We're moving! As I referenced in a previous post. Still in the works but on the horizon. The boxes of Christmas decorations are being packed long-term...
After ten years of building my business here in Southern California — learning the best time to photograph a sunset proposal in Malibu (it's later than you think because I love blue hour), and what time of year the hills are green (it's basically only 2 weeks in March) me and my family are relocating to North Carolina. And honestly I've had a lot of mixed feelings about it. But one of the silver linings has been the excitement of visiting brand-new wedding venues!
So this post is me sharing what I'm most excited about — and because I want you to get a sense of my eye and what my film work looks like in similar spaces, I'm pairing each North Carolina venue with one of my California favorites that I've already had experience at. You can see the work I've already done, and picture what's possible for your own wedding day in The Carolinas.
Splendor Pond Flower Farm | Mooresville, NC
Coming from the coastlines and often dry mountains of Ventura County, California, I am used to ocean scenery, and oak forests. But finding this wedding venue in Mooresville feels like a new adventure! I am used to reflections in ocean water, but this serene, expansive lake setting offers a completely fresh reflective canvas that you just cannot replicate out West. We do not have a lot of lakes in Southern California, and the ones we do have are nothing like this. It is a vibrant, woodsy hidden gem that I am incredibly excited to explore with couples who want to trade traditional, stiff backdrops for an editorial, nature-infused film experience!
This property offers so many options that thrive on a film medium! Here is what makes this stunning estate a dream landscape for your wedding day storytelling:
- The Peninsula Ceremony Site: A breathtaking, unobstructed exchange of vows directly on the water, allowing the low-angle golden hour sun to bounce naturally off the 7-acre pond for those luminous, creamy skin tones that physical film is famous for.
- Acreage of Vibrant Blooms: Over 30 varieties of lush, seasonal flora—including sweeping fields of hydrangeas, dahlias, snapdragons, and English roses—offering an organic, high-fashion color palette that digital sensors struggle to do justice to, but film handles with ease.
- The Whimsical Woodland Trails: Sun-dappled paths tucked beneath dense, mature trees that filter the afternoon light beautifully, melting the background into a rich, earthy bokeh for effortless, candid couple portraits.
- An Elegant Indoor Glass Pavilion: A climate-controlled reception space that floods with natural light, ensuring that even your indoor celebration maintains a seamless, airy connection to the surrounding landscape.
The Manor at Serenade Farm
Similarly to Splendor Pond Flower Farm, I'm awe-struck by the sheer greenery in looking at The Manor at Serenade Farm. Where Ventura County has farmlands that have to be constantly maintained with water to keep them alive in our dry desert heat, the greenery that I've already viewed in Concord and Charlotte is amazing to me. It's honestly a huge reason why we are relocating at all, me and my husband have always wanted to move to PNW because of the lush greenery, but because of family and life have chosen Concord for a similar reason. Sprawling across more than 100 acres of secluded, untouched Carolina woodlands and expertly manicured pastoral estate grounds, The Manor offers a private, natural cathedral effect that feels completely cut off from the rest of the world.
Film absolutely thrives in deep, filtered forest environments. The towering canopy at this estate diffuses the mid-day sun perfectly, eliminating harsh, unflattering shadows. When captured on a hybrid medium, the dappled sunlight piercing through the leaves melts the background into a rich, velvety bokeh, letting the raw emotion of your candid moments take center stage. I'm so excited to see it for myself.
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Hawkesdene - Andrews, North Carolina
Hawkesdene is a 70-acre private estate tucked deep in the mountains of western North Carolina near Andrews — about two hours west of Asheville, adjacent to the Nantahala National Forest. Cottages and a main house spread across manicured gardens, with Phillips Creek running right through the property. There's a covered bridge over the creek, an alpaca stable, a pergola, an open-air pavilion, a vineyard, fire pits, hiking trails. And here's the key thing: they host one group at a time. Your people take over the entire estate for the weekend — up to 122 guests staying on-site, gourmet meals included, no curfews, no other weddings on the calendar. Just you and everyone you love in the mountains of Western North Carolina.
That's not a wedding venue. That's a destination. And that distinction matters so much on film — because when people have been together for two or three days, when they've reconnected and shared meals and stayed in little cottages tucked among the trees, they are loose by the time the ceremony happens. The guards are down. The real stuff shows up. Those are the photographs people cry over twenty years later, and the interactions I love capturing in a documentary focused setting.
This is giving me every feeling I have about The Holly Farm in Carmel Valley. And I want to be clear about what I mean by that — because the Holly Farm is not a rolling hills barn situation. Six and a half acres in Carmel Valley with winding paths through palms, holly trees, a koi pond, and private sun-filled cottages where guests stay on-site for the whole weekend. It's lush and layered and a little wild, in the most beautiful way! You walk through a rustic gate and you're just... somewhere else. The whole weekend, your people are together in this private oasis. By the time you say your vows you've already been living in a dream for two days.
That's the energy Hawkesdene is carrying — just transported to the Smokies instead of the Monterey coast. Different landscape, same idea. The retreat-style multi-night experience where the wedding isn't just one day. Documentary work, especially documentary film work loves this.
Pleasant Grove Farm - Charlotte, North Carolina
Some couples just want it to feel like home. Not a venue. Not an event space. Home. That particular warmth that only comes from a place that's been loved on for a really long time — you can't build it, you can't fake it, and you recognize it the second you walk onto the property.
Pleasant Grove Farm, just eight miles from uptown Charlotte, has it. The property has been in the same family since 1960. It's women-owned. It has a 4,500-square-foot post-and-beam barn with crystal chandeliers, a colonial manor for getting ready, a pool and patio, 20 acres of farmland, rescue animals wandering around, a glowing tree-lined entrance, white picket fences. It feels like someone's beloved family home — because that's essentially what it is.
You can book a full weekend buyout or a small intimate elopement. And for couples who want that "we're just celebrating with our people" energy that somehow still looks incredible in photos? This is exactly it.
There's no set-design energy at Pleasant Grove. Just sixty-plus years of a family caring about a house and a piece of land. I find that completely irresistible to photograph because of how unique it is. My whole brand has been built on documenting what's real instead of using AI to fake it, or digital to replicate physical film. I use real film, for real moments, real places, real people. And places like Pleasant Grove Farm are really the type of venues I'm most excited to explore!
This is giving me every backyard and private estate wedding I've loved photographing in California — the ones where you can feel the family history in the walls and the warmth in the yard. I've been lucky to visit many private estates in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties for weddings, and those are truly always my favorite.
The Ivy Place - Lancaster, SC
Coming from the land of citrus groves and sun-drenched strawberry fields in Ventura County, my heart has been rooted in a very specific kind of landscape, and it's hard to think of leaving. In Moorpark and the Santa Rosa Valley, we have this incredible intersection of agricultural heritage and high-end botanical beauty. When I first found The Ivy Place, that familiar "home" feeling hit me instantly. Located just a short drive from Charlotte, this 33-acre sanctuary captures the exact same Secret-Garden-Meets-Farm soul I’ve spent a decade documenting at venues like Hartley Botanica and Gerry Ranch. It’s where the berry-picking-charm of a homestead meets the immersive, fairytale greenery of a wedding venue like Eden Gardens.
Why the "Farm-to-Botanical" Vibe Matters for Film
As a hybrid photographer, I’m always chasing light and color. Greens are especially important to me to capture just right in film photography. The Ivy Place offers that same greenery focused aesthetic that defines the best Ventura County wedding venues.
- The Picking Culture: Just like the berry-picking magic of my home farms like Underwood Farms in Moorpark, The Ivy Place features a seasonal berry and flower farm that adds a layer of authentic, organic life to every gallery. Gerry Ranch in Camarillo also comes to mind where couples wed amid blueberry bushes that are ripe for the public to pick!
- The Heritage: Whether it’s an 1850s homestead in the Carolinas or a family-run ranch-turned-wedding-venue in California like The Camarillo Ranch House, there is a depth of history here that "modern" venues simply can't mimic.
Biltmore Estate - Asheville, North Carolina
Here's my confession about this one: I've already been as a tourist back in 2024, on my first ever trip to North Carolina long before we knew we were moving there. A few years ago, on a trip to Asheville, I walked through the Biltmore Conservatory with my kids and a disposable film camera because my regular film camera battery had died. And oh, the plaaaaaants. The density of everything growing in there and how it just kept going and going around every corner. I hope heaven is basically that. Full disclosure that I usually work with Kodak and above is pictured Fuji because that's what the disposable camera was. Also it was a disposable camera, so you know take that with a grain of salt and view my other film photography for better examples.
When I tried to think of a California equivalent for the Biltmore as an estate — like, grand historic private home, massive grounds, the whole thing — I honestly wasn't sure California even had one. My brain went straight to Hearst Castle, which... okay, yes, technically it's the right instinct. It's a jaw-dropping historic estate built by a wealthy eccentric on a completely unreasonable amount of land. But Hearst is a California State Park now, and while private events are technically possible under very specific permitting conditions, it is not a wedding venue in any real sense. Fun fact though: the castle was closed for an entire day in 2019 for the wedding of William Randolph Hearst's own great-granddaughter. So, you know. It's possible if you're a Hearst I guess?
The venue that fits a tad better — one I've genuinely been wanting to shoot for years — is Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills. Built in 1928 by the Doheny oil family, it's one of the most historically significant properties in all of Southern California. The formal English garden courtyard, the Tudor architecture, the grand staircase — it's been a film location so many times because it genuinely looks like a movie. The City of Beverly Hills has owned it since 1965 and it does host weddings on the grounds. Is it the Biltmore? No — it's a city park, not a private estate, and the scale is different. But in terms of historic weight and the feeling of arriving somewhere "grand- it's in that same ballpark for me. And photographing a wedding there is very much still on my list. (If you're getting married at Greystone — please reach out!)
So yeah I came up a little short trying to match the Biltmore from my own backyard. And I think that's okay! The Biltmore really is an entity unto itself. Covering 8,000 acres surrounding a 250-room château. Eight distinct wedding settings. Elopements to 600-guest celebrations. Multiple publications have named it one of the best destination wedding venues in the country. Honestly, I might not even have the personality to photograph something like that, since I lean so heavily into documentary weddings rather than high-scale editorial. However, an elopement in the greenhouses would absolutely be up my alley, and maybe one day it will happen.
I've photographed many weddings in Topanga and the sun-drenched hills of Malibu. There is a very specific energy there—a blend of "Summer of Love" nostalgia, effortless bohemian luxury, and a deep reverence for the land's history. It’s the vibe of Inn of the Seventh Ray and the "Anti-Bride" spirit that favors authenticity over artifice. Moving my business to North Carolina, I was determined to find that same funky, free-spirited soul in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
I found it at JuneBug in Asheville.
The Retro-Luxe Aesthetic
Walking onto the 50-acre grounds of JuneBug Asheville feels like stepping into a curated, 1960s dreamscape. Much like the secluded properties I’ve documented in the Malibu canyons, JuneBug trades the stuffy ballroom for a fleet of impeccably restored vintage campers and a lush walnut grove.
- The "Hippie-Chic" Details: From the winding Flat Creek to the organic flower gardens, every inch of this property is designed for the couple who wants their wedding to feel like a legendary family retreat rather than a formal event.
- The Architecture of Nature: Instead of grand staircases, you have a massive treehouse and ceremony spots tucked under a canopy of heritage trees—the exact kind of "living architecture" that defined my favorite Topanga elopements.
As a hybrid photographer, my work is about capturing the feeling of a moment, and JuneBug is a texture-rich playground for analog film.
- The Color Palette: The vintage pastels of the mid-century campers combined with the deep, mossy greens of the North Carolina forest create colors that digital sensors just can't replicate. It’s that warm, grainy, "found-in-an-attic" look that my 35mm cameras were born for.
- The Documentary Flow: This venue attracts "my people"—the couples who want to dance barefoot, laugh through their portraits, and prioritize the party over the protocol- like actually getting to enjoy their own cocktail hour! It’s the same "Anti-Bride" energy I loved in California, now found in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
For the couples searching for a wedding that feels like a West Coast canyon escape in the heart of Appalachia, JuneBug Asheville is the answer and I'm dying to go photograph it. I’m bringing my decade of Los Angeles soul to the NC mountains, and I can’t wait to document your story here or at any North Carolina wedding venue. You bring the love, I'll bring the film.
