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Wedding Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach

Last month I photographed Valerie and Jonathan’s wedding at the Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach. Like typical Ventura style, we were greeted with blue skies and a light breeze. It was a perfect day for a wedding. I started the day by heading up to Valerie’s hotel room to capture her getting ready for the day. She had one of her best friends with helping her get ready. At one point Jonathan had wanted to come into the room as well, I asked if they wanted to stage a more intimate scene to see each other, but they opted against it as they had seen each other already earlier that morning. But when Jonathan came into the room and saw Valerie in her wedding gown, he stopped in his tracks, blindsided by how beautiful his bride was. Luckily I had my camera ready for the moment.

The Ceremony

Once Valerie and Jonathan had both completed getting ready, we headed straight down to the beach for the wedding ceremony. The Crowne Plaza in Ventura has a perfect beach in front of the property for a wedding. The ceremony can be situated with the Ventura pier showing in the background, or angled so you can get a beautiful unobstructed view of the pacific ocean with the channel islands in the distance. Valerie and Jonathan opted to have the latter and they had an intimate ceremony with only about 20 of their closest family and friends.

The Portraits

Following the wedding ceremony we photographed them with all of their guests right on the sand. Valerie, We then went off farther down the beach to get some couples portraits of just the two of them. Since this was a summer wedding, the sun sets farther to the north and we didn’t get a true sunset. Instead we got beautifully soft lighting that gave a more ethereal feel. I can’t say whether I have a preference between the two. Of course I love the sunsets we get on our Ventura beaches, but the softness from a less contrasted sky can have such a peaceful ambiance.

The Reception

Valerie, Jonathan and I went back up to the top of the Crowne Plaza Ventura for their wedding reception. It was a casual party without most of the usual wedding traditions. Jonathan gave a short speech, and later in the evening they cut the cake together. Their wedding was a happy get together celebrating the love of two beautiful people.

Here’s some of my favorites from Valerie and Jonathan’s wedding at the Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach.