Amy and Ben got married in August at the Valhalla Grand Hall in South Lake Tahoe.  Valhalla is a great historical building at the Tallac Historical Site on US forest service land on the southern shores of Lake Tahoe. The venue offers some cool rustic simplicity with a great historical wood hall with a floor to ceiling stone fireplace, and a lot of tall trees and other old buildings on the grounds. As a historical site on forest service land, Valhalla itself can be reserved, but the site as a whole, including the beach and pier, remain open to the public, and the ceremony must be held indoors. Most of the public is gone by the time the sun sets and then you can get some nice photographs out by the water. Amy and Ben rented out rooms at the nearby Lakeland Village to get ready and then had a short drive to Valhalla afterwards. For couples that want to spend more time taking pictures prior to the ceremony, there are several nice local beaches within a mile or two of the Valhalla property.

Wedding coordinator: Heather Spear, Summit Soiree

By Monique and Scott

From the minute we met with Lindsey and Jack for their engagement session at Sand Harbor, we knew they were going to be a great couple to work with at their Martis Camp wedding in Truckee. They were so playful with each other and adventurous, scrambling all over the boulders, we knew the wedding was going to provide us with amazing images all day long. Their venue, Martis Camp, provided a secluded, classic Tahoe woods spot for the wedding: getting ready in the spacious, plush mens and ladies lounges, the ceremony overlooking the golf course with the woods and mountains surrounding them, and the clear tented reception on the outdoor patio overlooking the valley. I’d say there were 3 underlying, and very photogenic, themes to this wedding: Abalone, Machine Guns, and Bacon, or I should say swine and meat in general! So to explain these themes, lets start with the abalone: Jack is an abalone diver, so it was on one outing with Lindsey that he came walking out of the freezing cold water holding an abalone shell that he had “found.” It turns out that he had put the ring in the shell and proposed to her there on the beach! For the wedding, Jack was also wearing a gorgeous abalone shell belt buckle. Now for the bacon:  Jack is a chef, so he also wanted the cocktail hour to include some unique hors d’oeuvres. He had several varieties of dried meats and cheeses imported from Italy, including wild boar. And I have heard about some crazy bacon flavored things before, like bacon flavored toothpaste, bacon cookies, etc. Lindsey, knowing Jack’s love of all things bacon, had Martis Camp make them a special grooms cake, a bourbon chocolate bacon cake. And now for the machine guns: Jack really wanted to do some fun photos of him and his groomsmen with some guns, so he brought toy machine guns for some of the portraits. They were also a big hit at the photo booth!

Jack golfing with his groomsmen before the getting ready part of the day.

Jack brought some toy machine guns as props for the photos!

The clear top reception tent, with open sides overlooking Martis Valley.

Brown sugar & salted caramel wedding cake and bourbon chocolate bacon cake, with a garnish of fresh fennel.

Wonder Bread 5 had the whole tent rockin' out all night!

Here are a few of our favorite images from our Crazy Corner Photo Booth:

The FitzHaven Estate in North Lake Tahoe was the perfect venue for Alison and Kyle’s beautiful September wedding. A few rain drops came and went, and they had an amazing evening filled with a family style dinner created by D’ Lish Catering, toasts, and dancing into the darkness. The couple decided to see each other before the wedding,  and their lake front Tahoe wedding portraits can be seen in Part 1 of the blog post.

Iced tea and Arnold Palmers greeted guests as they arrived at the FitzHaven Estate for the ceremony

A new twist on the sand ceremony, do it with spices instead!

Kyle and Alison gave a toast to all their guests immediately after the ceremony

Alison's family winery provided several types of wine for the reception. I later received a bottle of the Syrah Rosé in the mail, and it was fabulous!

Some of the appetizers from D'Lish catering: shrimp topped polenta and duck corn dog bites

Raindrops fell during the cocktail hour, but the tables were soon covered, then wiped down before dinner was served, and the party continued unhindered.

Kyle and his guests took a moment to savor the rain drops

Introducing the newly married couple

Alison and Kyle were married at the FitzHaven Estate at Lake Tahoe on one of the most popular dates of the year,  9-10-11. They were a great couple to work with and the day flowed effortlessly from the getting ready candids through the reception, even during that short period of rain! The sky got darker as the day unfolded, but that didn’t put a damper on their moods or their day. The ceremony was beautiful, and the sky waited until the last of the post ceremony portraits were done to open up and give us a drizzle, then a pouring of rain for about a half hour during the cocktail hour. It didn’t really faze anyone, the tables were covered, some guests danced in the rain, others mingled under the tent – next to the bar, it was perfect. Once the thunderstorm passed, as they always do in Tahoe, the tables and chairs were wiped down, introductions were made, and everyone sat down at long wooden tables overlooking the lake for a fabulous family style meal prepared by D’Lish Catering. I am dividing this wedding into 2 posts, I just had sooooo many images I wanted to share. Alison and Kyle decided to see each other for their portrait session with their wedding party down at the lake before the ceremony. So this first post will be a bit of the girls getting ready, the portraits at the lake, and then a few of them back at the FitzHaven. My next post will be the ceremony and reception, including a ton of delicious details. Enjoy!

Part 2: FitzHaven estate wedding ceremony, details and reception.

This is no joke, a few years back I actually photographed a bear who visited the Fitzhaven right before the ceremony!

The Tahoe Queen was a perfect match for Keri and Ryan’s wedding, with a little bit of country (imagine most of the men in attendance in cowboy hats, boots and wranglers) and a lot of close knit family and friends dancing on a jam packed dance floor into the night. Keri and Ryan live on a California ranch, so the theme of their wedding could be described as modern cowboy meets vintage Tahoe, with the paddle boat bringing the two together for the reception. The most unique part of this wedding for me was something that happened, as a planned surprise, during the ceremony. It was called “Operation KR – Top Secret” by Keri’s brother, Adam, who was the officiant, and involved Ryan running away down the aisle right before the ceremony was over …. he then came back up the aisle with a cute little goat on a leash.  Adam then explained to the guests that when Ryan asked Keri’s father Tom for her hand in marriage, he literally told him, “I’d like to trade you 2 goats for your daughter.” Adam explained that Ryan had never followed up with the trade, so before the ceremony was complete, Ryan wanted to honor his promise, and proceeded to hand over the goat to Tom during the ceremony. (He only gave him one goat, and that is another story, something about the value of the goats increasing since the deal had been struck!) For me, it was one of the all time highlights of any ceremony I have ever documented!

Towards the end of the ceremony, Ryan runs down the aisle, prompting some guests to later comment that they thought he was the "run away groom."

It turns out, Ryan ran down the aisle because he had remembered that he promised to give Keri's father a goat as payment for his daughter, so he wanted to follow through with his word, and presented him with the goat before the ceremony was complete.

Jars of home made jam were placed at each guest's place setting, and the centerpieces with Keri and Ryan's KR wedding brand were flower boxes handmade from an old barn that was on their ranch.

Sunset cocktail hour on the deck of the Tahoe Queen.