Steve and Marissa booked us to be their photographers for their Tulum wedding and we immediately started researching. We knew we wanted to do some really special wedding portraits while we were in Mexico. Their Tulum wedding ceremony was at Villas de Rosa Beach Resort. Located close to a variety of different Cenotes and downtown Tulum. As destination wedding photographers we have learned that arriving to a wedding destination a few days early is always a good idea. It gives us an opportunity to get settled and scout the area for possible portrait locations.
Scouting for Cenotes
Cenotes are collapsed caves filled with crystal clear water that comes up from the ground. With the roof of the cave fully collapsed a beautiful blue pool of water is revealed. We visited 6 different cenotes between Tulum and Playa del Carmen before settling on one. Researching Tulum wedding photography locations helped get us started. Actually having time to visit in person made the final decision much easier. We wanted to make sure that the place we used wasn’t going to be crowded and would also be scenic. We paid a small fee to use a small cenote area and had the place to ourselves all afternoon.
Downtown Tulum
In addition to the essential Tulum cenote photoshoot we also wanted to do some portraits in the downtown area. We wanted to capture the vibrant nightlife that the city is known for. To find the best places we did a fair amount of scouting for this photoshoot as well. Looking for interesting light and bars and restaurants that would be friendly towards photographers. When working on location it is important to us that we can always be honest about what we are doing. We feel that having to pretend to be anything other than professional wedding photographers can be a real hindrance to our creativity.
Restaurants we recommend
While out and about location scouting and after then after the wedding we took sometime to check out some of Tulums amazing restaurants. Tulum is divided into two main areas the downtown strip and the beach road. The restaurants on the beach road are more upscale making them the perfect destination for a night out. The downtown area is perfect for casual dinner or lunch while shopping for souveniers. These are a few we think would be great places to take a wedding group.
This magical spot is located on the beach road and has incredible architecture, romantic lighting and a wonderful Mezcal cocktail menu. The food is served to share so its a great place to go with your wedding group. The space is intimate so for groups larger than 10 they recommend emailing ahead to make a reservation. ([email protected])
We stopped into this casual pizzeria and were delighted to find a gourmet menu of all kinds of delicious items. Our favorite was the prosciutto and brie pizza although you can’t go wrong with any of their pizzas. This spot is right on the main strip and a perfect place to go before a night on the town. Because of the large Italian population in Tulum there are many fantastic Italian restaurants.
If you are in the mood for seafood we recommend El Pez Nativo. It is in the heart of downtown Tulum close to souvenier shops and other bars and restaurants. They serve fresh fish so make sure to ask about the catch of the day. We had the grouper when we were in town and it was delightful.
Map of Downtown Tulum
