Edgewood Tahoe Resort is a popular lakefront hotel located in Stateline, Nevada. With its championship golf course and beautiful lake views, it is a popular wedding venue for couples that want a wedding in South Lake Tahoe with all the comforts of a luxury resort.
I had the opportunity to photograph this military wedding at Edgewood Tahoe Resort on a sunny summer day in August. Even though this was a destination wedding for the bride and groom, many of their friends and family traveled to Lake Tahoe to be witnesses.
Wedding Hair and Makeup at RAH Beauty Bar
RAH Beauty Bar is a hair and makeup salon located inside Edgewood Tahoe. If you are getting married at Edgewood Tahoe, it’s a no-brainer. This is definitely your most convenient place for wedding makeup and hair. The bride wanted me to take a few photos of her and the bridesmaids getting ready, so I headed there first.
By using some creative angles and lighting, I created a few photos of the bride that capture the process of transforming her into a bride. These are candid photos. But with an artistic eye and the right timing, they capture her personality and tell part of the wedding day story.
Bridal Preparations in the Edgewood Suite
For a bride getting ready on her wedding day, there are several different types of rooms available at Edgewood Tahoe. The Edgewood Suite is a good choice for most brides because there is lots of space for bridesmaid dresses, luggage, and other personal items. In fact, this suite includes both a bedroom and a living area. Quite often, brides and bridesmaids ask me if they should clean up the hotel room before I begin shooting. A larger space like this suite makes it easier to do that.
After she put on her wedding dress, I photographed a few portraits of the bride by one of the windows. Even in hotel rooms without a lot of ambient light, the area near a window is usually a great location for natural light portraits. I also delivered color versions of these portraits. But I really like the black and white versions!
In the photo on the right, I found a creative angle and used the glass surface of a coffee table that produced a nice reflection of the bride.
Next, we headed outside for some portraits of the bridal party. I photograph traditional portraits of family members and the bridal party at every wedding. But I also shoot plenty of candid moments before and after these posed photos.
At Edgewood Tahoe, photographers have limited access around the property for photos. These regulations sometimes surprise brides and grooms on their wedding day. Fortunately, there are still some great spots for photos. As a professional wedding photographer in the Lake Tahoe region for more than a decade, I know the good spots and which ones work well at different times of the day.
Getting Ready in the Tahoe Room
Meanwhile, the groom and his groomsmen got ready in the Tahoe Room. Since this was a military wedding I wanted to photograph the guys getting dressed up in their fancy army service uniforms. So, I headed there next to grab some candid photos of the guys helping the groom with the details of his dress blues outfit.
This was a team effort in all the best ways!
As with the bride, I also photographed a few quick black and white portraits of the groom. I am a big fan of portraits that capture peoples’ personalities. With this in mind, I always focus on relaxed, natural photos on a wedding day. Since this groom is in the US Army, I shot a portrait that shows his badges, medals, and other US Army service uniform decorations.
Ceremony on the North Lawn
The North Lawn is the largest ceremony site at Edgewood Tahoe. As the name implies, it sits on the north side of the main building, right on the shores of Lake Tahoe. Without a doubt, this is one of the most scenic lakefront locations in Tahoe.
By choosing my lenses carefully and being quick on my feet, I successfully photographed the bride approaching the ceremony as well as the groom’s reaction when he saw her.
At every wedding, I try to include a photo that shows the entire ceremony setting. Especially here in Lake Tahoe, where the natural landscape is an important part of the story.
This is another good angle of the ceremony site. By exposing properly for the landscape, I make sure you can see the blue sky and lake waters. At the same time, it creates a nice silhouette of the bride, groom, and all the guests.
This couple’s ceremony included a unity sand ceremony. A unity sand ceremony is a variation of the unity candle ceremony. The bride and groom combine sand from their individual vessels into one. This symbolic act represents the joining of two individuals and the creation of a new union and family. The combined grains of sand symbolize the marriage of their hopes, dreams, and values.
As the ceremony concluded, I planned my strategy for capturing the first kiss. By this time in the ceremony, I knew the best angles for lighting. But I didn’t know how they would kiss. While some couples kiss quickly, others go in for a long one! Fortunately, I anticipated correctly and got a great shot. I like that you can see the reactions of other people in the scene, which makes this a strong documentary photo that tells the viewer a story.
Group Portraits
As I explained earlier, Edgewood Tahoe has strict rules about where a wedding party can take photos. At this wedding, the afternoon zephyr winds were blowing onto the beach at 15-20mph. This is fairly common at this venue during the summer. Since it was too windy by the lake, I recommended we use the southeast side of the building. This is a sheltered location with good light and a nice background.
In between family portraits and wedding party photos, I captured a few more candid moments of the bride and groom. The loved these photos and even picked them for a spread in their wedding album.
Cocktail Hour on the North Room Deck
After family portraits, the wedding party joined all the other wedding guests for cocktail hour. At Edgewood Tahoe, the north side of the resort is the premium location for weddings. If you book the North Lawn for your ceremony and the North Room for your reception, you will likely be using the North Room Deck for your cocktail hour. Wedding guests love this spot for the lake views and fresh mountain air.
Bride and Groom Sunset Portraits
With sunset approaching, the bride and groom joined me for some sunset portraits on the beach. Very often, couples tell me that they feel awkward in front of the camera. I totally understand the feeling! The good news is that my approach makes it easy for you to be yourself and enjoy the moment.
My goal is to capture your personality, your loving connection, and the beautiful landscape that surrounds you on your wedding day.
I made the silhouette photo (above) at the same time as the other photos. Since I use Manual Mode on my cameras 100% of the time, I can control my exposures with intention and artistic vision. By stopping down the exposure, I expose for the blue and orange hues in the evening sky. The bride and groom become a silhouette, which highlights the long, flowing veil.
Reception in the North Room
As the cocktail hour wound down, the catering staff prepared the reception area in the North Room. As soon as everything was in place, I photographed the room and the details of the dining area. Here are a few of the photos that show the floor plan and views in this reception space.
After the couple’s grand entrance, the father of the bride and a few members of the bridal party toasted the happy couple.
I love when close friends of the couple share funny and entertaining stories about them. These are great moments to capture with photos, so that the bride and groom can remember this part of their wedding day and how much fun they had.
After cutting the cake with the groom’s saber, the couple took to the dance floor for their first dance together as a married couple.
After photographing a dip and kiss during their ceremony, I suspected another one was coming at the end of their first dance. With that in mind, I made sure I was on the best side of the dance floor to capture both of their faces and frame them nicely in front of their wedding guests.
Once the party was underway, I stepped outside for a minute to photograph the exterior of the building framed below the night sky. Edgewood Tahoe is a unique building, so I wanted to document that for the bride and groom. I also wanted to include a few pine trees and stars in the composition.
A starry sky photo usually requires a tripod and either a cable release switch or a self-timer. However, I timed the photo early enough in the evening that I could simply use a fast lens and a stable surface on which to rest the camera.
Dancing in the North Room
When the dance floor heats up, I get right into the action. When epic dance moves start to come out, you can bet I will be there to capture the good times. These types of action photos are some of my favorite to photograph, and couples usually include a few of the best dancing photos in their wedding album.
On their wedding day, this couple had a special request. They wanted one last dance together on the dance floor after all the guests were gone.
This is one of my favorite photos from the night. The table linens are wrinkled. The dining chairs are no longer in place. But the bride and groom are enjoying a perfect moment when nothing else matters.
Wedding Photography Packages
This couple hired me for all-day wedding photography coverage, which meant I could capture getting ready photos and the entire reception. After many years as a wedding photographer (13+ years and counting!) I realize that this is the best kind of wedding photography package I can offer my clients.
Limited-hour packages mean that most couples sacrifice coverage during either the beginning or the end of the day. It may seem like a budget-friendly option at the time. But these wedding day moments only happen once. I believe that when the memories begin to fade, most couples will be happy that they have photos from their entire wedding day.
Chris Werner Photography
Are you planning an Edgewood Tahoe wedding? If you want emotionally candid photos that tell the story of your wedding, I would love to be there! Go to my contact page and send me a message. If I am available on your date, let’s talk! To see more examples of my wedding photography, swing by my main portfolio page.
