 First of all, let me tell you that you were AMAZING! Your wedding day was different than anything I ever photographed and I loved it!!!
Ka’ana fit your style like a glove. Was the PERFECT choice for your wedding. I loved the First Look, I loved our mini-photoshoot around the resort, and I also loved when we were coming back from your Ceremony at our mayan temple, Xunantunich.
The family photos were blast and I am very happy that we were able to do that. Adric, your dad told me that he did not had a formal photoshoot in 30 years and he really need it! I am more than happy that we did that!
I am also happy we had our romantic shoot in your villa, with hundred of candles and sooo romantic atmosphere. The staff from Ka’ana was beyond my expectations, and when I’m thinking about this resort, I have too many great words in my mind and I don’t know which one to say first!…”
This is the way I start my first email to my bride&groom, after the wedding.
My bride’s dress was a completely different style and an unusual color: TOPAZ/GREEN! When I asked her, “Why this color?” she told me, “Oli, I am not a ‘whit’” person… I want to do this in my own way, and this is my dream wedding outfit”. Cool! I like different and I loved the combination of the outfits. The most important thing is for my couples to experience their day how they dreamt it, and my job is to capture it how I see it!

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We started with bridal portraits of the bride and groom. The abundance of greenery at Ka’ana is amazing! Everywhere you look you see LIFE! I photographed Adric at the entrance, while he was waiting for his bride. A relaxed groom and an amazing backdrop… Perfect!

Moments before ceremony at Ka'ana
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Moments before ceremony at Ka’ana

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The “First Look” was at Ka’ana. Her color fit perfectly with the environment. I loved the feeling of the reveal… His smile widened when he saw her as his bride.

His First look
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His First look

 

Bride&Groom around Ka'ana Resort
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Bride&Groom around Ka'ana Resort

After, we left for Xunantunich Maya Temple where they had the ceremony and fun family photos.

Green Wedding Rings
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Green Wedding Rings

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When we returned to Ka’ana, I wanted to show the romance of this amazing, amazing resort…

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…And around the new Private Pool Villas. When I mentioned this to the manager, she loved the idea and helped me out! Later that evening, we had a photo shoot around the new villa… We were amazed of how romantic it was!

 

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When we returned, everyone went to the bar – and my day was officially over… Theoretically!

Fun! Fun! Fun!
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Fun! Fun! Fun!

I saw the staff preparing a romantic dinner around the pool in the opposite direction of where my bride & groom were… When I asked for who that was, they told me “There’s another couple that married at Xunantunich today; this is our surprise for them: A candle dinner around the pool.” Long story short, we had a mini photo shoot. I had the chance to photograph a second couple in the same evening, but from a completely different point of view. The next article on my blog will be about this…

to see the album of this Wedding, please go on the website dedicated on weddings at Mayan Temples only (www.MayanRuinsWeddings.com).

 

My first Wedding 2012: Xunantunich

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My first wedding for 2012, was in the first week of january. After few days of rain, we had an amazing sunny day.

Emil y & John, my bride & groom were more than excited for their dream wedding, and also I.

I meet them at Table Rock Lodge Resort where they stayed… what a piece of jewel. Table Rock Jungle Lodge was chosen as a Best B&B/Inn by TripAdvisor.

The morning light was phenomenal, and I catch John bringing Emily’s bouquet.

Once Emily was ready, we had few portraits around resort

and than we head at Xunantunich where we had the Wedding Ceremony in an intimate location, on a side of the main temple, El Castillo.

The ceremony was simple and fit them like a glove. The Wedding Coordinator and the officiant of the ceremony, Iraida Gonzalez, did an outstanding job. I left my camera down several times, just to enjoy those moments.

The photoshot after was amazing, like always. Emily & John felt like this was the best idea for their ceremony and enjoyed every moment from their wedding.

You can find this post on my website dedicated only on the weddings at the Mayan Ruins.

Weddings in Rainy Season at Xunantunich, mayan site

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“The overall climate of Belize can be described as sub-tropical. The humidity while high, is seldom oppressive for long and is most noticeable along the coast. The mean annual humidity is 83%, but many days the humidity is masked by the cooling sea breezes. The Belize coastal area is exposed to southeast tradewinds averaging 10-13 knots and attain an uncanny consistency during the month of July”.  For climate patterns by months, please visit here.

 

We have 2 seasons: Dry season (January-May) and Rainy season (June-December).

I had an unfortunate experience this week that I want to share with you. I prefer to make my customers aware of all possible scenarios and I always like to have a plan B in case of weather.
Now, what you read above about the weather is a broad generalization and there are of course exceptions. In fact the weather here more often follow the exceptions than the rules!  Although June – December is considered the rainy season, most days are filled with sunshine with little or no rain. Whilst January – May is the dry season, yet we had tropical rain for 14 hours straight one day in February. Of course this happened to be the same day I had a wedding to shoot! My bride and groom were fantastic and just adjusted to the weather. They had a dry ceremony and then enjoyed a wet photoshoot! The entire wedding party danced in the rain taking in the spirit of the day.

Back to this week. Tana & Travis decided to choose Belize as a Destination Wedding because of my photos at  the spectacular Mayan Temple, Xunantunich. Everything was planned and ready and I even mentioned to Tana that I wouldn’t  mind even if it rained a little. Of course, when it’s raining you can’t have a regular photoshoot. Everything is different but I was still aiming for a few shots. It never occurred to me that if it’s been raining heavily for several days, the river surrounding Xunantunich could be flooded and because there is a manual ferry it is not safe to pass (due to the height of the river and how fast it is flowing!). Based on this, the entire Mayan site was closed. Even if we found a way to cross the river, the site was still closed.
So the day before the wedding, I found out that the river and the Mayan site was closed. I spoke with Tana and Travis and they decided that they still wanted to get married that day and were open to my suggestions for an alternative location.
My Plan B was an alternative Mayan ruin Cahal Pech. This site is the closest one to Xunantunich (around 30 minutes) and it was open. But Tana and Travis told me that if not Xunantunich, they didn’t want another Mayan ruin. They were staying at one of the finest resorts in the country, so I suggested they have the wedding there. Our Mayan Temple Wedding became a Jungle Wedding! It was incredible! The ceremony was on the top of a hill and the view was spectacular with the Mayan Mountains in the backdrop. Following their ceremony they released Blue Morpho butterflies before heading to the butterfly farm for more photos. They finished off with a romantic picnic and horse ride. Their wedding was unique and truly amazing!

Anything can happen on your wedding day, but with a little flexibility, you will still have YOUR day!

Enjoy!