I remember it like it was yesterday. It had been almost a year since I posted my first photography bucket list and when I got her email Tommy and I were out eating dim sum. My eyes grew watery and my heart slowly began to flutter as I read through her words … plans for a dream wedding in Akumal, my photographs from our own destination wedding, having it at the CEA Center catered by Jen of Turtle Bay Cafe, my posts and reviews in a wedding forum. And finally, the words that sent my heart and mind into a tizzy …

I read on your bucket list you would like to photograph a wedding in Akumal, but also saw on your calendar that you have a destination wedding the next week … Please email me if you are able to answer my questions and if interested at all in shooting the wedding.

After I read that last paragraph, I almost fell out of my chair, and surely I would have been dim sum cart roadkill. But at that moment, I didn’t really care if plates full of shrimp hargow or pork shumai woulda crushed me. Because all that mattered was that a bride somewhere out there wanted to know if we would shoot her wedding in Akumal, Mexico — the same incredibly beautiful place that Tommy and I had our dream wedding on June 26, 2009. And honestly, since I first read her email in August 2011 — I have been counting down the months, the days, the hours. This is a dream come true and for us, it’s equivalent to getting published in the most famous bridal magazine or winning an award for photographic excellence. This opportunity feels like getting an Oscar, but only better 😉

So that’s where we are until May 23 to capture the wedding celebration of our gorgeous couple Malia + Josh in this beautiful slice of heaven known as Akumal, a sleepy little fishing village 90 minutes south of Cancun. If you haven’t been, you must add it to your bucket list. I promise you, it’s totally worth the trek …

And here’s a little peek at the reception venue, the Centro Ecologico Akumal aka CEA Center (a facility that promotes ecological awareness and programs in Akumal, which is a turtle and coral sanctuary) … and yes, I know exactly what you’re thinking … WHAT? THIS DUMP?

Yes crooked wooden shutters, faded chipped paint and nothing to it, right? Well its modest simplicity in its normal state is exactly why we love this place … just wait till you see how it transforms on the Wedding Day! It is magic 😉

Yep, I’m leaving you with a cliffhanger just like a television show season finale … DUN DUN DUN 😀