Gorgeous early evening light blessed this couple's wedding ceremony in New Orleans City Park's Botanical Garden. In addition to being a gorgeous location for a ceremony, being directly adjacent to the popular reception venue Pavilion of the Two Sisters is very convenient and helps take away much of the stress of transportation for you and your guests.
The large, round fountain in this spot, along with the large oak tree with beautiful moss gracing the background, and the aesthetically pleasing brick patio, all contribute to this being an attractive setting for a perfect outdoor wedding ceremony.
This bride and groom chose to do a first look, which enabled us to set aside a good amount of time for portraits of the couple.
We also did all of our formal group shots before the ceremony, and a few not-so-formal group shots such as this one.
Scheduling your ceremony start time to be about twenty to thirty minutes before sunset results in this kind of beautifully soft light at this location most times of the year. While it's not always possible to perfectly time your wedding to coincide with the best light, it's definitely worth trying to if you can. And at this particular venue, it's actually quite important due to the position of the afternoon sun; had this ceremony taken place 30 minutes earlier, a swath of harsh sunlight would have been cutting right through the area.
On the way down the aisle at the end of the ceremony, the groom dipped the bride to the delight of the crowd.
Although we did most of our bride and groom portraits before the ceremony, we did grab one last series of sunset shots featuring the Conservatory and the evening sky in the background.
The reception took place inside the Pavilion of the Two Sisters, where Rouge Krewe was providing the entertainment. It's always a blast when the bride and/or groom join a band on stage!
At the end of the night, the couple did a second line around the venue with the band, and headed out through a celebratory send-off!
City Park also has several other locations where wedding ceremonies can take place, including the Peristyle, Popp Fountain (adjacent to the Arbor Room reception venue), the Conservatory, and other areas of the Botanical Garden.
Location: 3 Victory Ave, New Orleans, LA 70124.
