Daisy & Leo | Cabo Wedding Photographer | Casa Dorada Wedding
Cabo Wedding Photographer
Intro
I have an INSANE amount of content to share with everyone from not blogging in forever, so I’m going back to 2018 to share one of my favorite destination weddings from over the last few years - but first, a quick story!
Quick story
When I was still getting my “destination wedding rules” down, I only required that I had to be at my wedding destination location 1 day in advance. You’ll see in a few seconds why I decided to change it to 2 days in advance, with some unfortunate luck. :)
I showed up to SAN airport over 2 hours in advance, only to be faced with the LONGEST line ever. The airline was somehow down to 1 agent for over 60 people - with more than half of the line attempting to check in for the same Cabo San Lucas flight. Because it was an international flight, even though I finally got to the check-in counter an hour before my flight, myself and 20 others weren’t able to board our flight.
I hopped on the phone to get a new flight and every single flight was sold out - all except for one leaving in 3.5 hours from LA that would cost me just over $600.
Without hesitation, I called my girlfriend Renee to pick me up and drive to LAX (a 2-2.5 hour drive!), where I was able to make my flight and able to make it to Cabo safely to photograph Daisy & Leo’s epic Cabo wedding.
Learn from me and get to your locations EXTRA early, folks. The next time I head to Mexico (or any other international destination) for a shoot, I’m definitely not making that rookie mistake again. :)
Daisy & Leo’s Casa Dorada wedding
The next day, I woke up nice and early to eat some breakfast and check the hotel out. I headed over to Daisy’s room to get a jump on photographing details and candids, which was super convenient because I was staying 100 feet from them in another hotel. I took a variety of detail shots and candids - one being one of my favorite wedding dress detail phots ever! Once I finished, I headed over to Leo’s room to start photographing him and the guys.
Cabo San Lucas weddings
Since I was by myself, I basically just ran back and forth between both Daisy & Leo’s room to get a variety of shots, until we finally set them up for their first look. Once that was knocked out, we walked around the property of Casa Dorada and took a ton of portraits along the grounds. Once we finished, I knocked out the remaining family portraits, the Rabbi had the couple bless the Torah, and we finally started the ceremony right as the sun was setting.
Although this was the first time I photographed a really late ceremony like this - I came prepared with a ton of lighting, which really helped once the sun set.
After the ceremony was complete, the couple had a short cocktail hour along with an epic reception, featuring a TON of dancing, an epic band, and even a band member performing in the middle of the dance floor. SO RAD.
Destination wedding photography kit
For any photographers in Cabo (or even photographers that WISH they were based in Los Cabos): I used a Nikon D5 + Nikon D850. In addition, I used the 24-70mm f/2.8, the Nikkor 58mm f/1.4, the Nikkor 85mm ff/1.4, and Nikkor 35mm f/1.4. I used a wireless Flashpoint Li-On X R2 for all off-camera lighting for both the ceremony and reception.
Enjoy!
Cabo San Lucas wedding photography for the modern couple
Past Cabo San Lucas wedding photography
This was actually my first time photographing a wedding in Cabo, but I did have an amazing chance a few years prior to provide Ensenada wedding photography for a past client, and I think you’re going to love the images if you haven’t seen them! :)
Cabo is a beautiful city and I will definitely be back soon - I just need to figure out how people hire a Cabo photographer and get on it haha.