By Monique
Katy and Nick were a great couple to work with on July 3rd when I did their Lake Tahoe wedding photography. They wanted emphasis on the candid, documentary approach to the day. I started at St. Theresa Catholic Church with Katy and her girls getting ready, followed by the ceremony, and then ended with the reception in the north room at Edgewood on the shores of south Lake Tahoe. Edgewood is one of my favorite lake front venues. As you will see in the photos below, the beach is great because it is one of the few places along the shores of the entire lake where you do not have to dodge sunbathers, and there are no buoy’s or boats anchored right off shore. It can look as if the only two people visiting Lake Tahoe that day are the bride and groom. The sand has a warm, golden color, and is thicker than the sand you would normally find at an ocean beach. The building that hosts the reception, whether it is in the north room, or the south room, has awesome architecture with floor to ceiling triangular shaped windows facing the lake, warm lighting, and great patios.
Sometimes putting the dress on can create some great moments!
I am including these photos to show the different perspectives I can create from the same situation using the lens’s depth of field and where I choose to focus. I like to include both images in the proof album.
Even though the story of the day focuses on the bride and groom, there are those “side stories” that lend themselves to being told through the lens. The side story at Katy and Nick’s wedding was Katy’s close bond with her father. Not every wedding has a father daughter closeness that can be captured in the images, but this one did, and it always makes me so happy to document these special moments for the bride and her family. And sometimes these moments almost bring a tear to my eye as I am experiencing them, and I’d have to say that one of those moments at this wedding was during her father’s speech at the reception, when he choked up describing how hard it turned out to be for him to give away his little girl after walking her down the aisle.
Katy being escorted down the aisle by her dad at St. Theresa Catholic Church in south Lake Tahoe.
Katy and Nick are pronounced as husband and wife. I am near the front of the aisle for this so that I can also get the reactions of Nicks parents, middle, and Katy’s parents, bottom.
The long stretch of beach at Edgewood provides a great backdrop for the bridal portraits. Katy and Nick spend some time walking along the shoreline, as if they were the only two people at Lake Tahoe that day.
Capturing a kiss in color and black and white with different anlges creates two different moods in the images.
Nick spins Katy around for a playful ending to their bridal portraits on the beach at Edgewood.
Reception candids: I like to keep my eye out for moments between people and capture the candid interaction as it unfolds.
Nick’s brother and best man starts off the toasting in the North Room at Edgewood.
Katy’d maid of honor gives a heartfelt toast.
Katy and Nick reacting to something said during a toast. When photographing the toasts, I position myself to capture the people giving the toasts, and the couple as they often laugh at the many stories people like to bring up during their speeches.
This guest was taking video throughout the day from her phone. I just love the colors of this closeup, her lips, phone, nails and tatoo all subtley match!
Katy and Nick had a choreographed first dance ……
… and ended with a dip and a kiss!
Katy’s dad embraces her at the end of the father/ daughter dance.
