Potential clients are always asking me if I’ve worked at their venue before. Sometimes it’s because that’s an important aspect in their decision, and sometimes it’s just curiosity. But let me tell you… it shouldn’t matter.

The majority of the weddings I shoot are new venues to me, which I love! It’s so exciting to work somewhere new all the time and let my creativity take over. The sheer amount of possibilities is honestly one of my favorite parts of being based in Southern California. I’ve worked at wineries, beaches, yacht clubs, hotels, churches, backyards and private residences, ranches, and more.

Personally, my favorite venues here in SoCal tend to be the all-outdoor ones, where you can host both your ceremony and reception in outdoor, natural light spaces. But as a Christian, I do truly love church ceremonies as well (but they can sometimes be a bit of a pain to photograph when the restrictions for where I’m allowed to stand are super strict)! Because of varying restrictions of churches, I even do walkthroughs of these. It’s helpful when a couple is able to get an idea of where I’m allowed to stand as well. Sometimes it means only basic down-the-middle-of-the-aisle shots vs being able to get close-ups of family members’ faces.

For weddings local to SoCal, I always do walkthroughs before the wedding to plan out best portrait locations and more. Sometimes I do these alone, sometimes with the couple, and sometimes even the planner is able to come! I love doing it together with the couple and planner so we can discuss a lot of stuff in advance. Planners usually love having my input on decor positioning based on lighting, etc. Outdoor venues also usually have multiple location placements for the ceremony, and I love when couples are willing to let me help plan that out! These decisions made without me can mean the sun in your face for the whole ceremony and washing you out, or with me it could mean the perfect, dreamiest lighting of your dreams!

Even when I have been to or worked at your venue, sometimes I’ll do it all over again for your wedding, since every wedding is so unique when you take into consideration the time of year, timeline, details, layout arrangement, size of bridal party, and more. I absolutely love being part of your wedding’s whole process, and one of the perks of hiring me is my level of involvement to make sure your wedding day runs smoothly and that you come out of the day with the best photos possible. So your venue walkthrough is complimentary! If I have to travel for your wedding, I’ll just do it the day before the wedding so that I’m best prepared, but for local weddings I can do the walkthrough months in advance to help you plan things out. I’ve even done Facetime walkthroughs for weddings I need to travel for.

At the time of writing, some of my favorite venues I’ve worked at are:

Kestrel Park, Santa Ynez
Sunstone Winery, Santa Ynez
Greystone Mansion, Beverly Hills
Villa del Sol d’Oro, Pasadena
Hummingbird Nest Ranch, Simi Valley
Huntington Bay Club, Huntington Beach

Please reach out if you’d like to hear more about my wedding photography collections! I’m always down for working at new venues or revisiting my tried-and-trues.