Hotel Laguna Beach Wedding
When Garrett and Caitie first contacted me it was in regard to their vision for a winter wedding in Lake Arrowhead, California in December. Shooting in the cool mountain air with snow in the background? F*** yeah! Sounds awesome. Count me in. But wait! Oh but wait! A couple months later Caitie informed me that the plans had to change because of scheduling and instead they were going to move the wedding from Lake Arrowhead to Catalina Island. Boom! Catalina Island is awesome! Yeah, the winter vibe wedding was rad too but a wedding on Catalina Island in the Spring? Count me f***ing in! But wait! Oh yes but wait! A couple months later, Caitie then informed me yet again that a change to the wedding plans was happening. The new plan was to move the wedding to Hotel Laguna in Laguna Beach. I love the beach and shooting beach weddings but at this point, I was making no emotional commitments. I just figured I would pour myself a nice cold beer and if the wedding happens at Hotel Laguna in April then awesome, but if it got rescheduled again then we would roll with the punches. Thankfully, the third time was a charm and the wedding went off “as scheduled”. But seriously, Caitie and Garrett were totally awesome throughout the wedding planning process and I can’t imagine how stressful it must have been having to constantly make changes to the wedding. So cheers to them for dealing with all those curveballs, not freaking the fluff out, and eventually having one kick-ass wedding! I had an absolute blast during their engagement session in Heisler Park and the wedding at historic Hotel Laguna was even better. Below are some of the photos from Garrett and Caitie’s wedding day!
Orange County Beach Wedding Ceremony
When most brides and grooms think about the quintessential Southern California wedding it involves sand, surf, and wedding reception and ceremony right on the beach among friends and family. Couples planning an intimate wedding on the shores of the Pacific Coast should be mindful of a few things before locking their wedding date. That means before you build a wedding website announcing your big day make sure that the temperatures won’t be too hot for your guests. Even beach weddings in September can be quite uncomfortable in the midst of a Southern California heatwave. Lastly, consider a Friday or weekday wedding if privacy is important to you, as real weddings on the beach will result in strangers being around your event.
If you are looking for a luxury wedding venue in Orange County for your resort wedding then take an in-person or virtual tour of the Montage Laguna Beach!
About Hotel Laguna
This was my first time photographing a wedding at Hotel Laguna and the venue was pretty cool. I liked how close the beach ceremony was so close and how they also had a courtyard section available for weddings for those who didn’t want to get married with their toes in the sand. I will say that the parking situation sucked for me because the wedding was on a Sunday and the beach was absolutely crowded. That made street parking in Laguna Beach pretty much not an option, and most of the parking structures only allowed 3-hour parking which is not going to help me in the least bit on an 8 hour wedding day. Hotel Laguna had valet parking ($20), but the lot was full. So yeah I totally drove around for what seemed like forever trying to find a place to park. Booooooooo!
Also, I don’t know why the heck it is but for some reason, I have been shooting a ton of weddings and engagements in Laguna Beach lately. Don’t get me wrong, the beach is f***ing awesome and this wedding photographer has no problem packing up his gear and heading down the Pacific Coast Highway to take photos of kick-ass people doing kick-ass things. So if you’re interested in checking out more photo sessions feel free to check out these engagement photos at Victoria Beach in Laguna or this engagement session at Heisler Park in Laguna Beach!
Wedding day coverage was 8 hours with one photographer by Orange County Photographer & Videographer Rock This Moment
Laguna Hotel Address: 425 S Coast Hwy, Laguna Beach, CA 92651
