Vivian + Josh: Destination Wedding in Guatemala!
Brace yourselves! This is a long one!
We have been waiting over a month to share this blog, but have held off because Vivan was not home yet. Home being, the good ol USA! Vivian and Josh have such a beautiful story! Here’s the gist: They met nearly 10 years ago while Josh was in Guatemala on a missions trip. Vivian was a translator for their group, and Josh had an immediate interest. They got to know each other a little, but not enough. Josh went back a year later and requested Vivian be his translator. The leader of the group explained they weren’t going to just grant his wish, and that if it was meant to be, her name would be drawn for him specifically. Well… guess what happened?? That’s right! Her name was drawn for him. They spent the whole week together and left knowing of their interest, but God’s timing was different than theirs. Years went by after that, a little talking through out, but after a couple other relationships, more visits to Guatemala, and many hours of prayer, Josh decided to fully pursue Vivian. She came to visit this past March/April for a month, they started dating, and then BAM - decided to make it official and get married! After so many years, conversations, and prayer, why prolong what you know is right??
Ok so. We have known Josh since the start of all of this. We actually go back further than that. So we are great friends, and when it came to his wedding, it was an honor (and that’s an understatement) for them to ask us to be a part of the day and capture their memories for him. They planned this wedding in one month. God moment: neither of us were booked for photo OR video! That almost NEVER happens! So that was that. We booked our flight and headed to Guatemala July 12th!
Upon arrival, Josh and Vivian picked us up from the airport and we went to stay at her house in the city that night. It was a long day and we knew we needed sleep. We had a 5 am wakeup call. And poor Josh and Vivian barely slept because there was still more to be done! Picking up family super early that morning, and the rental van, we all piled in and headed towards Antigua, which was our first pit stop to pick up even more family!
When we arrived in Panajachel, we immediately had to turn around and go to the local market for flowers. Vivian was so excited about the flowers. We took a tuk tuk into town and got some photos of them picking out their flowers. Family met us in town for pizza, which was the location of their first date! and we got a few more shots of them in the city and building the bouquets of flowers that night.
Circus Bar: the location of their first date! THE WEDDING DAY
The wedding took place at this amazing little bed and breakfast on the water, called Casa del Mundo. This place isn’t accessible by road! So you can only get to it with a water taxi. Lake Atitlan is overwhelmingly stunning! It’s surrounded by volcanoes and mountains, with these beautiful towns along the edges. What a sight! We took the taxi over early in the morning, and Josh joined later. Before the ceremony, Josh was adamant about having a first look with Vivian and wanted this shot of her up on the balcony and him down below. Even though it was only about 10 minutes, this was definitely one of the highlights of the entire weekend! The look on his face is simply priceless! Their ceremony took place on one of Casa del Mundo’s many balconies overlooking the water. It was like a perfect dream. Their family did a gorgeous job setting up the surrounding flowers, and they even hung some from the tree they stood under during the ceremony. Clint, being such a good friend of Josh’s, stepped in after the legal documents were signed, and said a few words as well, which made being there extra special!
Lunch followed the ceremony up in the main dining area, and man was it good! We’ve never had such mouth-watering food! All of their ingredients are local and fresh, and you can really tell! The cake was made by one of the chefs there, which, funny story, they had stayed with him through AirBnB before having met him! The storms rolled in, which was pretty common, and we took some fun shots in the rain. They were kind of excited about that because it was in perfect Lake Atitlan style that it stormed. Apparently they roll in off the mountains pretty regularly. Josh and Vivian had spent much time escaping there over the years they visited with each other, and were very familiar with the weather patterns. Josh was thrilled to see rain! And we’re so happy they rolled with it and allowed us to capture some cool shots!
PHOTOSHOOT IN ANTIGUA
The next day, we all jumped back into our vans and headed towards Antigua to stay the night there. We rented this incredible mansion where we were all able to stay, and took some photos on the property before sunset. Then we headed into the main center of town for some night shots. We had a blast walking around with them and grabbed dinner afterwards together. We loved every second of this weekend. We barely slept and ran mostly off adrenaline. But the memories we made were irreplaceable and we are thrilled to know this couple. Welcome home Vivian! We pray you adjust well to the States and we want you to know you are loved and cherished already! You two make such a remarkable match for each other and we can’t wait to continue to make more memories with you the rest of our lives!