Pre-wedding sessions — pre-boda on the Riviera Maya.

Pre-wedding sessions — what the Spanish-language wedding world calls pre-boda — are a particular kind of session that lives between the engagement shoot and the wedding day. Most of my pre-wedding work happens in the days right before a destination wedding here, when the couple has flown into Tulum or Playa or Cancún a few days early and we use one of those calmer mornings before the wedding circus to shoot something just for the two of them. Some of the work is for engaged couples already living locally who want save-the-dates and an editorial portrait of this season of being engaged. Both feel the same in the gallery — a softer, slower portrait of you, before the wedding day starts moving.

Why a pre-wedding session is worth doing. There are three honest reasons. First, save-the-dates and the invitation suite need photographs, and the engagement photos most couples use for these are either phone selfies or a session in their home country that does not look like the destination they are marrying in. A pre-wedding session in the destination itself produces images that match the wedding aesthetically — same light, same coast, same colour world — which makes the whole stationery suite and the wedding-day slideshow read as one body of work. Second, the wedding day itself is moving fast. There is hair and makeup and the ceremony and the family and the speeches and the reception; what there is not, on the wedding day, is two hours of you walking slowly together with no one else around. The pre-boda fills that gap. Third, the pre-boda is lower-stakes than the wedding day. It lets the two of you get used to being photographed together, lets us figure out which angles you prefer, and means that by the wedding day the camera does not feel new. Wedding-day galleries from couples who have done a pre-boda first tend to read more naturally than from couples who have not.

Best contexts and best fits. The format is a strong fit for destination couples flying in to the Riviera Maya for a wedding (especially those staying a few days longer than the wedding window allows); for engaged couples already living in Playa, Tulum, Cancún or wider Mexico who want a session in the area; for Spanish-language couples and families running a pre-boda as part of the wedding tradition; for trilingual destination couples coming in from anywhere; and for couples who want soft, editorial portraits as save-the-date and invitation imagery without flying back to their home country to shoot. It is a less natural fit for couples who specifically want a separate engagement session in their home country, or for last-minute weddings where there is no spare day.

What sessions look like in practice. A typical pre-boda runs ninety minutes to two and a half hours, on a location chosen for the look you want. We usually meet about thirty minutes before sunrise on the beach (the calmest, softest hour), shoot the first hour close to the water in the light’s most flattering window, then move slightly inland — into palms, into the jungle road, into a colonial side street, or into the ruins below the Tulum cliffs — for the second half of the session. Two looks in one session is comfortable; three is doable with quick changes between locations. The session is paced as a slow walk; I direct lightly, with prompts that keep movement and connection real rather than posed. The camera is mostly far enough away that you forget about it; the close, intimate frames happen because the day allows them, not because I cued them.

A typical pre-boda day. For a destination couple flying in early, here is a usual rhythm: arrive at your hotel in Playa, Tulum or Cancún the day before; meet for the pre-boda at sunrise the next morning; we shoot the early-light and golden-hour window; you have the rest of the day for hotel time, the wedding planner walk-through or a relaxed dinner; you have the rest of the trip to enjoy whatever the wedding day is about. For locally-based couples, the pattern is similar except the day-before and the day-after are normal life. Either way, the session is light on logistics — meet me at the location, shoot, leave.

Save-the-dates, invitations and the slideshow. Pre-boda galleries serve a particular set of marketing uses for your wedding. Save-the-dates need a small set of strong portraits that look beautiful at small size and at print resolution; usually the wedding stationer needs three to five frames for the suite. Invitations need the same set plus maybe a wider environmental shot for the inside or back of the card. The wedding-day slideshow at the reception (if you are doing one) wants a broader spread of forty to sixty frames spanning all the looks from the session. The preview gallery I deliver fast covers the save-the-date timeline; the full edited collection comes in time for the invitations and the slideshow. Many couples also use a couple of the pre-boda frames for thank-you cards after the wedding.

Time-of-day for a pre-boda. Sunrise is the headline hour — the beach is empty, the light is softest, you have the rest of the day untouched. Golden hour in the late afternoon is the secondary option — slightly busier on the beach in high season, but the light is generous. Blue hour after sunset is genuinely beautiful and a quiet favourite. Mid-day sessions only really work in cenote settings where shade does the work; on the beach the contrast is harsher and the gallery less editorial.

What to expect when you book a pre-boda. Once your date is set I send a short prep note: meeting point, time, wardrobe notes, what to bring. Wardrobe-wise, the beach and town read beautifully in soft creams, terracotta, sage, muted blues and pale earthy tones; anything flowing photographs well in the breeze. Many couples wear a soft cream or earth-tone first look (for the beach) and change into something slightly more structured for a second look (a colonial side street, a hotel courtyard, a jungle road). Avoid loud logos and heavy denim. Hair and makeup is optional; if you want to do the pre-boda fully styled, my recommended hair and makeup artists in Playa and Tulum are happy to come to the hotel for a soft, natural style that reads in the light. After the session I deliver a private preview gallery within days (in time for save-the-date deadlines) and the full edited collection within two to three weeks via a private link, high resolution.

Logistics — pre-bodas happen all across the Riviera Maya. Most of my pre-boda sessions are in Playa del Carmen, Tulum or Cancún, with cenote and ruin add-ons by request. For couples staying in a hotel inside the area, I meet you at the hotel; for couples wanting a specific location, we meet there. The pre-boda is a separate session from the wedding day and is priced independently; many couples who book me for the wedding add a pre-boda to the package and save on the combined day rate. Booking a single pre-boda without a wedding works too — for example, engaged couples who are using the session for save-the-dates and an editorial portrait but are marrying with a different photographer back home.

Cross-links and related sessions on the site. Pre-wedding sessions sit within the [love stories](/love-stories) family of sessions. For the wedding day itself, see [weddings](/weddings); for symbolic ceremonies and renewing of vows in adjacent format, see [vow renewals](/vow-renewals); for LGBTQ+ couples, [LGBTQ+ weddings](/lgbtq-weddings); for the wedding-morning bridal gift, [bridal boudoir](/bridal-boudoir). For location-specific pages: [Playa del Carmen](/playa-del-carmen), [Tulum](/tulum), [Cancún](/cancun), [Isla Mujeres](/isla-mujeres), [Cozumel](/cozumel) and the wider [Riviera Maya](/riviera-maya). For cenote add-ons to a beach session, see [cenote sessions](/cenote-sessions); for a yacht-day pre-boda, see [yacht days](/yacht-days).

Common questions I get that are not in the FAQ. When should we schedule the pre-boda relative to the wedding? Most destination couples arrive two or three days before the wedding for setup and family hosting; the pre-boda fits naturally on day two of the trip, before the rehearsal and welcome-dinner cycle starts. Locally-based engaged couples typically schedule four to twelve weeks before the wedding day to give the stationery and slideshow timeline room. Will hair and makeup be part of the session? Optional; many couples come slightly dressed but not fully made-up to keep it natural, others come fully styled. Can we do the pre-boda in two locations? Yes — two looks in one session is comfortable, three is doable with a quick drive between locations. Do you shoot pre-bodas for couples who are not marrying with you? Yes — many couples book me only for the pre-boda and have a different photographer for the wedding day. Do you shoot pre-bodas in cenotes, on yachts or in other formats? Yes — cenote pre-boda, yacht-day pre-boda, ruin-and-jungle pre-boda are all options. Tell me what you want it to feel like and we shape the day around it.

If a pre-wedding session fits your wedding window or your stationery timeline, tell me your wedding date (or your save-the-date target), the location you are thinking about, and the feel you want — soft and natural, more editorial, town-and-beach combination — and I will sketch a sunrise or golden-hour plan around the light.