As a Lake Tahoe wedding photographer (and long-time resident of this picturesque area), I find few places that rival the beauty of Tahoe. I may, of course, be prejudiced, so don’t take my word for it. Mark Twain once wrote about Lake Tahoe, “as it lay there with shadows of the mountains brilliantly photographed upon its still surface, I thought it must surely be the fairest picture the whole earth affords.”
The Lake Tahoe Wedding – Ideal In Any Season
Some spots look their best during the spring or summer months, with trees flowing with an abundance of green leaves and the ground dotted with flowers. Other spots offer an extraordinary burst of autumn color ideal as a backdrop for wedding photography. Yet other locations provide their best seasonal glow during the days of a blustery winter.
When it comes to a Lake Tahoe wedding, there isn’t just one special season. Every season brings its glories, and there’s no wrong time to plan your Lake Tahoe wedding or elopement. Having lived in Tahoe for about ten years, I can attest that every day offered me a beautiful landscape and something new to discover. So, couples can pick the season they love the best with the confidence that rain or shine, Lake Tahoe is the perfect backdrop for their special day.
Lake Tahoe Wedding Venues
While my primary focus as a Lake Tahoe wedding photographer is capturing the joy of intimate weddings and elopements, I have shot weddings of sizes, and Lake Tahoe can accommodate just about anything you need in terms of guests. For instance, if you want a large, formal wedding with all of the trimmings, the Ritz Carlton Tahoe and Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort & Spa can provide you with locations for your ceremony, photography and reception.
For a cozier, more rustic affair, you might opt for the Valhalla Tahoe, which is run by a nonprofit organization and hosts weddings as well as concerts, meetings and other types of gatherings. While this venue has indoor facilities for weddings and receptions, many couples opt to hold their reception and ceremony in the scenic outdoors surrounded by the fragrant, towering pines.
If you crave a mountain-top Lake Tahoe wedding, the PlumpJack Inn, which is located at 6,200 feet elevation and provides a beautiful spot for a wedding in any season. As with the Hyatt and the Ritz Carlton, this venue can host your wedding, reception and provide accommodations for your guests.
Those are just a few of the many options. There are wedding venues at Squaw Valley as well as on the other side of the lake in Incline Village, Nevada. You also can be married at several of the local ski resorts, such as Heavenly Ski Resort or perhaps Sierra-at-Tahoe.
Keep in mind that a few Lake Tahoe wedding venues might only be available during certain seasons, such as the summer season, as they are too busy during the ski season to host these events. Still, no matter when you want to plan your Lake Tahoe wedding, you should be able to find a venue that suits your tastes and budget pretty easily.
While a larger wedding is not without its charms, there are many reasons to consider an elopement ceremony or a small, intimate wedding instead of the traditional larger wedding. One of the obvious reasons to consider an elopement is that the costs are significantly lower than the average wedding. This frees you up to spend money on the honeymoon, a new home for you to share or to save for future adventures.
While an elopement is less expensive, I find that an elopement has a more significant advantage over a traditional wedding. With an elopement ceremony, it’s just the two of you and perhaps a few of your closest family and friends. This adds meaning to the event and a real sense of love and purpose. You are surrounded by the beauty of Lake Tahoe and can focus on the vows you have taken and your commitment to each other.
With a bigger wedding, there’s so much planning and stress. The details are endless, but with an elopement, you just hire an officiant, get the wedding license, pick a location for the ceremony and hire your Lake Tahoe wedding photographer. Other than securing some cool accommodations, perhaps a tent under the stars or a rustic mountain cabin or even a posh resort, there’s not much else to plan.
And, because it’s just the two of you, the ceremony and the whole event can be any way you want. With bigger weddings, you are often trying too hard to please family members, where an elopement is a more authentic expression of you as a couple, and I find that these ceremonies can be far more meaningful than the traditional approach.
Some couples even decide to enjoy the elopement ceremony and then plan a party or reception at a later date, so that they can focus on their commitment and love during the ceremony and not the surrounding guests. As an experienced Lake Tahoe wedding photographer, I can capture these moments without intruding on your special time together.
Adventure Elopements
While any Lake Tahoe wedding or elopement is going to be a memorable occasion, some of my couples seek a bit of adventure with their elopement or their wedding photographer, and this is my own area of expertise. With an adventure elopement, virtually no location is out of bounds for your wedding photographer.
We can kayak along the lake shores to find a perfect spot or hike through the woods until we reach an amazing secret area where few people have ventured. As a seasoned adventure elopement photographer, I can find secluded lakeside spots and mountaintop locations with awe-inspiring views. I also can provide you with spectacular nighttime photographs if you’d love some pictures with the entire galaxy as your backdrop. I’m game to hike, mountain bike, ski or kayak anywhere you want to go and I love scouting amazing locations for my couples.
I also don’t consider our photography session as simply “taking photos.” This is an adventure, a celebration, a moment to capture for eternity. I curate experiences for my couples that they won’t forget; it’s the perfect way to dive into your new life together.
If you are considering a Lake Tahoe wedding or a Lake Tahoe adventure elopement, feel free to contact me at any time and let’s rustle up some ideas. In addition to serving as a Lake Tahoe wedding photographer, I also specialize in providing Yosemite wedding photography, Telluride wedding photography, Kauai wedding photography as well as coastal locations throughout California and the Pacific Northwest, although I am usually game to take on a photography adventure just about any place you wish to go.