Stern Grove Wedding Trocadero Clubhouse San Francisco

A Stern Grove Wedding at the Trocadero Clubhouse in San Francisco

Laura & Matt – A Stern Grove Wedding at the Trocadero Clubhouse in San Francisco

Laura & Matt were married on a dynamic San Francisco day at Sigmund Stern Grove in the Sunset District. The wedding venue is nestled in a forested valley. The Trocadero Clubhouse, A Victorian Inn built in 1892, a small lake, and a redwood grove are surrounded by hills of swaying eucalyptus. The valley has a magical feeling as if at any moment a benevolent elf might just wander out of the woods.

I often meet clients about a month before their wedding day to talk through timeline details, game plan, and get excited together. I remember Laura & Matt came to talk to me at my spot in the Inner Sunset. When I asked them how planning was going, they tag-teamed the answer to my question. It was striking how well they seemed to be communicating and working as a team.

Their wedding was a DIY affair, of which, I have seen my fair share. And, I have to say that it was the tightest DIY wedding I think I’ve ever attended. There was a bit of time pressure to flip the dinner tables in the Trocadero Clubhouse and decorate them with florals between family pictures and the ceremony, but a team comprised of family made fast work of it. Laura & Matt had delegated well, and they both seemed relaxed, and confident that their families would pull it off.

Our couples portraits were particularly memorable. We walked over to the amphitheater where the Stern Grove music festival takes place, and found some lovely light on an elevated walkway. Matt let his hair down, and magic was made instantly.

During the ceremony the redwood grove made for a serene hidden-away feeling. Laura & Matt entered together hand-in-hand with the long train of Laura’s dress sliding over the redwood duff. I loved the shock of color in the pastor’s robes, and the sweet, diffuse angular light falling over the whole scene.

As the night grew long, Korean Tacos from Koja were savored, a series of riotous toasts were made, and a few old college traditions were revisited. The crowd was certainly “good craic” as the Irish say.

Many thanks to Small Shindigs for keeping everything running smoothly.

Venue : Sigmund Stern Grove & Trocadero Clubhouse
Photographer : Hazel Photo
Florist : Petals
Wedding planner : Brenda – Small Shindigs
Hair : Zip Zap Hair
Makeup : Jelise Baires
Cake : Whole Foods and Mariposa Bakery
Catering : Koja Kitchen food truck, appetizers from Cafe La Mediterranee
Officiant : Reverend Eric Metoyer

Bay Area Wedding Photographer Hazel Photo First dance under and oak tree

2019 a year in wedding moments

2019 was a big year over here. After moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in June of 2017, and flying to NYC, Boston, and Philadelphia countless times to photograph weddings in 2017 & 2018, my 2019 wedding season was 95% California weddings. I feel grateful for the shift and the growth, which has allowed me to spend more time close to home running to the beach and eating breakfast tacos in the backyard with my wife on Sunday mornings.

This year I witnessed great beauty and connection up and down the coast, and I was introduced to new traditions: From redwood cathedrals dusted with rose petals in Mendocino, to dusty ranches lit up with colorful saris down in San Benito County. From Greek feasts in hidden urban gardens, to foggy hilltop wedding brunches. From pretzel dances in Silicon Valley, to rooftop ragers in Soma. From boxer dogs in tailored tuxes, to gold sequin party dresses just for dancing.

There were lots of saxophones at weddings this year. I certainly hope that trend endures. One of the saxophonists wore a cow suit. I had the distinct pleasure of listening to my first wedding podcast, including a hilarious interview with the flower girl. One couple drove into their wedding at Fort Mason on their tandem bicycle right up to the altar, another drove away from their City Hall wedding on a getaway motorcycle with a veil flying behind the bride’s helmet. I learned about 2nd lines, the Gujarati Garba Dance, Hula, and Cosplay. This was also a year of micro-weddings. Such intimate affairs. 10 souls at a gorgeous farmhouse on a Vineyard in Sonoma, 18 in a backyard in Napa, 10 on Synagogue grounds in Santa Clara County. But, there were large affairs as well in clubhouses with fantastic views of the majestic San Francisco skyline, elegant white gowns with long trains, 10-piece bands. There was a wedding newspaper, a bouquet of paper airplanes, and a custom-printed Shehecheyanu shawl draped over a pair of embracing brides just-married on a foggy Marin mountaintop.

I want to take this moment to thank every last person who invited me in to witness their weddings, to witness their families,, and their communities breaking bread, singing, laughing, dancing, crying, etc. etc. I loved all of it. I feel immensely grateful, and I look forward to next year, which should prove to be another glorious year full of ritual and awe.

(2020 is already 75% booked…eeeep!!!)

St. Helena Wedding – Napa Valley

Intimate wedding in St. Helena, Napa Valley, California

B & K were married on a storybook sunny April day in St. Helena in California’s Napa Valley. The poppies were out. The wisteria was out. The rows upon rows of grapevines looked lively and healthy.

This was an intimate wedding, just immediate family and a pair of friends in a glorious backyard with vineyards and mountains as a backdrop.

After the ceremony, we headed over a few blocks to Downtown St. Helena for the wedding reception at the incredible Charter Oak Restaurant. After the meal, we headed out to play with sparklers in the balmy night.

Dog looking at wedding cake with desire. Documentary Wedding Photography Hazel Photo Bay Area

“Documentary wedding photography” 7 reasons why this is what you really want.

The Work · The Philosophy

Seven Reasons You Need a
Documentary Wedding Photographer

Not every couple does. But if any of the following sound like you, you probably do.

By Paul Gargagliano · Hazel Photo · Bay Area

Documentary wedding photograph — Hazel Photo

Cavallo Point · Paul Gargagliano — Hazel Photo

The pictures you remember longest aren’t the posed ones. They’re the ones that put you back in the room — the noise, the feeling, the specific quality of the light at 7pm. That’s what documentary wedding photography is actually after.

1Reason One

You want to feel your wedding, not just see it.

Not a record of what happened. A record of what it was like. Years after the fact, the images that stay are the ones that make you feel the room again.

Stanly Ranch, Napa Valley

Carneros Resort, Napa

Documentary wedding photography on film — Hazel Photo

San Francisco, CA

Indian wedding recessional, Bay Area — Hazel Photo

Leal Vineyards, Hollister, CA

2Reason Two

You have people worth photographing.

Your best friend doing the worm. Your mom teasing her sister. Your dad hugging you with tears in his eyes. Your niece with that look like she’s quietly plotting world takeover.

A documentary photographer is there when the moment happens.

These moments exist at every wedding. A documentary photographer is there when they happen, not somewhere else setting up a shot of the centerpieces.

Wedding photograph on film — Hazel Photo

Stinson Beach · Paul Gargagliano — Hazel Photo

3Reason Three

You’d like someone with an actual eye, not just a camera.

There’s a difference between photographing a wedding and seeing one. The meaningful gesture half-hidden behind a guest. The expression that lasts a fraction of a second. The frame within the frame that makes an ordinary moment look inevitable.

These aren’t things you can direct. They’re things you learn to recognize after years of paying very close attention.

Documentary wedding photography — Hazel Photo

Santa Cruz Mountains · Paul Gargagliano — Hazel Photo

Jewish wedding, Conservatory of Flowers — Hazel Photo

Conservatory of Flowers · SF

Grand entrance, wedding reception — Hazel Photo

Carneros Resort · Paul Gargagliano — Hazel Photo

California · Paul Gargagliano — Hazel Photo

Portra · Urban Adamah · Paul Gargagliano — Hazel Photo

4Reason Four

You don’t want a second first look.

Hold on — how would that even work? A first look, by definition, happens once. The fact that some photographers schedule a do-over tells you something important about their relationship to authenticity.

A first look, by definition, happens once.

Documentary wedding photographers don’t restage. They wait. The patience required to wait for the real thing — rather than manufacture a version of it — is the same patience that produces the images you’ll still be looking at in twenty years.

Wedding recessional, University Club of San Francisco — Hazel Photo

University Club · Santa Cruz Mountains · Paul Gargagliano — Hazel Photo

Chinese wedding, Silicon Valley — Hazel Photo

Silicon Valley · Paul Gargagliano — Hazel Photo

5Reason Five

You want pictures that actually look like you.

Some wedding photography doesn’t see the couple — it sees a generic idea of romance and drops two people into it. You spent a year planning an event that reflects who you actually are. The photographs should be able to tell.

A documentary photographer pays attention to the specific, not the stock.

Wedding photography on film — Hazel Photo

Healdsburg · Paul Gargagliano — Hazel Photo

Santa Rosa · Paul Gargagliano — Hazel Photo

Wedding recessional, Beltane Ranch — Hazel Photo

Beltane Ranch, Sonoma Valley, CA · Hazel Photo

Presidio · Paul Gargagliano — Hazel Photo

Sonoma Valley · Paul Gargagliano — Hazel Photo

Aptos, CA · Paul Gargagliano — Hazel Photo

6Reason Six

You’d like your wedding to feel like a wedding.

Not a production. Not a photoshoot that happens to have guests. When a photographer takes over — three cameras, constant direction, blocking the aisle for angles — the event stops being the event and becomes the backdrop for someone else’s portfolio.

Let the day be exactly what it is.

Documentary wedding photography runs the other direction: be present, don’t interfere, let the day be what it is.

Wine Country · Paul Gargagliano — Hazel Photo

The Presidio · Paul Gargagliano — Hazel Photo

Muir Beach, documentary wedding — Hazel Photo

Muir Beach · Marin, CA · Paul Gargagliano — Hazel Photo

Stinson Beach · Paul Gargagliano — Hazel Photo

7Reason Seven

You chose your florals for a reason.

The color of your dress. The specific peach of the ranunculus. The warm late-afternoon light you planned around. Heavy post-processing can erase all of it — desaturated to the point of gray, color-graded into someone else’s signature look, retouched into something closer to illustration than photography.

Documentary processing starts from a different premise: faithfully reproduce what was actually there. The colors you chose deserve to survive the edit.

Nestldown · Paul Gargagliano — Hazel Photo

From the archive

Film work · Bay Area

The Presidio · Paul Gargagliano — Hazel Photo

Santa Rosa · Hazel Photo

Bay Area · Paul Gargagliano — Hazel Photo

Santa Cruz Mountains · Paul Gargagliano — Hazel Photo

The Pearl SF · Paul Gargagliano — Hazel Photo

Hazel Photo · Paul Gargagliano · Bay Area

Let’s talk about your wedding.

Fifteen years of unrepeatable days. Yours could be next.

Get in touch

Bay Area Documentary Wedding Photographer Hazelphoto

Moments that matter – a year in weddings

Here we have a year of weddings as seen through “moments.”

2018 brought a lovely diversity of venues throughout the Bay Area and beyond, including the Sierra Mountains, Big-Sur, The Boston T and the Boston Public Library, Art Museums, Tiny Chapels and Massive Urban High Schools, Small High Schools and Redwood Theaters, a Mansion that once belonged to a general…

I feel overwhelming gratefulness for all the joy and ritual that I experienced through a camera lens this past year.

But why “moments”? Because they draw us in through their storytelling power. They make us feel what exists on either side of them. They don’t just show a gorgeous dress. They show a woman in a gorgeous dress flushed with joy as she dances with her father. Her gesture shows the freedom and the fun she has shared with him. They don’t just show a marriage license sitting upon a table. They show a group hug between a bride, a groom, her sister, his brother, and the closest of friends, the marriage license gripped between the groom’s fingers.

A photograph is time frozen. Sure, etymologically speaking, it is a light-drawing…but maybe we should have called it a nontempograph… because it’s conceptual implications are: it takes something that exists in the spatiotemporal world, and strips it of time, leaving it to a solely spatial existence. It is of time and yet out of time. A spatial representation of time at a standstill.

And in it’s spatial existence, it can only hint at temporality. It is those photographs that gesture grandly toward temporality that move me most.

Here’s to a 2019 of making wedding photographs that gesture grandly toward temporality.

Industrial Chic Wedding Bok Building

Industrial Chic Wedding Bok Building – Eliza & Dirk

Eliza & Dirk had the distinct pleasure of walking from their home in their South Philadelphia neighborhood to their wedding venue, The Bok Building. Part of the vision for the day, as far as photography, was a walk through the neighborhood with bridal portraits in front of Eliza & Dirk’s favorite murals. We got lucky, and happened upon an Italian street festival, replete with red white and green pendants strung across the street. Philadelphia is a city of hidden magic on tiny alleys, and we found that magic again and again as the day unfolded.

Eliza is an urban planner, Dirk a geographer, so it was apt that the backdrop for their wedding was a view of the city grid of Philadelphia from above. The florals were fantastic. I love the arrangement at the altar with the city peeking through beyond. Post-industrial splendour exploding with flowers!

Sometimes as I photograph a wedding I pick up on a subtle dynamic I didn’t see coming. On their wedding day, from getting ready, through the ceremony, into toasts, I was struck by what an exceptionally strong chosen family Eliza & Dirk have cultivated, and now cherish.

Let’s also not forget that there was an astronaut in attendance, and he made every photo he graced with his presence ten times better.

I could write volumes, but these photos!! I won’t keep them from you any longer.