Decanter Hotel & Old San Juan: The Perfect Backdrop for Bryan & Mary Luz

Jul 1

Ladies and gentlemen, the future bride and groom…

The Engagement Session in Puerto Rico

Bryan and Mary Luz met during the pandemic. Like many couples, they resorted to each other in difficult times which is a great starting point a wonderful friendship. Finding solace in a partner in the face of adversity can lay the foundation for an incredible romantic partnership. They hail from Connecticut but wanted to escape the continental U.S. to get married in Puerto Rico at La Concha Hotel in Condado, a venue that, as a professional photographer, I’m extremely familiar with. I shot one of my most complete weddings there last year with Carlos & Denise and memorized all of the great spots for pictures. I trust I can achieve the same results with these two lovebirds.

They flew in recently to Puerto Rico to secure the venue and we figured it would be a great opportunity to shoot their engagement session in Old San Juan, a city that is eclectic in nature and as colorful as they come. As a wedding photographer in Puerto Rico, this happens to be one of my most frequented stops along my journey because the feeling Old San Juan provides is just otherworldly. You get the classic Spanish vibes mixed with modern nooks and crannies making it the perfect backdrop for an engagement session as a prequel to a wedding. Once the venue was secured, we proceeded to meet up at the Decanter Hotel across the street from El Convento, also a popular wedding venue in Puerto Rico.

Couple's portrait while getting ready at the Decanter Hotel, near El Convento Hotel, shot by a wedding photographer in Puerto Rico — What a tender moment…

Our first order of business was getting to meet in person. Believe it or not, we hadn’t even met virtually beforehand and I was looking forward to doing so. After getting to Old San Juan rather early for some grub, I asked Mary Luz if she’d be OK with me heading into the Decanter Hotel and taking some pictures of them getting ready together. Not only do I think it’s super cute but it just so happens to be one of my favorite parts of being a destination wedding photographer in Puerto Rico. Intimacy and romance is a combination I enjoy photographing and, being the hopeless romantic I am, it’s safe to say that it’s very near and dear to my heart seeing my couples interact with each other in an organic and authentic manner.

Not only did Mary Luz think it was a great idea but I showed up early since I tell all of my couples that, as a professional photographer, I’m always “annoyingly punctual” anywhere I’m requested in Puerto Rico. One of my reasons for doing so, regardless if it’s a wedding or elopement, is due to the fact that I enjoy a stress-free environment, something I take great pride in providing for all of my clients. When the doorman let me upstairs, I quickly made my way to the elevator and in a matter of minutes I was knocking on their door and shaking hands. Immediately I could feel a sense of togetherness and warmth and their vibe was definitely down-to-Earth.

Portrait of a future groom getting ready for his engagement session taken by the best photographer in Puerto Rico — How does this go again…?

As soon as we were done exchanging pleasantries, I went immediately to scout the room that they had rented and, although it was quite cozy, it did have a lot of natural light allowing me to capture genuine moments of them getting ready. Admittedly, Mary Luz was still wondering what dress to go with and, after comparing her original choice to a more yellow, sundress vibe we decided to go with a classic white sleeveless number. Bryan, on the other hand, opted to leave his suit jacket behind and stick to just a tie seeing as how it’s as hot as it gets in Puerto Rico.

Once I felt as though we had taken enough pictures to put together a solid prequel to their outing, we then proceeded to exit the premises but not before making a few pit stops along the way. First, I noticed the nice archways perfect for an engagement photography session. I maintained my distance as much as I could and snapped a few portraits of them for a safe distance (although I could hear them whispering sweet nothings into each other’s ears). We then took the elevator downstairs where we stumbled across the lobby garden I had seen on the way up; I knew that coming down I’d want to sit them there, specially when I saw we had it all to ourselves for a few minutes. There’s nothing quite like an uninterrupted session for an engagement photographer in Puerto Rico.

Portrait of a couple during an engagement session at the Decanter Hotel near El Convento Hotel in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico shot by a professional wedding photographer — “Hi…hi back

I was actually surprised by the fact that the Decanter Hotel happens to be a solid choice for an engagement session in Puerto Rico. Their staff was welcoming, the rooms were easy to find, it looked like they had all of the amenities one might need and the overall ambiance of the place was extremely versatile during my visit. I wholeheartedly recommend taking a look at this and considering incorporating this as a wedding venue in Puerto Rico to some extent because it appears you have everything all in one place and could be a wonderful precursor as part of the portfolio to a wedding photographer in Old San Juan.

As fate would have it we made our way out into the hot streets of the city where we met up with Bryan, the Swiss-Army knife of my photography team and my chosen assistant for the day. I figured it’d be an excellent way to test my flash photography skillset by having him carry a monopod pole all session long with a Godox AD100 strobe at the end of it. Paired with my new Godox X3 trigger it was an absolutely breeze to shoot Bryan and Mary Luz and let them know what would be taking place for the foreseeable future. Dimming down the background a bit and then shining the light on this lovely couple made for a wonderful engagement session in Old San Juan that I shall not soon forget.

I feel like I certainly outdid myself as far as creative lighting is concerned. That’s why I love a great engagement session prior to the wedding day because it allows for that outside-the-box mentality that’s required and not allowed for the most part during the bride and groom session at a nuptials ceremony in Puerto Rico. By having an assistant like Bryan shadow us around, I was able to take a step back and shoot from the cuff while not thinking too much and forcing my back against the wall to think on my feet.

We actually ventured to spots I normally don’t visit like Casa Blanca (admittedly, we sneaked in before the venue was open and took some of my favorite shots in their lovely green areas). The sun was steadily setting and we knew we were burning daylight but at the same time it was the perfect opportunity to capitalize on a combination of artificial and natural light which captivated our eyes and made for an amazing end to my session as a Puerto Rico engagement photographer. I’ll leave you now with what I think are some of the best flash photography I’ve taken. Remember that if you’d like to get together with me, you can simply click here and send me a message so that we can perhaps talk about putting together an epic wedding photography memory in Puerto Rico. Thanks so much for reading along and I’ll see you in the next blog! -F