I’ve been so excited to share the photos from this Peruvian destination wedding inspiration editorial! My team and I put this styled shoot together as part of a photography and videography workshop that I taught in Cusco, Peru. South America is such a gorgeous place to visit and would be an even more amazing place to get married! This workshop was hands down the best week of 2019!
The ten attendees and I had so many incredible adventures during our time in Peru! We became incredibly close as a group and made so many hilarious memories as we trekked to the colorful Rainbow Mountain in the Andes, toured the Moray Inca Ruins and the Maras Salt Ponds, explored the vast Red Valley, swam with sea lions and even ate alpaca and guinea pig! We braved the second longest zip line in the world and explored the beautiful Machu Picchu, one of the seven wonders of the world. We rode ATVs everywhere because they were more reliable than cars. The entire trip was an amazing adventure!
This styled wedding shoot was definitely one of the highlights of the week. It lasted the entire day! Cusco was once the capital of the Inca Empire. I was inspired by the beautiful Spanish architecture and archaeological remains of the city, so I wanted this mock wedding to feel very boho. We shot outside the Plaza de Armas, which is the central square in the old city. In the Inca era, it was known as the “Square of the Warrior.”
Earlier in the day as we wandered through a Peruvian market, we met a shaman who agreed to officiate our pretend ceremony. He did an amazing job, delivering the ceremony in Spanish with many traditional rituals as he “married” our couple. The groom actually started crying during the ceremony because he understood the shaman, and his beautiful words moved him to tears. The shaman talked about the universe bringing us all together and how powerful the earth is. He spoke of how everything we see is meant to be. It was an experience that I will never forget.
After the ceremony, we set up a wedding dinner for the happy couple on a rooftop overlooking the plaza with a spectacular view of the Cusco Cathedral. The wedding invitations that were created so we could practice our flat lay skills included a lovely illustration of the cathedral. The blush and orange tones of the invitation suite added the perfect touch to the scene as we looked out over the orange rooftops of the city. We ended the night with dancing back on the Plaza de Armas just outside the Cusco Cathedral.
I can’t forget to mention someone special who really stole the show during the shoot! As we were exploring the plaza, we met a woman walking her alpaca. He was tiny, white, fluffy and completely adorable! We hired him for $4 an hour to accompany our bride and groom as they walked down the aisle. After all, what is Peru without an alpaca or two?
