The varied landscape of Guatemala ranges from volcanic highlands and pine forests to lakes, rainforests, and dense jungle. In Antigua, you can stand on a rooftop terrace and watch smoke drift off Volcán de Fuego while Volcán de Agua towers over the cobblestone streets below. At Lake Atitlán, the volcanic lake is surrounded by Mayan villages that have been there for generations, not built for tourists. Guatemala is alive with so much culture, nature, and history that it takes real skill to do it justice, which is exactly what the best wedding photographers in Guatemala have built their careers on.

Our guide celebrates photographers with the experience and knowledge of this beautiful country, as well as the skill, style, and personality to capture unforgettable images. Some of the best wedding photographers in Guatemala grew up there. Others came to Guatemala later in life, fell in love with the country, and stayed. Either way, they know it well enough to help you plan the day, not just show up and shoot it. We’ve shared seven photographers with seven very different ways of seeing Guatemala, which will you choose?

Berner Nájera

Berner Nájera has photographed weddings across both the United States and Guatemala. He has a consistent focus on finding the elegance already present in how a day naturally unfolds, rather than manufacturing it. He describes his style as editorial, documentary, and candid, and says he finds luxury less in production value than in the small, quiet moments between two people, a glance, a touch, a pause before the next thing happens.

The things that get him every time are the first dances and the parent dances, along with the occasional speech that catches him off guard emotionally. When he's not working, he's usually with family and friends or getting some kind of workout in, and his own dream wedding destinations (France, Italy, anywhere in Europe) hint at the kind of unforced elegance he chases in his work. Couples planning luxury weddings and wanting to celebrate emotion and connection, whether in Antigua or somewhere further afield, will find Berner's eye a good match for their vision.

Website: bernernajera.com

Instagram: @bnphoto.video

Eva Zelenkova

Eva Zelenkova was born and raised in Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic and has been based in Guatemala since 2009, though her work regularly takes her to the US, Mexico, Honduras, and back to Europe. She specializes in luxury destination wedding photography, with a style she calls elegant, timeless, and editorial, and even after more than 400 weddings, she says the work still feels new to her every time.

Eva has a fascination with people and their complexities, their relationships, the feelings that don't always show on the surface. That’s exactly what she’s chasing when photographing weddings. Eva says her superpower is turning a moment into a legacy, a fitting description for someone who has spent over a decade documenting some of the most significant days in her clients' lives. Couples planning a formal, elegant destination wedding, especially those split between two countries or cultures the way Eva's own life has been, will find someone who understands exactly what that experience involves and how to capture it.

Website: zelenkovaphoto.com

Instagram: @zelenkova.photography

Gabby Garcia

Gabby Garcia came to wedding photography from a career in graphic design, and she still talks about her work in those terms, as a way of using language, form, and composition to tell a couple's story rather than just record it. Over ten years and more than 200 weddings, many of them in Antigua and around Lake Atitlán, she has built a style she describes as intentional, timeless, and authentic, with an emphasis on beautiful light and real emotion over posed portraits.

Gabby says being a witness to other people's love, rather than the center of attention herself, gives her work a sense of purpose, and it shows in how unobtrusive she is on the day. Gabby captures the unposed emotional interactions: a parent holding on a little longer during a dance, or the look on a groom's face as he sees his bride. You’ll feel at home working with Gabby if you want your wedding day to feel calm and unhurried, with a photographer who blends into the background rather than directing it.

Website: gabbygarciaphoto.com

Instagram: @gabbygarcia_photo

Joseph Nance

Joseph Nance grew up in Appalachia. A scholarship from the US Department of State sent him across Europe with his camera, and from there, he apprenticed with wedding photographers in Costa Rica, a path that eventually led him to Guatemala, where he has now been based for more than eight years. His approach is cinematic and photojournalistic, built around documenting real moments rather than arranging them. Couples connect with his unposed, documentary-style photography, and he tells each story through intimate, emotional images.

He uses his understanding and experience of Guatemala to connect couples planning destination weddings with local venues and vendors. Joseph describes his job as combining the sensibility of an artist with the tenacity of a journalist and the local knowledge that only comes from actually living somewhere. It's this combination of outsider curiosity and insider know-how that sets his work apart and earns him a place on our list of the best wedding photographers in Guatemala.

Website: josephnance.com

Instagram: @josephnancephoto

Manuel Aldana

Based in Guatemala City, Manuel Aldana’s work as a destination and elopement photographer takes him well beyond the country's borders. He was born in Guatemala and has built his business around telling love stories with vibrant action and rich emotion, always working to keep the day relaxed, natural, and genuinely fun rather than staged. After more than 500 weddings, he describes wedding photography as more of a calling than a job.

Off duty, he's a coffee enthusiast, a collector of old Volkswagens, and father of two daughters, which perhaps explains why the moments that get him every time are the small family ones: a father walking his daughter down the aisle, a mother's face during the father-daughter dance. Couples who've worked with him describe him as cheerful, helpful, and easy to have around. If you want a photographer with home-grown knowledge of Guatemala's best-kept locations who will treat your emotions as the real subject of the day, get in touch with Manuel Aldana.

Website: manuelaldana.com

Instagram: @camanuelaldana

Rony Auyon

Rony Auyon spent a decade in the corporate world before turning his attention to weddings. That experience of working with people across cultures and backgrounds still shapes how he approaches every wedding he photographs. Based in Guatemala but available worldwide, he has documented weddings across the Americas and Europe, and he says the goal is always to know his couples as people first, not as clients.

His documentary style is built on the idea that a wedding day should be lived, not directed, so he stays out of the way and lets laughter, hugs, and unscripted moments happen in front of him. Rony tears up during speeches when he can hear the story behind someone's happiness, which says something about how closely he pays attention to what's actually happening in the room. Those looking for timeless photography that feels honest rather than performative, and who'd rather be present at their own wedding than posing for it, will appreciate how little Rony asks of them on the day.

Website: https://www.instagram.com/ronyauyon/

Instagram: @ronyauyon

Sabrina Palmieri

Sabrina Palmieri started in photography almost by accident, picking up second-shooting work on Guatemalan weddings during her first year of college in 2018, under the mentorship of a well-known local photographer named Thomas. That early apprenticeship shaped how she works today. She describes her editorial, documentary style as being built around photographing the emotional moments a couple might not even notice themselves. She has the ability to capture a beautiful photograph without disrupting the emotion of the moment it came from.

Outside of weddings, Sabrina spends her time reading, traveling between the US, El Salvador, and Europe, and exploring new places with people she loves. Her galleries lean toward intimate portraits and close emotional detail rather than wide, staged shots, which makes her a strong fit for couples who want their wedding photos to feel personal and specific to them, not interchangeable with anyone else's day.

Website: sabrinapalmieriphotography.com

Instagram: @sabrinapalmieriphoto

Finding Your Match in Guatemala

The seven photographers above have unique ways of approaching weddings in Guatemala. From Manuel's family-first approach in Guatemala City to Eva's decade of luxury destination work split between two continents, there's no single right style among them, only the one that matches how you actually want your day to feel. Some lean toward documentary honesty, others toward editorial elegance, but all of them share a respect for the place they're working in and the people they're photographing.

When choosing your Guatemala wedding photographer, take the time to look through a few full portfolios and chat with the people producing the images that make you feel something. The fit between you and your photographer matters more than any accolade. Wherever your search leads, the best wedding photographers in Guatemala can use their experience and local knowledge to help you navigate everything from permits to weather, even recommending the best place to visit or grab a coffee. It's a country that rewards those willing to slow down and let a day unfold on its own terms, and our member photographers have the skill and experience to capture that beautifully.