Whimsical Secret Garden Wedding at Wollam Gardens

Whimsical Secret Garden Wedding at Wollam Gardens Venue

About Wollam Gardens Wedding Venue

A theme that I love so, so much is that whimsical secret garden wedding aesthetic. I feel like it’s becoming more and more popular as more couples fall in love with that vibe of an “intimate” gathering. Think: of all your loved ones within the woodsy seclusion of beautiful florals sprucing up their special day. Finding a venue that offers that type of vibe is a wonderful way to let the venue “be the decor.” It lets the location speak for itself without having to dedicate laborious details on decorating it yourself.

The Wollam Gardens venue offers 11 acres of giant oak trees and rows upon rows of all sorts of flowers within their flower farm to beautifully fill up the decoration. It also has a greenhouse on site that can be a cute addition to your wedding portraits! Something else that I like about this venue is that they have a large house for you and your bridal party to get ready at with furniture that feels cohesive with that springtime vibe of the rest of the venue. Their grounds are large enough to have a variety of backgrounds for you to take photos at, too. The woodsy ceremony area, the hydrangea bushes, the floral acres, the greenhouse, etc. are just a few examples! It’s pretty much like an all-in-one venue!

Intention and being in the moment

Sarah and Christian’s wedding was *muah* PERFECT. These two and all their friends and families were all sweethearts and brought such a wholesome energy to the day. This wedding was a great example of how having a lot of time before the ceremony makes for a super smooth timeline. It leaves lots of room for getting creative bridal party portraits and getting ready photos because there’s just so much time to take things slowly. Because I arrived about 3-4 hours before the ceremony began, which I know may seem overkill (but I promise you, it’s not), it really allowed the wedding couple to take the beginning of their special day slow.

I feel like when you’re able to relax during your getting ready moments, it really sets the tone for the rest of your wedding day, because you won’t have to stress about how fast to get dressed or how to quickly squeeze in everything you want photographed before the ceremony. I tell all my couples that I want their wedding day to feel the way they dreamed it would be and not like an all-day photo shoot. And leaving lots and lots of time for those getting ready/pre-ceremony photos helps with that tremendously.

About the couple’s wedding day

Even though first looks are becoming a lot more on trend lately, I never want to force my couples to do that. Especially if preserving that “seeing each other for the first time down the aisle” is something that they’ve always dreamed about – it’s traditional for a reason! So for Sarah and Christian, they decided to keep that tradition and opted out of a first look.

With all the extra time between them finishing getting dressed to the start of their ceremony, we had so much extra time on our hands. We got all their solo portraits, separate bridal party photos, and immediately family group photos out of the way! We even had extra time for the bride to do something special. One requested shot was for her soon-to-be-husband to their getting ready suite to do his hair – sho cute! Also, instead of having the couples first look, Sarah did a first look with her parents. She translated her fiance’s vows that he would read during the ceremony into Korean, so that her parents would know everything that he would eventually read aloud later on.

Hello, secret garden vibes!

After the ceremony, we did the full bridal party group photos and really reeled in that whimsical secret garden vibe by grabbing all the photos in different floral backgrounds. I would love to see more bridal party group photos of everyone just casually sitting on the grass together and having a good time. I feel like it looks so much more relaxed and less forced! We’re kicking out the traditionally stiff “stand and smile at the camera!” type of photos with this wedding – candids all the way! I also cannot write this blogpost without giving a shout out to the amazing florist. The floral arrangements made by Associate Me Florals added “it factor” whimsical touch. It really tie together that “dreamy secret garden” aesthetic for their wedding day!

If you’re interested in having me as your beloved photographer, you can find more info and send an inquiry here!