Del Mar Villa Wedding Photos
My main goal when I photograph any event or story is to think about what will be most important ten to twenty years from now. As I get older and look back on my own photographs, it’s always the genuine moments that stand out. These are the times when you’re not thinking about getting your picture taken—you’re just engaged with life and what you’re doing, and a fantastic photo freezes it in time. People often think journalistic photography means poorly-composed photos of what happened, but there is a beautiful art to creating dynamic images with great composition & lighting, and waiting for the perfect moment to capture. This is the perfect recipe for the types of photos I strive to create. These images age the best, like fine wines. All the photos I once thought looked amazing because they were perfectly posed or featured stunning outfits with incredible backdrops are already aging and looking dated. It’s the genuine moments that grow more valuable and cherished with each passing year.
I have never photographed a wedding quite like this one. Mickey and Caitlyn threw a three-day extravagant wedding weekend. Festivities started on Thursday with a 1920’s murder mystery, a fantastic icebreaker for guests when not everyone knows each other. They rented the incredible Del Mar Villa in Dundee for their wedding weekend. All the guests had their own room and bathroom. This place is massive and was the perfect size for their roughly 25-person guest list. Friday morning was leisurely, with lots of pickleball, basketball, and other ball-throwing games in the afternoon. All the out-of-town guests experienced classic Oregon weather—mixed showers, sun, heat, heavy winds, and cold, all in a four-hour period. They then took a break from physical activities and dove into wine tasting, with their not-yet-sommelier friend running the show.
Quick sidebar on hospitality. At its core, hospitality is “my life for yours”—gladly and freely inconveniencing yourself for someone else’s sake. When we do this, magic happens. Too often, couples make the day more about themselves and their own wants and desires rather than thinking about their guests and what would be a blessing to them. Someone recently told me that a wedding is the first time a couple gets to host a dinner party for their friends and family as a married couple. I love that. And Mickey and Caitlyn delivered on all fronts, making such a delightful weekend for their friends. After a fun-filled day and a half, they hosted a feast in the grand entrance of the estate. Friends seamlessly went up to toast the couple, after which we all went outside for a sunset ceremony in front of the estate.
Not only did these guys hold their ceremony at sunset, but everyone had full bellies, hearts gladdened by wine, and the most incredible backdrop: a huge estate surrounded by the rolling hills of wine country.
They got married, made everyone cry with their vows, and then had an amazing four-hour dance party that morphed into all kinds of fun shenanigans, including bike rides around the estate, dodgeball in the great room, and maybe even freeze tag?
All this to say, I rarely get to photograph events like this. To be brought in with a small handful of guests and trusted with their stories is an incredible honor, and I don’t take it lightly. I am first and foremost an observer, and people have to trust me, so thank you for trusting me with your stories.
