White Oaks Resort

White Oaks was new to me this summer, and the first thing that stood out was how well the hotel works for a wedding day. The guest rooms are large enough for getting-ready photography, and the grounds behind the hotel feel deliberately designed to give couples a lot of ceremony and portrait options without leaving the property.

The ceremony setting was especially photogenic. Behind the couple was a small pond with an antique-style bridge beyond it, and the trees helped hide the large parking area so the photographs stayed focused on the setting rather than the hotel infrastructure.

The indoor-outdoor flow surprised me in a good way. The ceremony and reception used a tented area, with dancing later inside the rear hotel foyer, and guests could move comfortably between fresh air outside and the indoor space.

My favourite memory came at the end of the night. The couple wanted a relaxed hotel-room photo session with pizza, and the staff got one ready quickly. We ended up with photographs of them jumping on the bed, loosening up after the reception and eating pizza together. It was one of the most fun post-reception sessions I’ve photographed.