Venue guides for people planning a wedding
These are working notes, not marketing. Each one covers a single venue: where the light comes from and at what time, which rooms photograph well and which fight you, how long the group photographs realistically take there, and what we would change about a timeline if we were shooting it.
Why we publish them
Most venue pages tell you a room holds two hundred people. None of them tell you that the ceremony space faces west and turns into a silhouette at five o'clock in June, or that the only good portrait spot is a ten-minute walk away and you will need to build that into the schedule. We learned those things the hard way, venue by venue, and there is no reason for the next couple to learn them the same way.
How to use them
- Before you book a venue. Read the guide for the places on your shortlist. "Who this venue suits, and who it doesn't" is the honest part, and it has talked people out of venues that would have disappointed them.
- Once you have booked. Use the timing notes to build your running order. Getting the ceremony half an hour earlier or later often matters more to your photographs than anything we do on the day.
- If you are a photographer. Take them, use them, shoot better. We would rather the standard went up everywhere than keep notes to ourselves.
A venue we have not covered?
Tell us where you are getting married and we will write it up. We research every venue we shoot anyway, so it costs us nothing to publish what we find.
The Rio, Las Vegas: A Walk Through an Off-Strip Resort
An off-Strip Las Vegas resort walked in the order a day uses it — and what being off the Strip gives a photographer.
The Sure Thing Chapel, Las Vegas: A Walk Through a Las Vegas Chapel
A small Las Vegas chapel walked in the order a ceremony uses it — and what a short booking demands.
The Little Church of the West, Las Vegas: A Walk Through a Timber Chapel
A small timber chapel with planted grounds, walked in the order a wedding day uses it.
Graceland Wedding Chapel, Las Vegas: A Walk Through a Small Chapel
A small Las Vegas wedding chapel walked in the order a ceremony uses it — arrival, aisle, vows, and out.
New York-New York, Las Vegas: The One Decision That Governs Everything
A Las Vegas resort built to imitate a city — and the one decision that determines what the pictures mean.
The Downtown Grand, Las Vegas: The One Decision That Governs Everything
A downtown Las Vegas hotel with a rooftop pool deck — where one scheduling decision governs the gallery.
The Fremont Hotel, Las Vegas: The One Decision That Governs Everything
An older downtown Las Vegas hotel, where one lighting decision determines what the whole gallery looks like.
The Golden Nugget, Las Vegas: The One Decision That Governs Everything
A downtown Las Vegas resort where one decision — which version of the city the pictures belong to — governs everything.
The Excalibur, Las Vegas: What It Suits, and What It Does Not
A strongly themed Las Vegas resort — what a committed theme gives a photographer, and what it takes.
The Strat, Las Vegas: What It Suits, and What It Does Not
A Las Vegas venue with an observation level far above the city — what height gives, and what it costs.