UPDATE.... We have finally posted a slideshow of photographer favorites from the Hurricane evacuated wedding experience.

View photographer favorites (Mine and Sergio's images) here
Vanessa & Anthony's Slideshow

I posted my below statement in the comment section from the last post as a reply to the record 30 + comments received on the blog post featuring their wedding story:

Some of you I know personally, some I do not... I want to thank each of you for taking the time to comment, I believe that comments add one more element of gratification, which I greatly appreciate. I have been to 150+ weddings and they almost ALL the time, follow the same generic story... bride gets ready, bride walks down isle, ceremony, first kiss etc..

Although there is tons of beauty in that, I have been waiting a lifetime to find a wedding where all I needed to do was document the story and where there were no standards or predictable storylines... I am so thankful that I found this one...or did it find me... I dunno. Either way, thank you for commenting to help me appreciate how lucky I am to have these clients and this wonderful memory of the most unpredictable wedding story EVER!

much love!

mateo


Vanessa & Anthony's Slideshow



www.mattadcock.com Isla Holbox Mexico destination wedding photographer

Isla Holbox (pronounced holbosh) Mexico: Wedding Evacuated!

This place is pretty remote, no cars on the island... just golf carts for transportation..30-40 minute ferry to the island from this TINY little city, Chiquila, which is about 3 hrs from Cancun. Bumble nowhere!

I haven't even downloaded my 2nd shooter Sergio's images yet, but felt like this story has urgency due to the implications that hurricanes have on our clients and that the fact is we just experienced what some brides would call, "THEIR WORST NIGHTMARE" Actually, this group was the complete opposite of that. Vanessa has to be the coolest bride I've ever met... Under the circumstances, she played it out like a champion of champions. This girl wins the all time award for brides that go with the flow and do not get stressed out. I'm serious here, not 1 ounce of stress from this girl, all happiness and smiles. She did after all name her wedding Mission Mexico

She wasnt kidding around about the mission, wow! I wrote THIS BLOG POST the day of the event... check it out for background on my take of the adventure as it unfolded.

I had to put these images up before this storm hit landfall. Mexico has it figured out very well, government mandated evacuation. GET OUT NOW. And they do it several days for the Sh!t hits the fan... props to them. I can honestly say that this story is one that I will NEVER forget and I am so lucky that I was able to get these wonderful memories. They totally didnt mind at ALL that we documented the entire day... From the moment we were awake until after midnight, we were flying around shooting everything!

Morning time, we are chilling waiting on news... mission mexico is about to become an OFFICIAL hardcore mission.


We have the news, government mandated evacuation for EVERYONE on the island. Where do 35 people go? The search on the computer to find a hotel for guests to stay (17 rooms). Believe it or not, they found something in Valladolid Mexico, a small city 2 hours away, inland and safe from the coastal winds of the hurricane! its ON!


Add insult to injury, a freak storm (not the hurricane) was quickly developing and we snagged this shot to showcase the intense look of the clouds... I guess it helps if it rains when you are told to evacuate an island in the middle of paradise...



The hotel manager arranged for private transportation off the island, and then a shuttle ride to Valladolid. All the guests had to carry bags and belongings across this HUGE beach and about 100 yards into the ocean to reach the boats.






Imagine, your wedding is at 4pm and instead of walking down the isle, you are walking through the ocean carrying your luggage, refugee from isla holbox.


Here is the "how did he do that" type shot to showcase the moment seen above...cool huh?



I'm only 5'8 tall, and knee deep in the ocean here. This guy was 6' tall in the red. I shot these images with my camera on a monopod with a timer, all to showcase a killer angle!



Meanwhile, the hotel staff was removing EVERYTHING not tied to the ground!


Tamara, the brides sister enjoyed this moment of US getting our gear off the beach...


Tony and his dogs are watching the last of the guests evacuate... That storm coming is about to mount a deluge on our faces!


Let the rain begin....

This boat was a fast ferry, 25 minutes and very very wet later (camera gear was in a trash bag, staying dry) Vanessa comforts the pups!


Fast forward to 2 hours later, after driving to Valladolid. Sol & I have spent many nights in this colonial town. Vanessa choice to hire me, a local who knows the region paid off! I suggested this hotel to the Father of the Bride, who in the desperation upon arrival, was trying to plan a location for dinner that could accommodate 35 people... I had the perfect suggestion, Hotel Meson del Marques, which as a HUGE dining reception area...

Please understand that dinner was scheduled 10 minutes after ALL the guests arrived, for 8:30. Arrival in Valladolid 8:10pm. They had all this setup in 2 seconds!




At this point, the bride hadn't even planned on the time to have the actual ceremony, but the plan was to have it that evening or early in the morning. At the VERY LAST MINUTE, 8:25, in secret, the Bride, groom, and I and a few of her sisters discussed to spontaneously show up dressed, surprising all the guests who were waiting!

So they did it...got ready in 5 minutes, and walked across the streets.... stopping traffic and having a makeshift ceremony in a town that they had never visited planned in the very very last minute... folks, this is blowing my mind at this point.










Dinner happened, speaches happend, folks enjoyed a reception that one would have thought was planned for kings and queens...











and now its time for cake!!!!!!!!!!!!!







And now, why not have the ceremony right there at the table!








and finally the first dance....



Morale of the story: Love is stronger than any tangible object or material wedding plan and the bonds made with your friends and family on your special day are absolutely priceless!

I'm completely blown away by this experience. I haven't ever been in a situation like this and doubt that I will ever see anything like this again! I can't wait to see my friend Sergio's images, he is an amazing photojournalist!!!!!!



CNN affiliate CTV Toronto ran THIS INTERVIEW of my experience on their 8/22 morning show.

Thoughts? Comments?

Cheers!

matt


www.mattadcock.com: Yucatan Mexico destination wedding photographer

I am on isla holbox, a 45 minute ferry ride for a point in the north of the yucatan peninsula, 3 hours away from the nearest big city, cancun ...writing from a dialup computer. I have a bride getting married today who has been told by the govt that she is to evacuate the island with friends and family. i am with my amigo, sergio photographer and we are going to document the event as it goes... this one is going to be exciting.

The bride plans to still get married today, somewhere on our way out, be it with her family on a ferry, in a shelter, or wherever it can happen. The priest coming to the island is forbidden to be here and there are no other options except for a word that someone here knows someone on the mainland who does mayan ceremonies.

this one is going to be good... look for some updates on this one folks. today, i am a true photojournalist, photographing a wedding on the run. imagine that?

oh, did i mention there was a predicted category 5 hurricane headed this way, in 2 days???


wish us luck, por favor

mateo y sergio

ok, so i should have posted this update earlier today, bu
***update***

this is really going to be mission mexico. our bride has a killer website, totally check it out.
<a href="http://www.missionmexico07.com">mission mexico </a> she has arranged for a private ferry off the island...amazing. there are hundreds if not thousands of locals escaping this island. our ferry will have all of the guests, we all carry our bags over our head into the ocean to get in a boat, and transportation to a small town, valladolid in central yucatan. there we will all have a room and a makeshift ceremony and dinner. crazy huh?


if you want to be a destination wedding photographer, think about what you are signing up for..If you are a bride planning a destination wedding in a tropical location during hurricane season, think about it twice...

this one is going to be a friggen doozy!

best,
mateo y sergio

***update***
i've completed the assignment, after hours and hours of driving and then a full evening of shooting, I was able to recommend a location for the bride and groom in Valladolid where Sol & I have stayed a few times, and they had one of the most romantic wedding receptions (they arrived dressed as bride and groom) and actually had the dinner before there ceremony, at this long elegant table with 32 table positions.... dance, cake, friends, fun, a total spontaneous wedding! mission completed!

photos coming soon on this one