Destination Wedding Videos

Lindsey+Ryan // The Venue at the Grove

2/13/2025

It's always nice to find an amazing venue so close to home. This will mark my first trip to The Venue at the Grove, but hopefully not my last. A stunning property that really comes to life once the sun goes down. Especially if you shoot with anamorphic lenses. I arrived early to scope out the property and was immediately greeted by staff who were kind enough to show me where the photo and video teams typically store their equipment. The photographer, Andrea, had also just arrived and was unpacking her equipment. Being a preferred vendor at the property, Andrea was kind enough to walk me around the property and show me some of her favorite locations. As we were heading back to the main area, our bride, Lindsey, was just arriving. Wanting to give her some time to settle in, I started capturing the venue's staff putting the tables and ceremony together. I love capturing this kind of BTS content. It offers a perfect opening to my feature films. I checked in with Lindsey and the bridesmaids to grab the flat lay details and got started, or should I say passed it off to Andrea to get started. Photographers have an eye for posing details that I just don't have. Luckily, they are typically nice enough to lend their creative genius long enough to allow me to capture a few of their arrangements. One area I excel in, however, is hanging the dress, mainly because I am tall enough to reach areas where the dress can hang without touching the ground. We try to keep the dress as clean as possible for as long as possible. Returning the dress, I stumbled upon the mother of the bride, Stacy, telling a story of a special heirloom locket she was passing down to Lindsey. Coming into the day, I knew about this detail; however, having supporting audio like this allows me to build out an otherwise simple moment into a storied point in the final film. Wanting to keep things ahead of schedule, Lindsey stepped into her dress, and with the help of Stacy, put on her various pieces of jewelry. Once ready, I had Stacy and Lindsey tie the gifted locket to Lindsey's bouquet. A perfect moment to complement the audio captured earlier. On the other side of the property, Ryan, our groom, had arrived. I headed over to introduce myself and ask that we recreate his getting ready moment for the camera. I pride myself on filming 90% organic real content on the wedding day, but this is one area I bend the rules. The content is just too important for the storyline of the film, and the guys typically always arrive on property completely dressed. Ryan was nice enough to comply with the request, and with the help of his best man and brother, Travis put the suit he had just taken off back on for the cameras. Back over at the bridal suite, Lindsey's father Todd was patiently waiting for his first look with his daughter. This is my new favorite wedding day tradition. Not only did Todd give me a fantastic reaction, but he also gave an amazing speech later in the day that complemented the moment perfectly in the edit. We then gathered the girls together and headed to the back of the property for some bridal party photos. The couple opted to forgo a first look so we would be shooting the bridesmaids and groomsmen separately. The property really shined for these midday portraits, offering us plenty of shade to pose in. Guests soon began to arrive, and before long, the ceremony was underway. The wedding was officiated by the groom's uncle, Brian, who delivered a fantastic ceremony mixed with some funny and sweet sound bites. I always love when an officiant starts the ceremony off with a lighthearted sound byte; it gives me a perfect opening for the film. The couple opted to exchange fantastic personal vows, both of which ended with the same final line, "I love you infinity times infinity.". Judging by Ryan's reaction, I think it was an unplanned line. After a kiss and pronouncement, we led the couple out for some sunset photos while the rest of the guests headed to the cocktail area. The forecast had called for rain all week, but what we got instead was a perfectly stunning Arizona sunset. Having about 30 minutes after we wrapped with portraits, the couple decided to join their guests for cocktail hour as I headed to the reception to capture details. I still had a bit of sun in the sky and managed to capture some of the most stunning detail shots of all time. Still geeking out over them. After some hilarious introductions from the bridal party, the couple was introduced and headed to the dance floor for their first dance. Dinner and speeches followed, and this crew absolutely delivered on speeches. Good audio is the mark of a good film, and this project had so much good audio! It's probably why it ended up being one of my longer feature films to date. Like I said earlier, this venue truly comes alive at night. The grove of trees that encompasses the property is covered in lights, giving the background of every shot a beautiful bokeh. Stunning. The couple shared a dance with their parents and a slice of cake before starting the real party! DJ Sterling crushed the dance floor, and the crew partied the night away. The evening was set to conclude with a final sendoff, so guests grabbed a sparkler and headed to the front of the property as the couple shared a final dance alone on the dance floor. Sparklers lit, the couple made their way through the cheers and the glow of their guests, concluding a truly beautiful wedding day.