Anthony & Farzad

Three days in April: a sunset welcome party above Banderas Bay, a wedding on the rocks at an oceanfront villa, and a dance floor that never sat down.

Day one — a welcome party above the bay

A hillside terrace with the whole of Puerto Vallarta below and the sun going down behind the Sierra Madre. Palm-print shirts, cocktails, and two grooms working the room in opposite directions.

Day two — cream suits on the rocks

They walked in together, hand in hand, down a stone path past a hundred raised phones. Both in cream suits over tropical-print shirts — which sounds like a risk and was the best styling decision of the weekend. Everybody cried, including the officiant.

“Nobody was waiting at the end of the aisle, because they were both already there.”

After dark — neon, sparklers and no sitting down

Dinner on the terraced deck straight above the sea, the sky going pink to violet behind the speeches. A neon Farzad & Anthony, cold sparklers on the rocks, and a floor that stayed full until the lights turned green.

Day three — the farewell brunch

Sunglasses, hats, mimosas, everyone rebuilding themselves in the shade of a stone wall. Quietly the best part of a three-day wedding, and the day the couple always ends up loving most.

Why Puerto Vallarta for an LGBTQ+ wedding

Same-sex marriage is legal throughout Mexico, Jalisco included, and Vallarta has been an openly LGBTQ+ town for decades — here a wedding with two grooms is completely ordinary. Which in practice means venues, planners and DJs who have done it a hundred times. I have been photographing LGBTQ+ weddings in Banderas Bay since 2006. Tell me your dates.

Photography & film: Julien Leveau — Arcencielstudio · Puerto Vallarta, 12 April 2025