How To Plan A Perfect Wedding Day Timeline

The best way to have a seamless and enjoyable wedding day is to plan a perfect day-of timeline so you don’t feel rushed. Here you’ll find my tips for what to consider when planning your wedding day timeline, how long different activities can take (including the top eight areas to watch out for), as well as some sample timelines for you to reference. These tips are mostly centered around the part of your day that will be photographed so this guide can definitely help you determine how many hours of photography you’ll want to book. Your photographer will also help you figure out how much coverage you’ll need on your wedding day to plan your day in a way that keeps it fun and stress free for your and your partner.

tips and adviceNatalie NgoFebruary 12, 2024wedding, timelineComment

Joshua Tree Elopement Guide

Welcome to your Joshua Tree elopement guide! In this guide, you’ll find everything you need to know for your Joshua Tree elopement, including:

The best elopement locations in the park — with photos and details for each spot
What to expect in terms of crowds and weather in every season
Tips for exploring the park
Sample elopement timelines
Important notes about permits and photography!

tips and adviceNatalie NgoApril 22, 2022Joshua Tree, national park Comments

San Francisco Elopement Guide: The Best Places to Elope

Welcome to your San Francisco Elopement Guide! Here you’ll find the best and most photogenic locations in San Francisco where you and your partner can elope. Golden Gate Park, Shakespeare Garden, De Young Museum, Queen Wilhelmina Tulip Garden (the Dutch Windmill), The Conservatory of Flowers, San Francisco Botanical Garden, San Francisco City Hall, Stern Grove, Baker Beach, The Presidio, Sunnyside Conservatory, Stable Cafe, Sutro Heights Park, Lafayette Park.

tips and adviceNatalie NgoNovember 17, 2021San Francisco, elopement location ideas Comments

Your Redwood Elopement: How to Choose a Location

If you’re looking for an epic location for your wedding that’s beautiful year round, a redwood elopement is perfect for you! You have lots of beautiful options to choose from, in particular along the northern coast of California, where the ocean breeze keeps temperatures cool but moderate all year long. Redwoods are the tallest trees on the planet, growing to heights of over 300 feet, and a walk among these giants is a unique and awe-inspiring experience. Because of their extreme height and how redwoods grow together in small groups, there’s often a lot of shade to be found and spacious paths around them (particularly in old growth forests) which makes them the perfect place for exploring and finding a gorgeous spot to exchange your wedding vows!

10 Tips For Planning Your Hiking Elopement

If the outdoors is your happy place, you may want to consider a hiking elopement (or even a multi-day backpacking trip) to celebrate your marriage with your partner. I’ve put together some tips for how to go about planning and packing for your hiking elopement, below, alongside photos of V + K’s overnight backpacking adventure in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Don’t miss their incredibly adorable “flower girl” AKA their Alaskan Malamute dog, Attie!

tips and adviceNatalie NgoNovember 17, 2020mountains, elopement, wedding, adventure, hiking, backpacking Comments

How to Elope in Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park is truly one of the most spectacular locations I’ve ever been to and is an epic place to elope — but how do you go about it?

I’m here to answer your most asked questions about eloping in Yosemite, including:

Where are the best places to have your ceremony in Yosemite?
When is the best time of year to get married in Yosemite?
Where are the most iconic locations for wedding portraits?
How much does it cost to get married in Yosemite?
How much time do you need on your wedding day?
What else do you need to know about visiting Yosemite?

tips and adviceNatalie NgoJuly 20, 2020Yosemite, California Comments

The 8 Best Places to Elope in California

When putting together this list of the best places to elope in California, I thought about all of the epic places I had photographed couples on their wedding day, as well as all of the amazing locations I’d traveled to and thought, “Wow, someone should get married here!” California is a huge state with so many diverse landscapes to offer: expansive deserts, monumental mountains, rugged coastlines, and magical forests. And each of those categories has variety within them — the coastlines in Big Sur look wildly different than the coastlines of Northern California, the coastal redwoods are vastly different from the alpine forests in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and the desert in Joshua Tree sharply contrasts the Mojave.

tips and adviceNatalie NgoJune 21, 2020California coast, California Comments

How to Elope in a Slot Canyon | Arizona Desert Elopement

If you’re looking for a totally unique wedding experience, eloping in a slot canyon should be at the top of your list. The Arizona desert is full of beautiful surprises (you would never know this location was here just by driving by) and slot canyons are an absolute dream to explore! B + J had so much fun running through the sand, going up and down the ladders, and discovering each new scene that revealed itself as we made our way through the canyon. This was definitely one of my favorite locations to date!

elopement, tips and adviceNatalie NgoApril 15, 2020Arizona, slot canyon, desert, winter Comments

How to Have a Winter Adventure Session in Zion National Park

This adventure session was made all the more adventurous by the sheer volume of snow that dropped this winter at Zion National Park in Utah. M + S were game, though, and so was I, to hike to this stunning canyon overlook.

The best thing about winter portraits in Zion:

Far fewer crowds. We had this popular overlook all to ourselves!
Convenience of driving your car to the trail head; shuttles are only required in peak visitor months.
Magical snow! Not only is snow beautiful to look at, especially when dusted over these epic rocks, it provides perfect, soft, and even lighting for photos. A photographer’s dream!

couple portraits, tips and adviceNatalie NgoApril 10, 2020winter, Zion National Park, Utah, hiking Comments

Top 12 Bay Area Engagement Locations

Choosing a portrait location for your engagement session in the Bay Area can be a tough decision. We’re very fortunate to live in a diverse place with a multitude of parks and preserved natural spaces in every direction; there are a ton of beaches, parks, forests, rugged coastlines, lakes, hills, meadows, and mountains to choose from which can make narrowing down your options a bit overwhelming.

Generally speaking, my advice for choosing an engagement location is to consider the following: