Some weddings feel like a production, and some feel like a family party that just happens to have production values. Alex and Andy's was both at once, and that combination is exactly what made it so good to document.
Alex and Andy are Mexican, but they live in Canada — and to get married, they chose to come back to Mexico City, to one of the most iconic wedding venues in the city right now: El Altto, in San Ángel. Around that choice, they built a day centered on something simple to name and hard to pull off: a lot of light. Not just the natural afternoon light — though that too — but a full lighting and sound production that, once night fell, turned the party into something that felt almost cinematic.
I'll be honest: at the start of this wedding I felt a kind of nervousness I don't feel very often. Alex works in film and photography in Canada — meaning he wasn't just going to live his wedding, he was going to watch it with the eye of someone who does this professionally. I assumed, maybe without needing to, that his expectations would be higher than most couples'. But from the very first hours of getting ready, that tension dissolved on its own. The day flowed, the light cooperated, and what was left at the end — for them and for me — was a result all three of us loved.
Getting ready, unhurried
The morning started in a hotel room overlooking Mexico City, with that flat, honest light that comes through a big window before the day speeds up. Alex got ready while his father sat with him quietly, and already, in that room, you could feel the tone of the whole day: calm, unhurried, with the right people close by.
Across town, Andy got ready at the same unhurried pace. One of my favorite details to document that day was the dress — the lacework, the ring, the hands clasped together for a second before everything began.
The ceremony at El Altto
El Altto has the kind of architecture that doesn't need help looking good in photos — a gilded altarpiece, light falling in columns from above, and an almost solemn weight that later contrasts beautifully with the party that follows. That contrast is exactly what made documenting the full day so interesting: the ceremony with its stillness and its rite, and a few hours later, the same guests dancing under colored lights in the very same room.
When they walked out of the ceremony — the photo that opens this post — there were bubbles, applause, and that shared relief you feel when the most formal part of the day is done and all that's left is to celebrate.
Portraits around Mexico City
Between the ceremony and the reception, we took some time to drive around the city with Alex and Andy — a borrowed classic car, the city as a backdrop, and that feeling that no matter where they live now, Mexico City is still theirs.
A party with the whole family — and a lot of light
Once night fell, the lighting and sound production I mentioned earlier took over: a full dance floor, moving lights, a DJ who never stopped reading the room. But out of everything that happened that night, what stayed with me most wasn't the production — it was one dance in particular.
Andy's father uses a wheelchair, and there was no way he was going to miss dancing with his daughter. I watched him roll up, take her hand, and dance with her in front of every guest, all of them standing. It wasn't a moment staged for the camera or for anyone but the two of them — and because of that, it was, without a doubt, the most important photo I took that day.
The rest of the night was exactly what a good Mexican wedding party promises: entire families on the dance floor, colored lights, and the kind of joy you can't fake.
If anything defined this wedding, it wasn't just the lighting production or the iconic venue — it was that, in the middle of all of it, what stood out most was the families' love and Alex and Andy's excitement to start this life project together. That, in the end, is the kind of wedding I most enjoy documenting.
If you're planning your wedding and want to think through light and timing with this same care, the ideal wedding day timeline for great photos can help, or see packages and pricing directly.
