California
Wedding photography · Los Angeles
In short
Wedding photography in Los Angeles starts at $3,500: 8 hours on location with a photographer who works in Los Angeles, and 600 edited photos delivered to a private gallery within 6 weeks.
Why choose Wedding photography in Los Angeles?
Weddings in Los Angeles are planned around two things that have nothing to do with photography: the sunset time and the freeway. A ceremony at four in June and a ceremony at four in November are two entirely different lighting jobs, and a twenty-minute transfer between venues is a fifty-minute transfer if it crosses the 405 between four and seven. A photographer who works here brings a timeline built on both, which is worth more on the day than any amount of equipment.
Worth knowing about Los Angeles
An outdoor ceremony in Los Angeles between June and September is frequently scheduled before the sun is low enough to be kind, because the venue’s slot rather than the light decides it. The fix is not photographic — it is agreeing the portrait window separately, after the ceremony rather than during it, so the formals happen in the last ninety minutes of light instead of at four o’clock in full sun.
What does the session in Los Angeles look like?
- The getting-ready room
- Scouted for the window. In this city that usually means finding the one room without a wall of glass and no shade.
- The ceremony site at the hour it happens
- Checked on the actual date, because the sun moves forty degrees across the season here.
- Ten minutes outside at blue hour
- The frame most couples say afterwards they are gladdest to have.
What does wedding photography in Los Angeles include?
- 600+ retouched photographs
- Eight hours of continuous coverage
- Pre-wedding venue walk-through and timeline planning
- Second photographer for ceremony and reception
- Private online gallery within 6 weeks
- Print release for personal use
FAQ — Wedding photography in Los Angeles
Do we need a permit for wedding photos at a Los Angeles beach or park?
For the ceremony, yes, but not from FilmLA. A ceremony on a Los Angeles County beach needs a Special Event Use Permit from LA County Beaches and Harbors, applied for 3 weeks to 90 days ahead, and a Malibu state beach needs California State Parks approval. FilmLA handles filming; handheld wedding photography there often needs none. Which permit your venue needs, and how far ahead to apply, is set out for you at booking.
How much time should we allow between venues?
Double whatever the map says, if the transfer happens between four and seven on a Friday or Saturday. A twenty-minute drive across the 405 is routinely fifty in that window, and that time comes out of the portrait hour rather than out of dinner. Where a first look is acceptable, moving the portraits before the ceremony removes the risk entirely.