Mary & Michael are no strangers to us
I first met Mary at Tongva Park in Santa Monica, on a rainy afternoon in January 2023, when Michael was about to propose.
I was standing behind a tree, and she had no idea I was there.
By the time May 2024 arrived and we were all at Westlake Village Inn, I had photographed this couple three times. I had watched Michael get down on one knee. I had walked with them through Tongva Park during their engagement session while their dog, Cindy, attempted to redirect the entire afternoon. I knew how Mary laughed. I knew how Michael looked at her when she wasn’t watching. When you carry that history into a wedding day, something shifts — the photographs aren’t documentation of strangers in formal clothes. They’re the continuation of a story that started somewhere else.
Getting Ready at The Villa (1pm)
Mary got ready in The Villa — the single suite on the property, a two-story space with a circular grand staircase and tall windows that give everything inside a quality of quiet ceremony. If you’re planning a wedding at Westlake Village Inn, and The Villa is available within your budget, I’d encourage you to reserve it for getting ready. The architecture does much of the work.
Michael and his groomsmen had their own room nearby — comfortable, roomy enough for the six of them — and having both parties steps from each other made the first-look logistics clean and effortless.
We’d scouted the venue the evening before at their rehearsal. That preview changed a few of my pre-planned portrait locations. Knowing a room before the actual day is always worth the extra hour.
Family Formals and Portraits (4pm)
The landscapes at Westlake Village Inn are generous. Spring was ending — some of the blooms already fading — but what remained was still lush, still worth working with. We found spots that didn’t require long walks between them, which matters more than people think on a wedding day when you have two families and a timeline.
Worth noting: on the other side of the property, Stonehaus has stone arches and grapevines that would have been a natural fit for Michael and Mary’s portraits. We didn’t have time to get there. I mention it for future couples at this venue — if you can build Stonehaus into your timeline, do it.
Ceremony at Lake Arbor (5pm)
The ceremony site at Lake Arbor is the kind of setting that does something specific to people when they walk into it. The pillared arbor, white padded chairs, a lake view — and that afternoon, floral arrangements that Exotic Green Garden had wrapped around each pillar. The whole thing felt considered without feeling constructed.
Mary walked through it and became a bride in the truest sense of the word — not a woman dressed for a photo, but a woman arriving somewhere she had meant to arrive.
Reception at The Provence Room (7pm)
The Provence Room sits just a short walk from the ceremony site, with a patio and balcony that overlook the lake — well-suited for cocktail hour and the kind of unhurried milling about that the best receptions invite. Katrina Saroyan played the harp during the transition, and if that sounds like a detail, it wasn’t. It set an entire register for the evening.
Inside, the ballroom has high vaulted windows and light-toned walls. For a photographer, pale walls are a quiet gift — flash bounces clean, the images come back bright, the room feels celebratory without effort. Mary and Michael danced, their guests filled the floor, and the evening had the shape of something that was always going to happen this way.
Near the end of the night, we stepped into the private lobby — a room with a fireplace, low light, the party audible but distant — for a few last portraits. A nearly twelve-hour day, winding down. They leaned into each other the way people do when the performance is finished and only the feeling remains.
I thought about Tongva Park. About the tree I was standing behind. About how much had happened in the space between that day and this one. The opportunity to document these major milestones of a couple, who found love, always keep my perspective rich, each and every time I get to witness and document them behind my cameras. We look forward to continue capsulate their stories as they continue to grow as a couple.
The ballroom had a two-level auditorium style layout, with vaulted windows of the lake and golf course views. I especially liked the lighter color interior decor and walls for a brighter feel for photos – camera flashlights bounce best when the walls are white or close to white.
The team of vendors that made this day possible
Planner | Michelle at Flyte44 Events @flyte44events
Venue | Westlake Village Inn @westlakevillageinnweddings
Photo/ Video | Stephanie Ip Photography @photography.stephanieip
Wedding Dress | By Martina Liana @martinalianabridal via Lilli Bridal @lilibridals
Alterations | Reene at In Stitches
Tuxedos | Suit Supply @suitsupply
Gifts | Shop Sock Prints @sockprints
Bridesmaids’ Dresses | Birdy Grey @birdygrey
Cake/Desserts | The Butter End Bakery @thebutterend
Florals | Exotic Green Garden @exoticgreengarden
Stationery | @minted @canva @flyte44events
DJ | Ace Reider @acereider
Harpist | Katrina Saroyan
Photobooth | Exotic Green Garden @exoticgreengarden
Hair and Makeup | Jana at Jana and Co. @janaandcomakeupandhairdesign
Dance Lessons | Desiree Dance @ballroomwithdes, Stephanie Scales
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