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Palm Springs has always been a close but far away resort town that allowed Southern California residents to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The La Quinta Waldorf Resort is a beautiful oasis tucked away in the bare foothills of the San Jacinto mountains, right next to Indian Hills and Palm Desert (a little bit past the actual town of Palm Springs). The barren hillsides actually make a beautiful and unique textured background, contrasting the many flowers and trees of the resort. And of course you can always expect palm trees in Palm Springs. This is our experience doing La Quinta wedding photography.
Sarah and Mac decided to start their married lives together on the start of the new year, which is a great chance to combine New Years Eve (a big, huge party) with their wedding (a big, huge party). It was a black tie event with a live band, making it a classy way to bring in the new year. Normally wedding photography in Palm Springs makes me worry about blistering heat, but not on New Years Eve. The desert can get quite chilly during the winter months, but Sarah wore her white wedding dress in style using a white fur wrap to stay warm.
Since it’s a resort, the whole day was in one location, with our bride and groom getting ready in their separate suites. BTW, make sure you have a map of the La Quinta Resort, since it’s a large place and it’s easy to get lost! Sarah had her preparation in the Pueblo Suite, which was more than spacious enough for her large bridal party.
Here is their short form wedding video:
And here is our Instagram teaser we posted right after the wedding:
The Wedding Preparation
And how sweet is it always to see the flower girl loving and admiring the bride?!
We had their first look there at the La Quinta Resort, in a nice shaded spot.
The resort was covered in flowers and beautifully landscaped, which we would expect no less from a Waldorf Astoria resort.
As it got darker (and quickly so due to it being winter), we happily used the softly lit ceremony location for some quick photos. Sarah was sporting her fur wrap to keep warm in the cool desert night air.
And they also had in the front of the La Quinta resort one of the largest real Christmas trees we’ve ever seen, which made for some purely magical photos.
The cocktail hour was set before the ceremony, which gave us a romantically lit night ceremony. This is where it is really important having a photographer that understands and/or specializes in low-light wedding photography, since it really pushes the boundaries and tolerances of our equipment and skill. But the rewards are unique and magical images.
The Wedding Ceremony
The coordinator, Lauren Radie of Lauren Radie Events, did a great job getting this lighting setup for their nighttime ceremony. The soft glow of Christmas lights perfectly matched the holiday mood and feel. They had it at the main lawn for the the La Quinta Waldorf Resort. Now, for some La Quinta wedding photography of a nighttime lit ceremony.
The Wedding Reception
They had their wedding reception dinner in the Frank Capra Ballroom.
And then came their grand entrance into the Capra Ballroom!
And with the live band came lots of dancing and fun!
We counted down together to bring in the new year of 2019. The large poppers really added the finishing touch to the countdown.
What a perfect way to end the wedding but start the new year. This destination wedding photography blog article covers a wedding at the La Quinta Waldorf Resort near Palm Springs (and close to Indian Wells and Palm Desert too), using the main lawn for the wedding ceremony and the Frank Capra Ballroom for the reception dinner. It was a NYE black tie event, shot in a low-light wedding ceremony only lit by Christmas lights. For more examples of destination wedding photography, make sure to check out the rest of our blog. Hope you enjoyed this example of La Quinta wedding photography.
