Love Lives in Belize ❤
“Love recognises no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.” – Maya Angelou
In this case the destination is ‘La Isla Bonita’, otherwise known as Ambergris Caye, a small but perfectly formed island off the coast of Belize.
As destination wedding photographers in the beautiful country of Belize, Conch Creative knows exactly why people who fall in love want to come to Belize and why they fall in love with Belize while they are here. It’s hard to imagine a more beautiful setting for an intimate Caribbean beach wedding.
Whether you want to be pampered at a luxurious resort or…
…you’re looking for the quiet tropical island experience, Ambergris Caye (sometimes also known by San Pedro, the name of the only town on the island) has it all.
There are natural beaches where you’ll hardly see anyone except for the sea birds, sting rays, crabs, fish and the occasional dolphin.
Palm trees – so many palm trees. Even palm trees that grow horizontally.
You’ll find long docks that you can explore reaching right out over the Caribbean Sea towards our barrier reef. Did you know that in Belize the beaches and docks are all public? There aren’t many places left in the world like that, where you can explore and enjoy the scenery to your heart’s content.
And finally, we mustn’t forget lions. Lions? Ok, we have to admit – Belize does not have lions. Not real ones.
So, remember! Belize has everything you could possibly want for a destination wedding ……except lions.
Now is the time for our thank yous. A big thank you to the beautiful Belizean Shores Resort for hosting this wonderful wedding.
A Gal & a Guitar – Gettin’ Hitched in Belize
Conch Creative loves destination weddings in Belize. People who choose to marry in Belize tend to be people who like to step outside of ‘the box’ and like to do things just a little bit differently – and definitely their own way. This makes every wedding unique and often very entertaining for us. We’re going to share one of our recent favourites with you so that you can experience a true intimate and fun, barefoot wedding in Belize.
As we’re sure you’ve figured – both the ‘gal’ and the guitar feature heavily in this blog. Before the ceremony, our lovely and very romantic groom serenaded his bride to be. It was beyond sweet and you could tell how much she adored him.
Many couples choose Belize because they don’t want all of the fuss and stress associated with a traditional wedding. This is a perfect example of how simplicity can be so special. Marrying in a heart made from flowers and conch shells on a tranquil beach, overlooking the Caribbean Sea is perfectly divine.
Having your new husband and the man you love sing romantic love songs to you in the heart of flowers, overlooking the Caribbean Sea as you delicately drink wine is beyond divine – it’s sublime.
Whoops…scratch the bit about ‘delicately drinking wine’…..woohoo – now things are going to get lively it seems. Let’s see how this blog turns out, shall we?
We thought it was time for a quiet walk down the beach. Honestly, how many places are there in the world where you can have beaches like this virtually all to yourselves?
Time to catch a quick breath before the fun begins.
Did we mention it was hot that day?
..and it seemed to just get a bit warmer by the minute.
You really have to wonder just how much fun two adults can have with a bit of water…
..it seems that the possibilities of having fun in water, following a wedding, fully clothed are quite limitless. There’s no point in coming to Belize to have a fabulous wedding on a stunning beach in a tropical setting and not making the absolute most of it. As well as producing beautiful photographs, Conch Creative aims to help all of our wedding couples have fun.
There comes a time (usually sunset), when wedding photographers quietly fade into the darkness and leave the couple to enjoy their time together. We have no doubt that the assistance of Conch Creative was not required for the continuing fun.
We hope you enjoyed our most recent blog as much as we enjoyed making it. Of course, you can always join in the fun by becoming part of our Conch Creative community on Facebook. It’s easy – just click this Link.
If you’re wondering where that fantastic wedding was held, well as always we’re proud to have worked with the quite fantabulous Coco Beach Resort.
We’ll be blogging again soon and would love to hear from you. Would you rather see brides or bikinis?
Wet Weddings
As you can probably see from recent blogs, Conch Creative works with a lot of couples who like unique and different wedding photography. Maybe it’s something to do with Belize – after all, couples are planning to travel thousands of miles to marry in this beautiful country. Whatever the reason, we’re grateful because we get the opportunity to work with people who are often creative, always great fun and who have chosen us because they know that Conch Creative is one hundred percent committed to providing not just an enjoyable and entertaining wedding photography experience but also because they know that they’ll never look better than they do through Conch Creative’s lenses.
This adorable couple were serious divers and had come to Ambergris Caye with a diving group to get married at Xanadu Island Resort. They wanted to get wet and of course, Conch Creative obliged.
We managed to keep them out of the water just long enough for them to get legal and have one or two snaps taken.
It seems that the romance just becomes even more intense once the couples get into the water…..
…and so do the giggles.
Sometimes giggling is the only option..but there really is no better way to spend a wedding day full of fun, love, laughs and plenty of memories.
After all water, romance and giggling – we thought it was time to share something a little bit different. Those who know Conch Creative, also know that we don’t just do weddings.
If you’d like to find out more about Conch Creative, please check out our Facebook page where we can chat to you, you can leave us your comments and you get sneak peaks of all of our newest work. Conch Creative Facebook Page Link
Mucho thanks to the beautiful Xanadu Island Resort for hosting the wonderful wedding featured in this blog.
Look out for more from Conch Creative soon! Thanks so much for reading our blog.
Crazy in Love
If you follow our blog, you’ll know that we love fun and unconventional weddings. We have been very much looking forward to blogging this particular wedding as we laughed so hard throughout the day that we came back with our cheeks aching. This was a couple who were crazy in love and that craziness was definitely a feature of their romantic beach wedding on Ambergris Caye. So, please join us for Sean and Denise’s destination wedding in beautiful Belize.
As is often the case, it all starts with booze! The groom, featured here with our local Belizean Belikin Beer, hung out with the guys at Crazy Canuck’s bar, while the bride….
…required something a tad stronger resulting, of course, in the classic Tequila face.
As part of their nuptials, Denise and Sean included a Sand Ceremony. Normally at weddings, there isn’t a dry eye in the house. During this one, there wasn’t a straight face on the beach.
Then it was time for group pictures. We work really hard to help our couples to have fun group shots as they can be so boring sometimes. In this instance no encouragement was necessary. We all know that after the group shots come the family shots and here’s one that we will never forget.
We’d like to introduce you to the Mother of the Groom.
So we thought that once we got the lovely couple away from the group, things would calm down a bit. For a moment, they were as cute as buttons snuggled up on their golf cart. But that didn’t last for long.
What could we do but take a picture? But now we were on a mission. We always want to give our bride romantic photos, no matter how ‘crazy in love’ she really is. So we waved our magic ‘Conch’ and got them in the mood.
Turns out that when we got her to sit still for a minute, Denise was absolutely a very gorgeous bride.
Along came the groom.
But he couldn’t resist his gorgeous bride and settled down for a beautiful moment with her…until…….
….he found a Sea Cucumber. Oh yes he did. You can imagine the comparisons that were made and the giggling that ensued.
As usual, the bride had the last laugh and gave us this wonderful photo, which we just adore. Thank you Denise.
If you enjoyed this blog, you might enjoy our Facebook Page too. Give it a try by just clicking here. That’s where we post our most current work and publish sneak previews.
Special thanks to Exotic Caye Beach Resort for hosting this beautiful wedding.
Even specialer thanks to Crazy Canucks Bar for lending us the stools for the group shot.
And specialerer thanks to Victoria House for allowing us to use their beautiful beach for the after ceremony shoot.
If we’ve forgotten even more specialererer thanks, please let us know. Conch Creative wants everyone to feel loved and appreciated – even if a Sea Cucumber makes you feel small.
Why Would You Want to Do That? – Trash the Dress
‘Why would you want to do that?’, we often hear when we tell people that our couple have booked us for a Trash the Dress session. We try to explain that it really is not about trashing anything, but actually about creating something beautiful. Trash the Dress has become an art form – and yes, some brides really do go for it and trash their dress completely. Why not? Very few brides in this day in age plan to wrap their dress in mothballs hoping that a future daughter might choose to wear it again. But good photographs are definitely something that will be saved for future generations.
Trash the Dress sessions allow us, as a creative team, to add an element of fantasy. We love to take our subjects out of context and find beauty in the most unusual places.
Trash the Dress sessions can be incredibly fun and romantic for the bride and groom. Where else are they going to find a team like Conch Creative encouraging them to express their naughty side and to play in the water in their wedding gear?
When we start a Trash the Dress session we usually spend some time with the bride, working on portraits. The groom will stand and watch and we can always see the pride growing in his eyes. That’s when we know it’s a good time to invite the groom to join in.
How could a groom not be filled with pride and love when he gets to see his new bride looking like an angel during a photo shoot at sunrise on the Caribbean Sea?
Conch Creative just never gets tired of the romance…
and heroes..did we happen to mention that we especially love romantic heroes?
If you’ve ever wondered why someone would want to ‘Trash the Dress’, now you know. These beautiful images will bring back memories of a magical and enchanting wedding in Belize and they’ll never go out of style.
This wedding and Trash the Dress session was held at the gorgeous Las Terrazas Resort.
Cruisin’ for Some Fun in the Sun
We are sort of unusual destination wedding photographers in that we are already at the destination. Because we live and work here, we know how to get the best out of the weather, how to get our couples to look fabulous, even when it’s very hot, and – we know all of the best locations. But even more than that, we like to help our wonderful wedding couples to have an amazing experience. For many of our lovely couples, they are already having a great time here diving, snorkeling, fishing and exploring Maya ruins, but there are some couples who are just passing through – for a fleeting visit – and for them, their wedding and photography experience make up the sum total of their time in Belize. These are couples who stop to visit Belize, while traveling the Caribbean on a cruise ship. The couple above are one of those very special couples.
When a bride to be gets in touch and tells us what her fantasy wedding pictures will look like, we do our best to oblige. When we’re told ‘I want to make the most of the Caribbean and get wet!’, we make sure it happens.
The bride is always the brave one it seems. She always gets in first and somehow always manages to look just beautiful in the process.
But eventually the groom may need some encouragement. This seems to have done the trick.
It didn’t take long for the groom to turn the tables and with blue eyes like that, we can see why the lovely bride looks so happy. Before they knew it, it was time to go and catch their ship – but now they have the most wonderful photographs to remind them of their romantic escape to a little island in Caribbean, known affectionately as ‘La Isla Bonita’.
Just in case you wondered – we do take pictures of gorgeous brides on dry land too!
It doesn’t matter if you like to keep your toes dry – romance, love and lots of smiles are the order of the day when you get hitched in San Pedro.
Oh and did we mention fun??? With Conch Creative as your wedding photographers, your wedding photography experience will definitely be fun.
When our calendar is not full of exciting and fabulous weddings, we still manage to have plenty of fun ourselves. We love working with talented people and love getting the opportunity to give them our own special ‘Conch Creative’ touch.
Our amazing model was Miss San Pedro in 2009/2010 and it seems she just gets more beautiful.
A few days before the shoot, a friend had dropped off some hot chili peppers. We find beauty in everything around us and we felt that it was about time that our chili peppers were given the glamorous boost they deserved. Hot! Hot! Hot!
We hope you’ve enjoyed this installment of the Conch Creative Blog. Don’t stop reading now though because we have to remind you about our entertaining and hugely silly photography competition on Facebook. There is still time to make your own hilarious entry and of course to vote for your favourite. To find out more – check out this Conch Creative Facebook Page Link . If you look on the left of the page, you’ll see a link to ‘photos’. Click there and then you’ll find the Copy Conchs 2011 – Photo Competition album. Take the time – it will be worth it …actually it will only be worth it if you have a really good sense of humour. If you’re boring – don’t bother.
As always we have to offer special thanks to the businesses and individuals who made this blog possible.
Firstly – thanks to ‘I DO’ Belize Weddings, the wonderful wedding coordinators for the cruise ship wedding.
Thanks to the beautiful Las Terrazas Resort for organising and hosting the drier, but still very beautiful, wedding.
And finally, thanks to you for reading our blog. We hope you liked it. If you did, please do share it!
Hula in Belize
As destination wedding photographers in Belize, we have the privilege of working with people from many different places and cultures. Belize is rapidly becoming ‘the’ place to hold the perfect, romantic, barefoot beach wedding. So, we’ve seen Mexican style wedding traditions, Native American wedding traditions – but this was the first time we’d seen Hawaiian traditions and we were very excited to learn that our bride would be dancing the Hula for her new husband.
There was so much love at this wedding, we have decided to share it with you – before we get to the hula bit – right from the beginning. Many people dream of a tropical wedding in paradise. Jennifer and Aaron’s wedding at Las Terrazas certainly filled the bill. As we photographed the dress against the Caribbean backdrop, we knew that it was going to be a beautiful day.
It almost seemed that mother nature had conspired with La Isla Bonita, our beautiful Belizean island, to create a perfect day. Even the shells and sailboats were cooperative.
The preparations are often nerve wracking, especially when the bride and groom get ready in different locations. Our lovely bride was getting lovelier by the minute. Meanwhile….
…our handsome groom knotted his tie in contemplation.
But rarely is anyone usually more nervous than the Mother of the Bride.
With all the planning and build up it seems so sudden when it’s finally time to ‘kiss the bride’.
This couple did just a bit more than kiss though. They had their own secret handshake and they made sure to bind their marriage vows by performing it in front of their loved ones. That’s one way to seal the deal!
While the guests enjoyed the adorable party favours, we wandered off with the bride and groom to enjoy the scenery and some fun wedding photography – just the sort of thing that Conch Creative loves.
First there was some ‘Caye’ Kung Fu.
Followed by some serious smooching.
Then they did some rather impressive leaps of love.
Our stunning bride had no hesitation in telling her gorgeous groom exactly where she wanted him to be….
…and that was snuggled up with his arms wrapped around her.
By now, you’re saying ‘ Where is that danged Hula they promised?’. We had to share the ever so sweet first dance, accompanied by solo saxophone as the sun was close to setting over the west side of Ambergris Caye.
Here it is! Last but not least and definitely worth waiting for – the Hula in Belize. It was a touching dance, accompanied by a traditional Hawaiian song played beautifully on mandolin and sung with such feeling that everyone shed a tear and smiled – all at the same time.
Weddings in Belize are never boring and we can’t wait to share the next one with you. Thank you so much for following our blog.
Conch Creative is running a photo competition. Copy Conchs 2011. If you’d like to enter, please check out our Facebook page – here. You could win your own afternoon of pampering in paradise at the stunning Caye Winds Resort with us, Conch Creative, as your own personal photographer. The best thing about this photo competition is that you don’t have to be a photographer to enter – or win. You just have to be a bit silly and have lots of friends willing to vote. Even if you don’t choose to enter, you will definitely enjoy the entries.
Vive la différence
Weddings in Belize inspire couples to ‘do their own thing’. Belize, of course, is a magical place for a destination wedding and the freedom of celebrating a marriage in such a romantic and exotic location allows people to relax, be themselves and have fun with it.
It starts with the seemingly little things such as decorations and party favours. These fans were the perfect treat for guests celebrating in the tropical sun.
While, these adorable, personalised beach tote bags, ideal for La Isla Bonita, were so much fun and the guests had something useful that would remind them of the wedding for years to come.
San Pedro is best known as a barefoot wedding destination and some girls just LOVE their shoes. It can be a bit tricky wearing heels on the beach, but you can’t blame a girl for trying.
The more laid back ladies opt for simple and sparkly flip flops. They still feel a bit dressy but are comfortable and fun.
Whatever shoes they bring, most brides end up kicking off their shoes to enjoy the sand between their toes as a genuine ‘barefoot bride’.
We can’t mention ‘la différence’ without including the classic battle of the sexes. Women and men have much different ways of celebrating before a ceremony. The girls make themselves beautiful and toast with champagne.
Meanwhile – the guys find somewhere to hang out in the shade.
Even the guests can vary wildly. Some guests are flat packed and stuck in the ground. They are very well behaved and hardly eat anything at all. You definitely don’t have to share the cake with them.
Other guests, which turn up frequently to weddings in Belize, are uninvited, hairy and have four legs. Fortunately most couples we work with love dogs and are perfectly happy to share some of their goodies with their new best friend. Almost every wedding we’ve photographed in San Pedro has had cute local dogs as gate crashers.
Then there are the choices of all the stunning locations. Some are attracted by the sea. They love being by the water and want nothing more than a beach wedding.
Others love the mystery of the ancient Maya ruins on the mainland of Belize. With the Maya people and their calendar receiving so much press lately because of a surging interest in ‘end of the world’ predictions, ruins weddings are becoming popular amongst adventurous couples who want to do something completely different.
Some couples choose to make their wedding a virtual multi destination affair. So preparations start in one place.
Then there really is nothing that makes a girl feel spoiled than having her own private boat arrive to pick her up to whisk her to the next location, where she will continue to prepare.
This is where the serious preparations happen – with beautiful results.
You might recognise these feet from earlier in the blog. The rest of the couple was so cute, that we had to show you the whole picture!
We also try to keep our portraits a little ‘different’ if the couple so desire. Many of our clients come to us because they want contemporary, funky and fun images rather than conventional and traditional. So we do our best to bring out the inner Vanity Fair model in our brides and…..
…the inner GQ model in our grooms. Didn’t he scrub up well?
If you’ve kept up with our blog, you’ll know that we aren’t just ‘one trick ponies’. We do a lot more than wedding photography and we love “la différence”
We are inspired by the beauty surrounding us in Belize – both the people and the scenery.
We even find beauty in the chili peppers.
But ultimately, as much as we like to be different – who can resist a pretty, semi clad woman on a deserted sand bar? Conch Creative does a wide range of private and personal shoots. Many women choose to do a glamour shoot with Conch Creative because the images created make them feel great about themselves.
Two of the beautiful weddings featured in this blog were organised by ‘I DO’ Belize Weddings. They have featured the Maya ruins wedding and Conch Creative photography in their own blog, which you can find here: ‘I DO’ Belize Weddings Blog
Conch Creative would also like to extend special thanks to Mary Gonzalez and the San Pedro Sun for doing a feature story on the Maya ruins wedding at Xunantunich. You can find that wedding here: Maya Ruins Wedding – San Pedro Sun
All of the weddings in this blog are recent. The locations include the following resorts Xanadu Island Resort, Blue Tang Inn, Capricorn Resort and Pelican Reef Villas. The Maya ruin wedding location was Xunantunich in the Cayo District of Belize
We thank all of our readers for your time and feedback. If you like our blog, you might just love our Facebook page, which features fresh new images from our most recent shoots – Conch Creative Facebook Page
You’ll really want to keep an eye on that Facebook Page as something very exciting will be announced at the end of the month.
A Photographer’s Life in Belize
As photographers in Belize we’re often asked what our job is like. What do we do? What is a normal working week? Well, if you’ve ever been to Belize, you’ll realise that Belize has it’s own rhythm, it’s own style, it’s own innate beauty. So, working as photographers in Belize is probably unlike being a photographer anywhere else in the world.
Belize is a place for contemplation. The beautiful bride pictured above is about to marry the love of her life at Captain Morgan’s Retreat.
Belize is definitely magical. It can also be wet. Living on the Caribbean Sea means that we sometimes work on the water, in the water and even under the water. This underwater shot was taken just off the dock at Ramon’s Village Resort.
Without a doubt, Belize is a place for tropical love. This moment of joy happened at Cayo Espanto, the private island resort.
Belize is inspirational, so there is a flourishing artists’ community. This is Paul, glass blower extraordinaire, from Artemis Glass in San Ignacio, Cayo.
Belize is mysterious. Because Belize is the home of the ancient Maya people and they believed that caves were portals to the underworld, some of our photography is underground. This was taken after a mile long hike through the Actun Chapat cave near San Jose Succotz. The floor is littered with pottery. This cave is on private property but tours can be arranged through Ken Dart of Belizean Sun Tours.
Belize is luxurious. If you want absolute luxury, resorts in Belize like Cayo Espanto can make you feel like a star. In fact, Cayo Espanto is a fabulous secret hideaway for many world famous stars.
Belize is romantic.
Did we mention that Belize is romantic?
Belize has history – seriously ancient history with pyramids and ruins and everything. The Maya knew how to build them to last, but you can’t climb them wearing high heels.
Above all…Belize isn’t always what you think it will be. This is Eddie, (AKA Handyman Eddie). He’s come to our rescue on more than one occasion to save us from floods and fires. Honestly – he really has. Eddie is Belizean. With him is Keppy, a macaw. Belize is somewhat famous for its macaws. Keppy, though, is not Belizean. Keppy is a Miligold Macaw. Eddie rescued her from a very uncertain future. Conch Creative does not support the keeping of wildlife as pets and would always prefer to see birds flying free, but Keppy was bred in captivity and would never survive in the wild. She and Eddie have a very close relationship and we were thrilled to be able to capture this special moment between them.
So folks this is just a taster of what being a photographer in Belize is all about. We hope you enjoyed sharing this blog with us. We certainly enjoyed making it. All of the photos in this blog were taken within the last two months. Oh and in case you didn’t know – this is us, Conch Creative, at work in Belize. This photo was sneakily taken during a wedding shoot on Cayo Espanto by the lovely groom to be, Alan. Thanks for sending it to us Alan!
Special thanks goes to Keli at I DO Belize Weddings, who organised and planned both of our featured weddings.
If you’d like to see more of Conch Creative’s images and keep up with all of our new work, please join our Conch Creative Facebook page .
Doing San Pedro – A Unique Trash the Dress Experience in Belize
Wedding photographers love the opportunity to do something different, something unique and something out of the ordinary. Many would say that Conch Creative gets to do that every day as we are ‘in situ’ destination wedding photographers in Belize, one of the most beautiful countries in the world – and you certainly won’t hear us complaining. But we must admit that our heart skips a beat and we get giddy with excitement when a bride contacts us and says she wants to do a Trash the Dress session. We know that this is a bride we’re going to have fun with…but not all Trash the Dress sessions involve just trashing the dress. Let us share a Trash the Dress experience with you – Conch Creative style.
Even before we met this couple, we knew they were special and wonderful. Once we met them and their beautiful families, we were absolutely convinced. This is Ryan with their gorgeous son, who was a handsome if somewhat reluctant ring bearer. They are waiting for the ceremony to start.
The wedding, of course was beautiful. All weddings in San Pedro are beautiful – but this blog is not about the wedding, which was held at the gorgeous Xanadu Island Resort. But we just couldn’t help but include a romantic photograph from after the ceremony, just to remind our readers how amazing Ambergris Caye truly is. We don’t think there could be another image that could conjure up the fantasy of a ‘tropical wedding’ quite so well as this one does.
The day after the wedding, Carrie & Ryan’s friends and family decorated a golf cart. When Carrie booked her Trash the Dress, she said she wanted a flavour of San Pedro – she wanted images that were taken in and around town so that she’d have memories to treasure. Of course, Conch Creative felt obliged to be the ultimate tour guides. So we all piled into the golf cart and headed into the wilds of San Pedro Town.
They wanted to experience the wild and wonderful side of San Pedro, Belize and so a pit stop at the new Blackbeard’s Hideout seemed to fit the bill perfectly.
Anyone who has spent any time on Ambergris Caye will know that Maria’s fruit and vegetable stand is a landmark and Miss Maria is an icon with (we’re losing count now) well over 50 grandchildren. She’s everyone’s grandma really and couldn’t wait to congratulate the bride and groom in her typically, warm and affectionate manner.
Then on to the next landmark. Estel’s is famous for it’s seafront ambiance, colourful characters and delicious food.
Along the way Carrie & Ryan had to stop to see some local hand crafts made from gorgeous Belizean hardwoods.
Then it was time for some fun and games in San Pedro’s Central Park. Ryan sure got into the spirit of things with this Manatee (otherwise known as a Sea Cow). Ride ’em cowboy!
Ever the gentleman, he made sure that the lovely Carrie got to enjoy the playground too.
After finally getting Carrie & Ryan familiar with the ‘real’ San Pedro, it was time for them to get wet and so we headed for the sea…
They tested the water and knew it was time.
In minutes, Carrie was a Caribbean princess of the sea. But it wasn’t long before….
Ryan had to join her and so he, being a total Prince Charming, made his way through the warm waters to join Carrie.
She was so beautiful and the moment was so perfect, he just couldn’t resist.
And so ends our tale of a unique Trash the Dress experience with two very wonderful and beautiful people, who wanted the real San Pedro experience. We know that their wedding images will give them joy and memories of beautiful Belize for many years to come. Congratulations Carrie & Ryan and thank you for letting us share our gorgeous island with you.
Conch Creative would like to make it clear that no Manatees were hurt in the making of this blog.
If you would like to keep up to date with Conch Creative’s different photographic adventures, then please join our Facebook page Conch Creative’s Adventurous Facebook Page
The Spice of Photography
As wedding photographers in Belize, Conch Creative are always grateful that we get the opportunity to attend and document romantic and fabulous weddings. As artists, we are always evolving and looking for new inspiration. Last year we were privileged to be invited to provide official photographs for the Miss San Pedro pageant. All of the girls were intelligent, poised, charming and absolutely beautiful. Natasha Stuart won the title of Miss San Pedro 2010/2011 and we believe this image is a wonderful representation of her metamorphosis from the young lady we met last year to the woman she is becoming. As she rises from the water, with her wings spread, ready to take flight, she is heading for a brilliant future. She is currently a college student and we can see that she has amazing opportunities laying ahead of her.
Liliana Mia Nunez was once the reigning Miss San Pedro. She has since gone on to develop a successful career in fitness training. When Conch Creative photographs Belizean women, we like to portray not only their beauty but immense strength. Liliana represents all of those things. As a community, we in San Pedro were extremely proud that she represented Belize as Miss Belize in the International Costa Maya Festival. We had so much fun working with her on this shoot – and work we did. Not only did it take excellent balancing skills, but a considerable amount of bravery for Liliana to give us this image.
These images are previews and there will be many more amazing Conch Creative images of these incredible women being released in the near future. If you’d like to see more of Liliana and Natasha, they will be appearing on our Facebook page – Conch Creative Facebook Page – and eventually on our website – Conch Creative Website .
Conch Creative wedding photography has been extremely busy this year and March has brought marriage madness with it. We certainly are not complaining and felt obliged to share some of our recent weddings with you. This is Terri and Glenn. They got married at sunset on a sandbar in the middle of nowhere, with only three guests in attendance on Valentine’s Day. They were so in love it was absolutely touching and everyone shed a tear when they read their very personal vows.
Sandbars are a unique location for an intimate tropical wedding in Belize. While the there isn’t much in terms of scenery, who needs it when the love virtually pops out of the photograph and kisses you on the nose.
But of course when there is scenery, everyone takes advantage of it. This is Jenn and Todd. They were married at the tasteful and beautiful Victoria House resort. They were just lovely people – laid back, wonderful to work with and great fun.
Doing wedding photography in Belize, we get some unusual requests for family and group shots. This was one of our most unusual. Todd and Jenn had some relatives who were absent for a variety of reasons. They were gathered together on this table – their sister attending by Skype.
Jenn had a gorgeous wedding dress, which we felt deserved its very own portrait.
Of course Conch Creative ‘hearts’ weddings in Belize. It seems that Mother Nature does too!
The variety is never ending for photographers in Belize and the smile of a child is always food for inspiration. This young man came all the way from Cayo for his six month portrait shoot with Conch Creative. He couldn’t stop smiling – and I’m sure it helped that he had four adults making absolute fools of themselves for his benefit.
While we love taking pictures of people, there is a special magic to commercial and resort photography in Belize. This is Ramon’s Village Resort, one of the oldest and most established resorts in San Pedro, at night.
..and this is Coco Beach Resort, one of San Pedro’s newest resorts at night.
Because variety is indeed the spice that gives Conch Creative it’s very unique flavour, we end with this image, taken at Sailsports Belize. Amazing kiteboarding stunts truly gave us that wonderful kick that only the spiciest of dishes provide…and we all know that Belize is a country that loves everything hot and spicy.
Until next time, Conch Creative thanks you all for taking the time to read our blog and enjoy our photos. If you like our work, please do share it and maybe even join our Conch Creative Facebook Page – Conch Creative spicy link
We have some important thank yous and shout outs to give here.
Many thanks to Caye Winds and Caribbean Villas for providing us with fantastic locations for our shoots with Liliana and Natasha.
Thanks to Bradley Mazin for his outrageous kiteboarding skills.
Thanks to our brides and grooms for making our job easy and enjoyable.
And thanks to all of the models, resorts and even kids who share a little bit of themselves with us and become part of Conch Creative as a result.
Welcome to San Pedro – The perfect location for destination beach wedddings
If you’ve been following our blog, you’ll know that Conch Creative are Belize wedding photographers, specialising in beach weddings. Of course we also do other photography and we like to spice things up a little bit on our blog by sharing some of that with you too so that you can experience Belize as a location for your dream destination wedding. Welcome to San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize
This is the beach in front of Ramon’s Village. There are some beautiful beaches on Ambergris Caye and this certainly is one of them.
Just in case you were wondering what Ramon’s Village might look like from above, here is a bird’s eye view taken from one of our cute little Cessna island hoppers.
As wedding photographers in Belize, we are often asked ‘What do you do if it rains?’. Of course, we say ‘We have to sacrifice a virgin to the Maya Rain God – Chac’. We’re proud to introduce you to Chac. He can be found lounging around the pool at Ramon’s Village.
Of course, where you find one Maya god, you’ll find others – sometimes hiding in the most unlikely places, like this watermelon!
Of course taking pictures can make you hungry, especially when the food looks as good as this. Could it be the incredible leaning tower of shrimp? The chef at Pineapple’s Restaurant knows how to wield a skewer for sure!
Ok, with Valentine’s Day around the corner, we couldn’t cheat you all out of a little love and romance. Stephanie and Edwin had some friends and family come to join them for their beautiful beach ceremony at Victoria House. Another of our fabulous Caribbean beaches ideal for that dream barefoot wedding. (except that Edwin wore shoes!)
Beach weddings in Belize tend to be incredibly romantic. You would think that being wedding photographers, we would get bored, but we shed a tear with every couple, sharing their happiness.
It’s hard not to feel the love when two people are so truly enamoured with one another.
A lacy dress, a white beach, glowing with happiness – it is easy to see why Edwin is totally smitten with Stephanie…
…that he couldn’t help but sweep her off her feet for one and all to see!
So come and join us in exotic, romantic and beautiful Belize for your destination beach wedding…you never know what you’ll find around every corner…or what magic it might bring into your lives.
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Simple and beautiful – Wedding Photography in Belize
As wedding photographers in Belize, we are so fortunate to be surrounded by spectacular beauty. Couples come to Belize because of the natural beauty and they come to San Pedro for it’s tropical island charm. Sometimes though, as photographers, we believe in keeping it simple. Something small and remarkable can bring back such wonderful memories of a wedding, like this minister preparing to offer the rings to Kelsey and Rich during their ceremony. Even though they had a large wedding party and wonderful decoration, it was the simple and beautiful images from that day that stood out to us.
We encourage couples to escape with us after the ceremony to get some breathing space and relax. During this time, couples can reflect upon what has just happened, celebrate quietly together and enjoy the beautiful surroundings they came to Belize to experience. It is during this time that we have the opportunity, as photographers, to be part of some of their most intimate moments. Kelsey and Rich were sharing a thoughtful and loving moment here.
While some couples bring their family and friends to San Pedro to help them celebrate their big day, others, like Tiffany and Orlando, prefer something quiet and private, with only their closest friends in attendance as witnesses. These simple ceremonies, with such a spectacular backdrop are often the most emotional and romantic.
A simple location, with a fantastic sky lends drama and depth to this image . Even after the most personal of ceremonies, couples just want those romantic moments following the ceremony all to themselves. Tiffany and Orlando, spent a great deal of time planning their ceremony in San Pedro, which was done during a day trip from a cruise ship and made sure to slow down and take the time to absorb the magic of San Pedro.
These images were taken at Las Terrazas and Rojo Lounge.
BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We have updated the Conch Creative website. If you have enjoyed the images you’ve seen on our blog, you might want to see our updated website with so many more images of fabulous weddings and other photographic adventures in Belize.
Conch Creative – it’s a jungle out there
Conch Creative visited mainland Belize to photograph a wedding ceremony held at Xunantunich Maya ruins and then on to the beautiful Mahogany Hall. With 2012 looming and the popularity of the end of the world ‘prophecies’, there is a great deal of fascination and interest in the Maya culture. Of course, Belize is the heartland of this ancient civilisation and has many beautiful archaeological sites.
These sites are fabulous, magical and dramatic. Even more amazing is that there are usually hardly any people there and you can end up having the whole site to yourselves. On the day of Katie and Derrick’s ceremony, it was beautiful and clear.
Following the ceremony, Katie and Derrick took the opportunity to climb a pyramid, 130′ tall – the second largest man made structure in Belize. What an amazing experience and the memories will give them something to talk about for the rest of their lives.
Of course, if you’re familiar with Conch Creative you’ll know that we always like to do something a little bit different if we have a couple who are willing to have some fun. Please keep in mind that the Xunantunich site was not in any way closed to the public during this ceremony. The couple willingly posed multiple times allowing us to create this image.
Then it was on to the grand Mahogany Hall. This is a beautiful resort overlooking the Mopan River in Bullet Tree, just outside of San Ignacio, Belize.
Mahogany Hall has an ageless style with beautiful architecture. A great deal of love and care has gone into developing this beautiful resort and it shows.
The atmosphere and gentle beauty of the setting of Mahogany Hall, with the roar of the Mopan River in the background makes you feel like you have stepped back into another age.
No trip to mainland Belize would be complete without the requisite wildlife photographs. This is a Collared Aracari eating bananas at Mahogany Hall. If you’ve never been to mainland Belize, be warned – there are beautiful birds everywhere and it is rich with stunning wildlife – much of which you’ll never see anywhere else in the world.
Before we knew it, we were back on our beautiful jewel in the Caribbean, Ambergris Caye, for a beach wedding at the unique and very cool Xanadu resort.
Conch Creative looks forward to sharing more of their adventures with you soon.
A Date to Remember 10/10/10
At Conch Creative we love meeting couples from all over the world, who come to Ambergris Caye – our jewel in the Caribbean Sea – to pledge their love on tropical beaches. For many couples, this is a once in a lifetime event, for others – well – they might have practised once or twice previously.
One of our couples married, here in Belize, for the second time after being apart for over ten years. The romance of each and every ceremony is always unique and we just feel so honoured to be able to be part of such an important event in people’s lives.
That is why Conch Creative will be sharing some of our favourite moments from weddings with you on this blog, so that you get the chance to share in the magic that we are so lucky to experience as part of our work.
The 10th of October this year was a big day for weddings in San Pedro. We heard of at least 10 weddings that day. At Conch Creative, we have a strict policy of only shooting one wedding per day so that we can devote our attention to our couple, so we were delighted to be part of Peri and Bob’s wedding at Ramon’s Village.
Often we are the only guests at romantic and intimate ceremonies and so our duties can be varied. One of our jobs this time was to keep a very nervous and excited groom busy, while his beautiful bride prepared. We suggested this uniquely tropical way of announcing their special and memorable date.
We left Bob unattended briefly so that we could focus on Peri’s preparations and he managed a sneak peek. Luckily we were right there to catch him being a cheeky groom to be.
Peri & Bob had originally wanted to have sunset photographs, but we explained that the sun sets on the other side of the island. The only solution was to get a golf cart and take them for a spin to the other side before the sun set. The ever helpful crew at Ramon’s Village were kind enough to prepare a golf cart suitably for their journey.
….and off we went. Luckily there are two of us at Conch Creative so one could drive and the other could run behind to take pictures.
We couldn’t think of a more unusual setting for wedding photography. For those of you familiar with San Pedro, you will recognise this as the ‘croc pond’. This is an area where historically there had been illegal feeding of the endangered American Crocodile, but even now there are a lot of crocs just hangin’ around. While we were there, Peri and Bob were lucky enough to see two of these amazing animals. Now that really is a day to remember!
Just in case you haven’t seen an American Crocodile up close and personal, we thought we’d end this blog with this image taken by Conch Creative at ACES Crocodile Sanctuary in Punta Gorda, Belize. **
** To find out more about the endangered American Crocodile in Belize, please check out the ACES website
Groups – The Art of Herding Cats
Photographing groups at weddings can be an art form in itself. First you have to catch them while they are still upright. It’s great if they are a little bit merry, but as the party progresses, things can get a bit messy. One of the lovely gentlemen in this shot fell out of the tree three times before giving up.
Of course Conch Creative is known for their fun and playful approach to wedding photography and understands that a wedding celebration should be a party! So, we encourage our groups to let their hair down and …well…climb all over each other.
…because we believe that is how you capture memories that you really will want to share with your family and friends and that will make you smile for years to come.
Sometimes even when we do slightly more traditional group shots, the architecture can be an inspiration.
Or sometimes the the beautiful scenery can create opportunities for unique and special group photographs.
Conch Creative believes that the couple should be the centre of attention on their special day, so we don’t always insist that groups look at the camera.
Ultimately, the most important thing is that everyone in the group looks relaxed and happy and Conch Creative will go to any lengths to make sure that happens!
Cake – Everyone loves a bit of cake!
Conch Creative loves cake and as wedding photographers we get to see some beautiful cakes. So much effort is put into making these cakes tropical, fabulous and delicious. Although we are usually pretty greedy when it comes to cake, we’ve decided to share some of our cakes with you.
These blue cupcakes were such an original and pretty treat for wedding guests.
A tropical cake in paradise.
This cute and romantic cake featured at one of the most colourful weddings Conch Creative has ever attended.
This beautiful cake was presented against such a gorgeous colour. It really made the cake even more spectacular.
You may notice droplets on the window in this picture. The lovely couple did not let the rain spoil their day and this cake decorated with fresh flowers and seashells kept everyone in the tropical wedding mood.
Conch Creative would like to thank the bakers and chefs who produced these edible pieces of art. If you see your cake here and would like us to mention your name, just get in touch and we’d be happy to let everyone know that you were the cake’s creator.
Conch Creative Welcomes You!
Bride at Sunrise
Welcome to Conch Creative. We are thrilled to introduce our new blog, where you will get the chance to see Conch Creative ‘behind the scenes’ as well as seeing sneak peeks at our work. Conch Creative are a photography service with a twist. That twist is our clients and their dreams. The amazing dynamic between photographer and subject is what gives Conch Creative images that special something. So, if you are a bride looking for a wedding photographer (or maybe some tastefully sexy boudoir shots for your groom), a recently engaged couple wanting a photographic record of your romantic experience in Belize, a business owner who wants to make their website and publicity material ‘pop’ or you just happen to like photography, then the Conch Creative blog should keep you excited and interested. So, welcome! We look forward to telling you all about our work..
We’ll be combining images from past shoots with updates from more recent ones. The image above was part of a ‘Trash the Dress’ shoot we did with a wonderful couple from Texas. They were staying at La Perla Del Caribe and we had photographed their wedding. The morning after, they had booked the ‘Trash the Dress’ session with us. We had already chosen a location and we got to work capturing the dramatic sky and scenery. Funnily enough, the dress survived and was dry cleaned and worn to the couple’s reception back in Texas. This couple loved Belize and their photographic experience so much, they have booked another trip and another photo session with us. We look forward to telling you all about it.
Recently, we’ve been working with a lot of beautiful young women – none of them brides. We photographed all of the Miss San Pedro contestants and they were all just such lovely young women. The Miss San Pedro Pageant is a huge event locally and even though the judging can always be controversial, we are very proud to have been part of the event.
We then had a shoot with Moondancer, a local fashion boutique, where all the girls shop. We were lucky enough to have fabulous models including Katherine Portillo, who has recently won a number of fitness modelling titles in the USA, Maritza Rivas, an international beauty queen and model and Kelsey Castaneda, who is about to do a shoot for Inked Magazine. Those photos are sizzling and we can’t wait to share them with you.
Most recently, we worked with Miss Caye Caulker Lobster Fest and Belizean designer Emil Alvarez. Miss Lobster Fest, Stephanie Arce was delightful and the dresses spectacular – particularly in the sunrise. Sorry guys about the 5am wake up, but oh it was worth it!
If you’d like to see more of our work, please check out our Conch Creative Facebook page or our website http://conchcreative.com.
Belize Wedding Photography Blog 
