Redwood Forest Wedding
Redwood Grove Ceremony and Art Gallery Party
Redwood forests are sacred. The trees are ancient and tower hundreds of feet above the forest floor. The light quality is ethereal. And redwood groves moderate their own micro climate. If it’s a hot summer day it will be at least 10 degrees cooler in among the trees. Alana and Chris’ Oakland redwoods wedding ceremony was in the Madrone Grove in Roberts Regional Park.
We planned everything so that the lighting would be at the perfect angle during their late afternoon summer wedding. This involved some location scouting by our creative team using the very handy Sunseeker App. With help of the app we could accurately predict sun angles, shadows, and times of day for the wedding date.
This photo story includes Alana and Chris’ California redwood forest ceremony, followed by cocktails in the redwoods, and finally an incredible wedding reception at Vessel Art Gallery in Oakland, CA.
– Alana & Chris
– Alana & Chris
When the magical Oakland redwood wedding ceremony was finished, everyone stayed in the forest for cocktails. The afternoon sun dipped lower in the sky kissing our redwood grove with some incredible light. The energy of the group was incredible, no doubt enhanced by a lovely ceremony and being in the presence of these magnificent redwood trees. For an hour and half, our creative team captured natural, candid, and journalistic style images of the revelry and celebration.
After the redwood forest cocktail hour the sun was getting low in the sky and the wedding shifted venues to the city. A ten minute drive downhill and we arrived at the Vessel Art Gallery in the Northgate neighborhood of downtown Oakland. The art gallery was once an historic horse stable that has been modernized and renovated in to an incredible space that fosters creativity. From the gallery’s website, “Vessel is a space where artists and art lovers journey together.” This art gallery wedding reception was the perfect pairing with Alana and Chris’ redwood forest wedding. Nature transitioned into culture. And the blend made for a really fabulous photo story.
– Drew Bird
Wedding Ceremony Venue: Roberts Regional Park. Madrone Redwood Grove. Oakland, California.
Wedding Reception Venue: Vessel Art Gallery. Oakland, California.
Wedding Planner: DDM Events and Designs with Danner Doud-Martin. Oakland, California.
Catering: Market Hall. Rockridge, Oakland, California.
Dress: BHLDN
Floral: Beijaflor Botanicals by Auna Lorin. Sonoma, California.
Drew Bird is recognized as one of the top 100 International Wedding Photographers in the world by the Wedding Photojournalist Association. He is currently based in San Francisco and Oakland and creates photo stories for clients world-wide, including Oakland redwood weddings. View Drew’s non-wedding work. And, Get in touch with Drew.
All content copyright Drew Bird Photography, INC.
I LOVE the redwood wedding photos. The angels and the light in the ceremony photos are very yummy. And you captured some really fun and unique moments.