INTIMATE WEDDING AT PELICAN INN, MUIR BEACH SHOT ON FILM + DIGITAL | CARRIE + BRAYDEN
Carrie and Brayden. Where do I begin. A double-cancer couple: the sweetest of sweeties. They had an intimate wedding and celebration of 75 guests at the Pelican Inn at Muir Beach, CA. I’ve been to Muir Beach countless times to shoot and swim, but had never been to the Pelican Inn. It was the first spot they looked at and they immediately knew it was right for their celebration—old and cozy with so many unique details. To know Carrie is to see how this was the perfect space for them—every detail of their day was so carefully thought out and curated. Carrie is an artist and she put together so many details herself—from drawing the wedding invitations, to custom matchbooks, to even painting a banner that hung outside the space. If you look closely you can see their wedding date carved into their altar. It was such an honor to be able to be a part of and to document this wedding.
When Carrie and Brayden first reached out the things that stood out to them in terms of photography was a candid, documentary approach, as well as shooting film—pretty much all my specialties. When I shoot film for clients it’s typically a couple rolls, but they wanted their wedding shot almost half on film! We ended up shooting seven rolls of color and black and white, which I loved with flash for the end of the night. It all came out so perfectly imperfect in the way only film can.
I met Carrie at the Pelican Inn at the tail end of her getting ready for those final details. We did a first look with her and Brayden, then headed off for couples photos at a couple different nearby locations, including the Muir Beach Outlook. From there we returned to the Pelican Inn for the rest of the day: the ceremony and reception were on the lawn, dinner was inside the restaurant, and we turned the patio into a dance floor.
At some point Carrie and Brayden offhandedly mentioned they had gone for a swim that morning, and were going to return to the beach after the celebrations with some of the wedding party for a midnight dip. This was in no way part of my plan, but I knew I had to stay to capture this. Literally my dream for a wedding to end in a body of water. As it was unplanned I definitely did not have a swim suit, but in a very on-brand fashioned stripped down to my underwear with the rest of them and ran in, camera and flash in hand. Scroll way down to some of my favorite photos at the end of the night.
If you’re planning an intimate wedding, a celebration that ends in a full blown party, and/or if that means jumping in some water, I want to be a part of it. See my packages here and let’s chat!
