Photographing a Saratoga Springs wedding has been on my bucket list, so I was thrilled when Bre Thurston asked me to second shoot a wedding at that venue with her! As a born and raised Bay Area girl, I have a huge soft spot for redwoods and Saratoga Springs is one of the few wedding venues in the San Francisco Bay Area that has beautiful redwoods. Owned by the Giannini family and nestled up in the hills of Saratoga, Saratoga Springs Picnic & Campground is a picnic facility that hosts corporate picnics and plenty of weddings. Despite being close to the heart of the Silicon Valley, it almost felt like a destination wedding. It was the perfect location for this sweet wedding, with the guests flying in from all over America to celebrate. The bride grew up in the South, the groom grew up in the Bay Area, and they met in Seattle… so instead of a traditional guest book, there was a map of the United States for the guests to sign with arrows pointing to the cities they live in.

I started the wedding day with the groom and groomsmen in the bride and groom’s townhouse in San Jose. Bre had given me a heads-up that both the bride and groom are extremely tall… but I was still a little surprised at just how tall the groom was when he opened the door, haha. At 6 ft 8 inches, he was quite a bit taller than the 6 ft bride, even when she was wearing her 3 inch heels! Even their couch is a little higher than most couches, and the groom said he knew the bride was the one for him when she said she loved his couch on one of their first dates.

They have the sweetest, tiniest little white dog and the biggest, laziest white cat, haha. Both were dressed up in honor of the special day, so I made sure to take some photos of them! Once the groom and groomsmen finished getting ready, we drove off to Saratoga Springs to meet the bride and bridesmaids for the first look. The best part about this first look? It was a first look for the bride too! The groom picked out his suit entirely by himself, so she had no idea what he was going to be wearing. She loved his blue suit with the black stripes down the sides. After the first look, we made our way to Cathedral Grove for some of my favorite bride and groom portraits to date. With a little wooden bridge, a beautiful bride and groom and towering redwoods, what more can a photographer ask for?

The ceremony and reception were equally beautiful! The ceremony took place under more redwoods with string lights hung across the entire site. The reception area was just to the left of the ceremony. Long wooden farm tables were draped with eucalyptus garlands and adorned with lovely flowers. There were even heat lamps to combat the slightly chilly October evening. Overall, this Saratoga Springs wedding was everything I hoped it would be as a photographer!

Contact me or email me at alice@aliceche.com now to book your own Saratoga Springs wedding!

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Alice Che is a San Francisco Wedding Photographer based in the Bay Area specializing in intimate, emotional wedding, engagement, couple and boudoir photography. Serving the South Bay, Peninsula, and East Bay: San Jose, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Redwood City, San Carlos, Burlingame, Los Altos, Milpitas, Saratoga, Fremont, Berkeley, El Cerrito, Carmel, Monterey, Santa Cruz and surrounding areas.