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Just the two of you at Land's End, or a handful of people who matter. Editorial coverage, bilingual on the day, and your gallery in 1 to 3 days.
Check your dateAn elopement here is usually two people, sometimes two plus a handful, and almost never more than twenty. It runs two to four hours rather than a full day, and the whole point is that nothing about it is a production.
That changes how a photographer should work. There is no getting-ready suite to document for three hours and no reception to cover. What there is, is a short window of very good light, a ceremony that may last eight minutes, and two people who are not used to being photographed. The job is to be close without being in the way, and to come back with a record that feels like the day rather than like a shoot.
IVAE Studios is based in Cancún and travels to Baja, with more than 80 sessions already photographed on the peninsula. We work in English and Spanish, which on an elopement matters because the officiant and the venue coordinator are usually working in Spanish while you are not.
Almost everyone searching for a Cabo elopement is really asking about packages, so here is the straight version. There are two different things being sold under that word, and confusing them is the most common planning mistake we see.
Sold by the hotel. Typically the venue, the officiant or symbolic celebrant, basic flowers, a cake, sometimes a short toast, and very often a small number of photographs from an in-house photographer. It is convenient and it is the reason all-inclusive elopements exist.
The photography is the part most couples end up replacing. In-house coverage in a package is commonly thirty to sixty minutes and a limited set of images, with no golden-hour portraits after the ceremony and no say in who shoots it. Read the inclusion list for the number of final images, not the number of hours.
Most Los Cabos properties allow an outside photographer, and some charge a vendor fee for it. That fee is usually far less than what the coverage difference is worth. We handle the arrangement with the property directly.
Two to four hours built around sunset, the ceremony itself in full, portraits in the last light, and the full edited gallery in 4K within 1 to 3 days rather than weeks.
Portraits above Land's End with the Pacific behind you. The most dramatic option on the peninsula and the one that photographs least like a resort.
A private cove on the Sea of Cortez side. Quiet, contained, and well suited to a ceremony with no guests at all.
Reachable only by boat, at the exact tip of the peninsula. The single frame that cannot be mistaken for anywhere else, and best in the first hour of light.
The mission church, the art district and the cobbled lanes. Where an elopement stops looking like a hotel and starts looking like Mexico.
The properties between the two towns, including The Cape, Chileno Bay and the Waldorf Astoria at Pedregal. Each has its own vendor policy, which we confirm before the day.
Cardón cactus and granite within minutes of the sand, for couples who want something that does not look like a beach wedding at all.
The four things couples ask before anything else, answered without a brochure.
The resort package and the photography are separate numbers. Packages vary widely by property and season, and photography depends on the hours and the travel. Send the date and the venue and you get a real figure the same business day.
A symbolic ceremony can happen anywhere with no paperwork, which is why most destination elopements are symbolic and the couple signs legally at home. A legal Mexican civil ceremony needs documents, translations and a civil judge. Neither is better, but you should choose on purpose.
On the Pacific side, finish the ceremony about ninety minutes before sunset. On the Sea of Cortez side the beach cools earlier, so an hour before sunset is usually right. Sunrise at El Arco is the quietest option of all.
October through May is the long dry stretch with the most reliable light. Summer works if you move the whole thing to the edges of the day.
Or tell us you have not picked one yet, which is common with elopements. Same business day reply with availability and a straight read on the timing.
We map the ceremony against sunset at your exact spot, and confirm with the property whether an outside photographer needs a fee or a form.
One photographer, close but not in the way. No lighting rigs, no long setups, no direction that turns eight minutes of ceremony into a performance.
The part a resort package almost never includes. Thirty to sixty minutes after the ceremony, when the granite turns amber.
Full, edited, in 4K, downloadable and shareable while you are still on the trip.
Yes. A symbolic ceremony has no requirements at all. A legal civil marriage in Baja California Sur requires documents, official translations and blood tests in some municipalities, so most couples who travel choose a symbolic ceremony in Cabo and handle the legal signing at home.
For the venue, the officiant and the logistics, usually yes. For the photography, read the inclusion list carefully: a package that says photography often means a short window and a small number of images, with no portraits after the ceremony.
Almost always. Most Los Cabos properties allow an outside photographer and some charge a vendor fee. We deal with the property directly so it is settled before the week of the wedding.
We treat anything up to about twenty guests as an elopement or micro wedding. Past that, the coverage starts to need a second set of hands and it becomes a small wedding.
Two to four hours for most elopements. That covers the ceremony, the portraits in the good light, and enough of the surrounding hour that the day has a beginning and an end.
Elopements move faster than weddings because there is no guest list to manage. Six weeks is often enough outside peak season, though the best light months from October to May fill earlier.
Yes, and at El Arco it is the better choice. The peninsula is empty before eight and the water is at its clearest.
Tell us the day and the spot, or ask us to suggest one. You get availability and a real number back the same business day.
