Notes on filming this city
Los Angeles is not one light, it is several. The westside wakes under a marine layer that burns off by early afternoon, which is why coastal ceremonies sit best after lunch. Inland, the light is harder and cleaner, and it rewards shade and patience. And everywhere, the city keeps its famous promise: a long, unhurried golden hour that turns stucco, palm, and skyline the same shade of amber. After ten years and more than 200 weddings, we plan around this city’s light the way locals plan around its traffic, automatically.
We are based here. That matters less for the driving and more for the knowing: which rooms go gold at five, which courtyards hold their evening warmth, where the sun lands on an aisle in October versus June.
The venues we know
Hotel Casa del Mar, Santa Monica. Our film there: Jeremy & Lauren.
The Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Hills. The hotel has stood on Sunset Boulevard since 1912, and it films like a set. We shoot the arrivals under the sign, on the steps, and in the planted courtyards, where soft, filtered light flatters everyone in it. Our film there: Ben & Roxy.
Vibiana, downtown. Our films there: Markar & Giavonna, Austin & Angelia, Matt & Leslie.
Hummingbird Nest Ranch, Santa Susana. Hummingbird Nest Ranch is a 124-acre estate in the Santa Susana Mountains, about forty minutes north of Los Angeles, and its light is a hilltop light. Our films there: Edmond & Lauren, Luke & Anna, Dave & Alex and more.
Padua Hills Theatre, Claremont. Padua Hills Theatre is a 1930 Spanish Revival theatre tucked into the olive groves high in the Claremont foothills. Our film there: Kelsey & Zach.
Bel-Air Country Club, Los Angeles. Our film there: Sumil & Krista.
The Maybourne Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills. Our film there: Jonathan & Alexa.
Four Seasons Westlake Village, Westlake Village. Our films there: Alano & Alla, Garrison & Meredith.
Cielo Farms, Malibu. Our films there: Alex & Leah, Andy & Emily, Jacob & Malia.
Westlake Village Inn, Westlake Village. Our film there: Alexis & Lindsay.
Calamigos Ranch, Malibu. Our films there: Andrew & Martha, Ben & Catherine, Joe & Krislyn and more.
Four Seasons Los Angeles at Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. Our films there: Brian & Ryan, Joe & Jessica.
Los Angeles Athletic Club, Los Angeles. Our film there: Bulent & Jessica.
The Athenaeum, Pasadena. Our film there: Chloe & Francis.
The Houdini Estate, Los Angeles. Currently closed to bookings for renovation. Our film there: Danny & Samantha.
Saddlerock Ranch, Malibu. Our film there: David & Lauren.
The Portofino Hotel & Marina, Redondo Beach. The Portofino sits on a peninsula in King Harbor, which means water on more than one side and very little standing between the property and the western sky. Our film there: Tyler & Rachel.
Villa Francesca, Malibu. The main house was destroyed in the Palisades Fire and the estate is not taking wedding bookings, but the gardens, the fountain and the bluff came through it, and our notes and the film stay up. Our film there: James & Katrina.
The London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills, West Hollywood. The London is an all-suite hotel, 226 of them, and that decides how your morning looks. The suites are bright and pale, and on a clear day the window is running several stops hotter than the room behind it. Our film there: Nella & Rosario.
Catalina View Gardens, Rancho Palos Verdes. The property sits on a south-facing slope above the Pacific, and that single fact governs the whole day. Catalina sits out across the view to the south. The sun does not set behind it. Our film there: Hudson & Tiffany.
Castle in the Forest, Skyforest. Our film there: Peter & Julya.
Playa Studios, Culver City. Almost all of the daylight at Playa Studios comes from above, through skylights set into an eighteen foot ceiling, and it falls close to straight down. That is a specific problem and it is worth planning for. Our film there: Tyler & Eliza.
San Moritz Lodge, Crestline. The lodge sits on the southeast shore of Lake Gregory, so the ceremony lawn looks out across open water. That single fact drives the whole afternoon. Our film there: Jonathan & April.
The Hollywood Roosevelt, Los Angeles. Almost everything about filming here comes down to whether you are inside the building or out in one of the open spaces. The Rooftop is open to the sky, and through the middle of the afternoon the sun sits high and hard. Our film there: Jordon & Annie.
Serendipity Garden Weddings, Oak Glen. Serendipity sits on the mountain slope at Oak Glen, in the San Bernardino Mountains, and the property is built around what it looks out on. Our film there: Jonathan & Breanna.
Films from around Los Angeles
Not every wedding happens at a venue with a page of its own. These were filmed across Los Angeles and the inland counties at private estates, family homes and places without a venue page of their own: Desiree & Dominic in Los Angeles, Jeff & Michele in Malibu, Teddy & Lindsay in Palos Verdes, Kyle & Ava in Avalon, Timothy & Amber in Catalina Island, Shane & Rosie in Riverside, Don & Katherine in Palm Springs.
And further out, because we travel: Anthony & Gabi in Calistoga, Cameron & Lindsey in Los Cabos, Izak & Slater in the Bahamas.
Further afield still, Kingsburg on the San Joaquin Valley floor has a page of its own, with five films made there.
Every venue above has its own page of filming notes, and the full archive lives at venues we know by heart.
Malibu has enough of our work behind it to have a page of its own: eleven films across four venues, from the canyon ranches to the bluffs.
How booking works
Three collections, stated plainly: The Moment at $6,000, The Portrait at $8,000, and The Legacy at $10,000. Every collection is a complete cinematic wedding film and includes a custom wedding website. The details live on the collections page, and if you are still budgeting, we published the honest numbers for this market, tier by tier.
We take on a limited number of weddings each year. If your date is set, the kindest thing you can do for your timeline is check it with us early.