Whitney & Ethan’s Carmel wedding and reception at The Barn at Cooper Molera in Monterey, California

I don’t even know where to begin to share about Whitney & Ethan’s amazing wedding day. It’s been six years since I moved away from Santa Cruz but I feel really fortunate enough to still be able to travel back often to be a Carmel wedding photographer. When I first chatted with them about their wedding they mentioned that their ceremony would be earlier in the day at the Carmel Mission Basilica with a reception later at The Barns at Cooper Molera so they hoped to be able to go somewhere fun for portraits and it got me so excited. It isn’t often that we get have that kind of time on a wedding day for portraits. Garapatta State Park is only a 10 min drive from the Carmel Mission Basilica so I knew it was the perfect spot. We get the gorgeous Big Sur views but don’t have to travel very far.

I anxiously watched the weather leading up to their day with fingers crossed as there had been such severe weather in the Bay Area leading up to their day. It was forecasted to rain but looked like the rain would only be around the time of the wedding ceremony (which would be indoors) and should stop shortly after. Their morning started out with each of them getting ready at the Portola hotel and then being shuttled to the Carmel Mission Basilica. Fun fact Whitney went to school at the mission up until high school. I loved that it was such a meaningful spot for them. The rain started just before the ceremony and it was a downpour by the time it was done. I went to my favorite spot that is covered for some portraits with their wedding party before we saw that it was going clear and drove down to this epic spot at the top of Big Sur at Garapatta State Park. They were troopers walking down the trail in their wedding attire but it was 1000% worth it. I even got a few drone photos of them which I need to do at weddings more often!

Once we wrapped up in Big Sur we headed to their reception at The Barn at Cooper Molera where their wedding party joined us for a few more group photos since the rain was still staying away. They reception was a blast with delicious food, sweet speeches, a touching first dance and a great dance party. I caught them eating some late night pizza and they proceeded to feed it to each other instead of a cake cutting. It was perfect! Whitney and Ethan thank you so much for trusting me to document your day and be a part of it! I love any chance I get to come back to California from my snowy home in Oregon. All the amazing vendors listed below helped to make their day great and another big shoutout to Addy with It’s Simply Addy for her amazing work on the wedding day and the opportunity to get to work together again!