Heritage and Modernity is a bridal editorial produced across two private historic estates in Mérida, Mexico, over two days of shooting. Destination Weddings Tulum acted as producer and primary collaborator, turning a moodboard of contemporary bridal designers and local Yucatecan artists into fully built sets. The story captures two moments of a wedding celebration: a main ceremony day framed by a lounge and surrounding gardens, and a civil ceremony paired with an evening reception. That structure lets the series move between daytime romance and evening drama, with historic architecture carrying the plot from start to finish.
The wardrobe is where the series is at its most inventive. Sheer layers of tulle and organza in ivory, cream and soft blush open the story, and a slim headband gives the first look the air of an old fairy tale. The evening brings a woven dress with an open back that reads as soft chainmail, finished with loose threads and draping. In the gardens, a glittering tulle blouse and a skirt rebuilt into a dress close the story, which treats the bridal wardrobe as material to be reworked instead of a fixed set of outfits.
A Fairy Tale Told in Tulle
Photographer Lili Breton describes her work as beginning with atmosphere, the feeling a space leaves behind. She has long been drawn to the point where contemporary bridal fashion meets historic environments, and this editorial was conceived as a study of modern bridal artistry inside old settings. Soft light, unconventional bridal fashion, collected objects and thoughtful styling carry the idea. She shared it through a moodboard that curated the designers and the looks and put renowned local artists from Mérida in the spotlight.
Most of the gowns came from Carolina Pérez Bridal, whose sculptural pieces move beyond traditional bridal through layers of tulle, organza and knotted details. The palette of ivory, cream and soft blush sits close to the tones of aged stone, so fabric and architecture read as one material world. Sheer layers lit by candle flame also recall the candlelit interiors of Georges de La Tour, where a single flame defines every surface it touches.
The setting around the gowns was built by Sofía, the in house designer at Destination Weddings Tulum, whose concept centered on a dialogue between architectural restraint and rich organic textures. The team worked through the moodboard together, deciding which fabrics, textures, colors and set pieces could be sourced and where each moment could be recreated across the two venues.
Aquadeco provided the full rental execution, including fabrics, candles, lighting and flowers. Natural Mexican linens cascaded across tables and hung as expansive drapery, and vintage candelabras were dressed with off white fabric bows handcrafted by the Destination Weddings team, which adds a note of whimsy to the structured spaces.
Hair and makeup by Prep Tulum stayed soft and garden inspired across several looks, so the fashion and the atmosphere could stay at the center. Editorial model Jessica Terán, a local Yucatecan beauty, was on set for both days and brought an effortless presence that suited the historic backdrops. Accessories and gowns were restyled across different spots in each venue, and the interplay of silhouettes, jewelry and shifting natural light sets the raw textures of the old buildings against the delicate, tactile details of the dresses.
Partway through the first look a slim headband appears, and it changes the reading of the whole image. Paired with billowing tulle and long sheer sleeves, it gives the bride the air of someone who stepped out of an old Slavic fairy tale, a heroine from a story told by candlelight rather than a bride on her wedding morning. The reference suits a series built around memory and places that carry the past.
Soft Armor at Casa Palomeque
Destination Weddings Tulum scouted venues that matched Lili’s aesthetic and landed on Private Haciendas · Catherwood Experiences, a curated collection of Yucatán’s most architecturally remarkable private estates that manages both Hacienda Itzincab and Casa Palomeque. The two were chosen for their contrasting range. Casa Palomeque is a casona in Mérida’s historic center with grand corridors, arched passageways, an interior courtyard and a salon, where filtered light and aged stone invite a more intimate, lingering kind of looking.
This is the evening chapter of the story, built around a civil ceremony and a reception. Sofía and Aquadeco kept the base soft and muted, with crisp white linens and layered candlelight, and let the florals provide the intentional pop of color. The accent is crimson, in deep red florals that include locally sourced peonies and in fresh market fruit styled alongside tropical botanicals. Red fruit and candle flame against pale linen echo the Dutch still life tradition, where such objects mark the passing of time, which fits an editorial built around memory.
The most interesting look of this chapter is a woven dress that makes its own argument for texture. It is made of soft threads, and its open back drops into a deep, unusual cut across the shoulder blades. Even with such gentle material, the weave reads as chainmail, a fine mesh that behaves like armor, and that tension between softness and protection gives the dress its edge.
Loose threads fall free along the hem and down the back, and they move like feathers, with something of a bird in the silhouette. The draping adds a second rhythm, as fabric falls in folds from the shoulders and back and keeps changing the shape of the dress as the bride turns.
Ceiba Shade and Open Gardens
Hacienda Itzincab offers an expansive canvas of open gardens, ancient ceiba trees and dramatic stone arches, with an old machine quarter and a pyramid on the grounds. The ceiba holds a sacred place in Maya tradition, and its presence gives the property a sense of depth beyond its architecture. The estate is defined by breadth and silence, and by golden, unhurried morning light that shapes its soulful character.
The garden chapter holds two looks that show how far the wardrobe was pushed. The first is built around a sheer, glittering blouse made of tulle, and its sleeves end in loops that sit over the bride’s fingers, so the garment works like a glove for a single finger and becomes part of the gesture of her hands.
In the second, the skirt from that earlier look appears to have been lifted and rebuilt into a dress, judging by the images. One piece of fabric gets two lives, and the reworking shows how freely the team treated the wardrobe as material rather than as fixed outfits.
Working across two very different estates in a tight two day window was the main challenge, since the full team, wardrobe, florals and set pieces had to move between Hacienda Itzincab and Casa Palomeque while light, pacing and mood stayed consistent. The production timeline was built around the movement of natural light and the mood of each space, with locations, looks and set changes sequenced so that Lili’s eye for atmosphere could remain the protagonist of every frame. She explains what draws her to these places.
"I have always been drawn to spaces that carry a sense of memory. Old estates, weathered walls, overgrown gardens, forgotten rooms — places where time leaves traces that cannot be recreated, but can be reimagined through sensibility and vivid imagination, imagery that feels suspended between past and present."
PRODUCTION & PLANNING Destination Weddings Tulum | PHOTOGRAPHER Lili Breton | VENUES Private Haciendas · Catherwood Experiences (Hacienda Itzincab and Casa Palomeque) | DÉCOR DESIGN & CONCEPT Sofía of Destination Weddings Tulum | RENTALS Aquadeco | TABLETOP & ARTISAN PROPS Archives | HAIR & MAKEUP Prep Tulum | BRIDAL GOWNS Carolina Pérez Bridal | JEWELRY & CIVIL CEREMONY LOOK Daniela Bustos Maya | EDITORIAL MODEL Jessica Terán
