Hotel Esencia – Rescue dogs film with GoPros- wedding video-dog-ruff-ers
“Peter and I recognized two things when we were putting our wedding registry together:
1. We don’t need any material things so a traditional registry didn’t make sense for us.
2. We are guests in another country, and it’s an awesome opportunity to give back to a place that’s giving us so much!”
“We thought about the causes that matter to us: animals are a big one. We asked Esencia Hotel to put us in touch with local animal rescue organizations. From there we contacted Playa Animal Rescue (PAR) in Playa del Carmen Mexico to see if they would be interested in being our wedding registry!” – Shahr
Sol met with Shahr on a pre-wedding trip to Mexico. Shahr told Sol she loved dogs, explained that their wedding registry was going to be for a local animal shelter. She asked Sol if she had dogs? would she bring them to the wedding? Dogs, dogs, dogs this had to be a destination wedding with dogs. Added to that, Peter had secretly asked us if we had any ideas for a special gift for Shahr…
Sol came back to del Sol HQ with a gleam in her eye…
What if we brought dogs to the wedding… what if… the dogs were wearing GOPROS???
What if… we asked PAR to “lend” us some dogs to surprise Shahr and film a unique “dog’s eye view” video of her wedding??
What if we invite our local social media friends to be the dogs’ handlers so they can promote PAR and find dogs their forever homes?
Wedding video-dog-ruff-ers??
The Del Sol Photography team find the most unique aspect of every wedding day and we celebrate it! We use our expertise to create epic experiences. We design personalized moments and make memories that last a lifetime. We love to involve our friends and contacts and work with local businesses to create unique wedding concepts. A happy couple, an amazing wedding day, an enriched local community, a meaningful experience.
On the day of Peter and Shahr’s wedding Sol arrived in secret with our dog videographers: Daphne, Daisy and Zac. Handling the dogs were PAR’s veterinarian Dr. Mauricio and local social media and public relation friends in Playa del Carmen: Carla Toledo of Soy Playense and Anna-Hi Carreño of Muuu.
We snuck into Escencia and climbed the stairs to Shahr’s room. Dogs ready, GoPros on, handlers with big smiles, Sol went to meet Shahr: “we have a surprise for you…”
“Well, I was in tears. I thought it was the absolute best surprise ever!”
“Luckily Peter and Sol surprised me with the dogs while the makeup artists were still there, otherwise I probably would have looked a mess! Our guests absolutely loved the dogs and a few have even said they would like to integrate something similar into their own weddings.” – Shahr
We love the unique view that these little rescue dogs have of Peter and Shahr’s wedding: From the capturing of all the guests reacting to the dogs, the most unique first look and wedding processional ever filmed, the sounds of the mariachi and of course taking time to enjoy a sip from a cold glass of champagne.
Destination wedding video-dog-ruff-ers might seem like a crazy concept but it was a perfect fit for Shahr and Peter’s multicultural inspired wedding.
“Taken together our wedding was all a bit mad and untraditional! Piece by piece we tried to integrate as much as we could from the cultures that mean the most to us. Peter’s Maile Lei is taken from Hawaiian tradition. We included this aspects because of the important place Hawaii has had in my life. The seated ceremony with the sophreh (table spread) and the sugar rubbing was taken from my Persian culture. In the Persian ceremony the entire event would happen while seated, and would take hours! We decided just to put a touch of my family tradition into the day. And finally, the vows and rings… taken from the more Western and Christian traditions that Peter’s family and friends would be accustomed to seeing.”
“We wanted our wedding to really be about us, so we made it our own!” – Shahr
“Esencia went above and beyond our expectations on the weekend of the wedding. Trying to plan a wedding from afar can be really tough but the team at Esencia made sure it all worked beautifully. We feel very lucky.”
“Litzie and Giulia were the best wedding coordinators we could have asked for, and they introduced us to the best vendors (del Sol included). We are also really happy that we were able to introduce so many friends to the property. Many of our friends are travel lovers, some of them have even been to Quintana Roo, but NONE of them had been to Esencia before, so it was like we were giving them a gift. A few are already talking about their next visit.”
We are so thankful to have met you Peter and Shahr! Their registry, Shahr asking Sol to bring dogs to the wedding, Peter asking Sol for a special surprise all came together to give us the idea to bring the shelter dogs to their wedding as videographers. Not only is it super fun to have a “dog’s eye view” video of their wedding day, but it’s amazing how well behaved perfect wedding guests and videographers those rescue shelter dogs were!
We loved the dog videographer experience and video so much that we would like to offer “rescue dog videographers” as a product to future brides and grooms so we can find them a new home.
We hope that showing how awesome the dogs are (at a wedding, with a camera on their back no less) will support and promote the “adopt don’t buy” movement. We want to encourage more people to consider giving a forever home to a rescue dog! Our dream is that Peter and Shahr will be the first couple to start a new wedding trend: dog wedding videographers supporting animal shelters!
“Dogs have a way of lightening a space, bringing joy just by being present, and adding laughter to situations. It’s been almost 2 months since our wedding. The dogs are one of the primary memories that come up when people talk about the day.” – Shahr
“If we’d been getting married at home we’d have had our own dog present because she’s part of our family. Because this was a destination wedding for us (as it likely is for many of your brides) it’s a wonderful way to include these beautiful little lives into the big day when you can’t have your own there.”
“Having dog a dog wedding video a great option for people who either 1. have hired a regular videographer and would like to add something beautiful to that experience, or 2. have decided they don’t really need a videographer, but would like to have some fun footage of the day!” – Shahr
Adoption UPDATE. Daisy and Daphne have been ADOPTED…Yes, they found their forever home!!!!! YEAYYYYYY!!!!!
Wedding Location: Hotel Esencia
Principal Photographer: Sol Tamargo
Second Photographer: Polly
Gown Boutique: Galina
Hair and Makeup: Styling Trio Riviera Maya
Special thanks to Litzie and Giulia (From Hotel Esencia) for being amazing people! Also for the spectacular wedding coordination services provided.
**Double extra special thanks to Peter! For asking us to come up with a special idea…for pushing us to make something magical! **
See why Esencia is one of our favorite luxury hotels for destination weddings in Mexico
