The plans we had made for the weekend were a little different and an amazing opportunity for us. We had arranged to meet Dean at one of the local cenotes to take some more wedding pictures…only with a difference.

We were going to ‘Trash the dress‘! Dean has a special skill and a great eye…even under water!

We dressed in our wedding clothes (I wore the short dress I had worn for the Mayan wedding) and headed down to the cenote Cristalina and helped Dean into his wetsuit, booties, flippers, mask and weights (which admittedly I thought a little extreme…until I got in the water), we watched him jump in, check the area and handed him his camera which was encased in some space age contraption with a long metal arm holding the flash. It looked like it should be collecting moonbeams or something and weighed a tonne!

As Dean got into position Alex and I let the fish nibble our toes and pondered jumping into the clear yet very busy water. There were hundreds and thousands of fish swimming amongst the mulit-coloured algae, sparkling as they swam over rocks near and below the surface.

The edges of the cenotes were green with moss and teeming with life. Neither of us were super excited about getting in but we were very excited to get the pictures!

Once Dean was ready he asked us to jump in. I NEVER jump in, I’m the person you see slowly wading in, getting acclimatised (dramatically) centimetre by centimetre as I slowly get deeper…but there was nowhere to do that here…it was jump or nothing! So, we looked at each other, counted to 3 and in we went! with a huge splash!

The water took my breath away and we floundered around for a while to get warm. Once we were used to the temperature we started shooting. Dean was amazing. He told us what to do and then disappeared underwater, unable to blow out any air as the bubbles would get in the way of the pictures.

The only way for him to get the shots was to wear weights to help him sink, blow out all of his breath and float down under the water. He didn’t have breathing apparatus and believe me, being under water without any air in your lungs is a very strange feeling! He did all of this AND managed to get into position to take the shots he wanted while we splashed about like half drowned rats!

Once we had done lots of swimming shots Dean asked us to take some sitting shots. This meant letting all of your air out as I explained above and sinking under the water. I just couldn’t do it! My body was telling me no even though my brain was saying I would be fine.

I wanted so much to go under but my heart started pounding in my chest and my lungs were throwing a coniption fit, I just could NOT do it! I swallowed more water trying than I had drank all day and decided to have a break. We snacked on crisps and sugary sweets to try build up the energy for the next shoot and shivered in the cold out of the water.

Dean took Alex in to take some images with the props we had bought along for fun. A bottle of Tequila and the HUGE sombrero went underwater and the pictures came out great!

After that it was round 2. We found a spot in the cenote where I could stand on a rock and I tried to ‘sink’ again. Alex and I were both together and he looked into my eyes, told me I would be fine and that he had me if I felt unsafe. He said he wouldn’t let me drown and totally calmed me down.

With that we loaded up on weights, breathed out and sank calmly under the surface all the time looking into each others eyes. It was a great feeling. It was so peaceful and we were looking through the fish at each others smiling faces, it was surreal and gentle and completely unique.

We came up for air and of course Alex said ‘I told you so’ and after that I was fine. Its a mind over matter thing and once you know you will be fine you can start to enjoy the feeling of being still under the water watching the fish swim around you.

Once we had enough shots in the short dress and assessed the damage…or lack thereof, we made the decision to take Tabitha in. The fresh water was clean enough to have my eyes in it and I had drank plenty and survived so Tabitha would be fine.

Getting into the wedding dress was like pulling on a wetsuit, I was shivering and Alex couldn’t feel his hands so he wasn’t much use but we managed to get it on for the desperation to see the AMAZING things Dean could do with such a beautiful dress. Thankfully he didn’t take pictures of me getting in because that was NOT pretty but once I was in I could see the amazing potential. The dress billowed out around me and the fish shone as they swam past the ivory silk and lace of the dress. Alex handed me in my bouquet from the wedding and the fish swarmed around me thinking it was lunch time! The pictures as you can see are just out of this world.

Alex came in with me again and we took more shots sitting on the rocks under the surface.

I cannot even begin to tell you how tiring it was doing the shoot but we wanted the shots so badly! Poor Dean was in the water the whole time and his teeth were chattering as much as ours but he could too see the potential. He knew what he wanted and we worked hard to get it and boy was it worth it!
Its another one of those experiences that is right up there for us and a day we will look back on with real fondness. We will forget how cold the water was and how much my arms nearly dropped off with all the exercise but we will never forget the serenity we felt gazing into each others eyes in an underwater paradise.

Dean we cannot thank you enough for allowing us this unbelievable experience for several reasons…

1. We never would have even gotten into that cenote without you!

2. I would never have learned how to convince my body I wouldn’t die sitting underwater!

3. We had an absolute ball with you that day and will never forget it and of course…

4. because the pictures are absolutely OUT OF THIS WORLD! Quite literally! Thank you!