We’re moving! After a decade of building a thriving business in Southern California— learning how to read the shifts of the golden hour light in Santa Barbara without blinding myself through my viewfinder, and chasing the fleeting green of the hills in March—our family is officially relocating to the East Coast. As a North Carolina wedding photographer, transitioning my hybrid film and digital approach to a brand-new landscape has ignited an incredible wave of artistic inspiration. New venues! New food! New trees!
While leaving my favorite California backdrops comes with plenty of bittersweet nostalgia, scouting the hidden gems around the Charlotte and Concord areas has been an absolute dream. The lush, greenery focused spaces on this coast are the perfect canvas for a cinematic, documentary style.
To give you a glimpse into my creative eye and show you what true 35mm film looks like in these environments, I’m pairing my top wishlist North Carolina wedding venues with some of my all-time favorite California estates. By looking at the work I’ve already established out West, you can easily picture the effortless, editorial storytelling we can create together for your wedding day in the Carolinas.
Splendor Pond Flower Farm IN MOORESVILLE | MOORESVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER
Coming from the coastlines and 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 whole new adventure! While I am accustomed to reflections on ocean water, this serene, expansive lake setting offers a completely fresh canvas that you simply cannot replicate out West. Southern California has few lakes, and the ones we do have are nothing like this. Looking at you, Lake Cachuma. Splendor Pond Flower Farm 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 truly thrive on a film medium, making the stunning estate a dream landscape for your wedding day storytelling. The Peninsula ceremony site allows for a breathtaking, unobstructed exchange of vows directly on the water, where the golden hour sun bounces naturally off the 7-acre pond to create those luminous, creamy skin tones that only film gives you. Surrounding the site are acres 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 pops on Kodak. (Just peep those colors in the gallery above from The Orcutt Ranch in Los Angeles, and you'll see exactly what I mean!) Beyond the open fields, whimsical woodland paths sit tucked beneath dense, mature trees that filter afternoon light beautifully, melting the background into a rich, earthy bokeh for effortless, candid couple portraits. Finally, the celebration transitions smoothly into the elegant indoor Glass Pavilion—a climate-controlled reception space flooded with natural light, ensuring your indoor event maintains a seamless, airy connection to the surrounding landscape. tl;dr: film is going to slay here.
The Manor at Serenade Farm IN CONCORD | CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER
Similarly to Splendor Pond Flower Farm, I'm awe-struck by the sheer greenery 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, as my husband and I have always wanted to move to PNW because of the lush greenery, but because of family and land goals have chosen Cabarrus County.
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 photography absolutely thrives in deep, filtered forest environments, but it's also incredibly tricky to navigate. 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.
Hawkesdene in Andrews | Andrews, North Carolina wedding photographer
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 for the kind of laid-back couples I gravitate towards — 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. It's 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 photography loves this.
Pleasant Grove Farm in charlotte | Charlotte, north carolina wedding photographer
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 in lancaster | Lancaster, south carolina wedding photographer
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.
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. And 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. My kids love Underwood and Gerry Ranch, and it's so important to me to photograph weddings that double as family friendly activities. Seeing that The Ivy Place operates so similarly made me so happy.
Biltmore Estate in asheville | Asheville, North Carolina wedding photographer
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.
Junebug in asheville | Asheville, North Carolina Wedding Photographer
Having photographed countless weddings in Topanga and the sun-drenched hills of Malibu, I am deeply familiar with a very specific kind of West Coast energy—a blend of "Summer of Love" nostalgia, effortless bohemian luxury, and a deep reverence for the land's history. It’s the distinct vibe of spaces like the Inn of the Seventh Ray and The 1909 driven by an "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 on the East Coast, and I found it entirely tucked away in the Blue Ridge Mountains at JuneBug Retro Resort in Asheville.
Walking onto the 50-acre grounds of JuneBug feels like stepping into a curated, 1960s dreamscape. Much like the secluded properties I’ve documented in the Malibu canyons (for a list of other awesome boho wedding venues in the Los Angeles area- check out this one), this venue completely trades the stuffy, traditional ballroom for a fleet of impeccably restored vintage campers, a massive treehouse, and a lush walnut grove. From the winding creek to the organic flower gardens, every inch of this property is designed as "living architecture" for the couple who wants their wedding day to feel like a low-stress family retreat rather than a formal production.
This retro-luxe estate is an absolute playground for analog film. The vintage pastels of the mid-century campers combined with the deep, mossy greens of the North Carolina forest create a rich color palette that digital sensors just can't replicate. It delivers that warm, grainy, "found-in-an-attic" aesthetic that my 35mm cameras were born for. Most importantly, this venue naturally attracts couples who align with my non-intrusive, prompt-based direction. These are the people who want to dance barefoot, laugh through their portraits, and prioritize the actual party over strict protocol—meaning you actually get to stay present and enjoy your own cocktail hour instead of feeling like catalogue models. JuneBug Retro Resort Asheville is the ultimate answer for couples looking for a West Coast canyon escape in the heart of Appalachia, and I cannot wait to bring a decade of California soul to this mountain landscape.
