Crazy Newhall Mansion Wedding with Unique Details

I have been looking forward to shooting Grace and Frank’s wedding for quite a while. Shockingly, my fiance Josh referred me to this wonderful couple. In the 7 years that Josh and I have been together, he has never referred me to anybody so I was quite shocked. So of course I wanted to do an amazing job for them, as I do for all my couples. The weather was absolutely perfect. The whole day was taking place at Newhall Mansion in Piru. We started the day off driving from LA so it was a little bit of a trek, about an hour and a half, but totally worth it because the venue is absolutely stunning and perfectly nestled in a gigantic orange grove. I’ve never shot at this venue before and shooting at a new venue this deep in my career is a rarity so I was excited about the new opportunity and experience.

Like any wedding day, this day had its little hiccups. We were stuck at the front gate for about 5 minutes incapable of being able to enter because the gate wouldn’t open. And after trying to reach Gracie with dropped call after dropped call. . we finally got through and she told us that we needed to use all of our force to punch in the numbers. It was hilarious, and it did finally open. We climbed up the three flights of stairs with all of our equipment and up to the attic where the girls were getting ready. As soon as we got in we started shooting the details. The attic was an entire suite! The sunlight shined perfectly through the mosaic windows and the lighting was absolutely gorgeous. The attic is wrapped around the entire top floor and included the bride’s bedroom, many common areas with couches and tables, an entire kitchen, bathrooms, and closets. It was more than spacious and since it was an attic it had high ceilings, which are optimal for photography! The girls’ emerald green dresses were already hung in the closet, adorned with custom name hangers, ready for their detail photos. Gracie’s beautiful invitations, their rings, and her gorgeous beaded dress were ready for their photos as well. I Fell DEEPLY in love with her emerald green velvet Gucci shoes with a very blingy buckle. Absolutely my favorite wedding shoes ever!

As we were about to shoot her wedding dress the removable straps kept coming unbuckled, I knew over the day this was going to become a problem. Lo and behold, as Gracie was getting dressed for the day it kept unbuckling and it was taking a tremendous amount of time to get it buckled back up so we decided to sew them in and make them a permanent part of her beautiful dress. It worked out and she looked absolutely stunning. The event coordinators were super helpful and wouldn’t leave our side and ran to get the sewing kit they had. They even tried to take over assisting and my assistant had to fight to keep her job LOL. Grace’s bridesmaids were so emotional and you could see how much they love and care for her so it was really touching to see. 

We had a full staff at Newhall mansion for this beautiful wedding. It was myself, Maya assisting, Noah second shooting, and Patrick doing videography. I love having my full staff it always makes the day so much fun. Maya kept running up and down the stairs all day to get everyone water bottles and she was winded by the end of it. Noah went down to the man cave at Newhall Mansion to shoot the boys while I stayed up in the attic with Gracie and the girls. The boys were getting ready in the basement of the mansion which is perfectly made for a groomsmen party. There is a bar, billiards, another bedroom, restrooms, a huge television, common areas, and a DJ setup with speakers. It was decorated with hunting regalia and had a woody cave feel, perfect for the guys.

The funniest thing happened while Gracie was getting her veil put on. I set up a really beautiful shot with all of the girls helping her put the veil on and then I was setting up for another shot and Gracie thought the chair was still behind her and fell on her butt. We had a good laugh but I felt terrible. Everyone kept saying that they tried to reach for her as she slow-mo fell on her butt.

We did some fine art photos of Gracie inside of the new Hall Mansion with its beautiful dark and laid woods and Tiffany Glass Mosaic windows. There were framed old-timey black and white portraits of people which gave it a very haunted mansion feel. This was definitely one of the more unique and gorgeous venues that I’ve shot at and I adored the vintage feel the mansion emitted. I loved its dark gothic architecture. Built-in 1890, the Newhall Mansion has been an iconic statement of Victorian elegance for over a century. Originally owned by publisher David C. Cook, it was later purchased by the Warring Family, and finally by Scott & Ruth Newhall who rebuilt the Mansion to its original specifications in 1983 after a devastating fire. Their website boasts that “Newhall Mansion’s Victorian opulence radiates vintage glamour. Transport to another age as you celebrate with your family and invited guests in privacy and allure. Serene ceremony sites enhance your big moment, while an expansive courtyard plays host to an enchanting reception as you dine and dance under the stars.” Today it operates as a venue for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, corporate retreats, and more and even has tours available to the public for historical purposes. It is truly worth visiting and exploring if you have never gone because it is absolutely beautiful and the architecture and history behind it is fascinating. It made for some hauntingly beautiful photos. My second shooter Noah got to shoot from some artistic angles from different staircases and I got to shoot her head on and perfect the portraits. It definitely helped that Gracie was gorgeous and easily found her poses and could follow my posing directions. A big shoutout to her and my second shooter Noah.

The ceremony went beautifully and sooo emotional. Grace and Frank gave their vows which brought a tear to my eye. They made sure to include their doggy Walter, a french bulldog, who was the cutest and most handsome boy and he even had his own tuxedo! At the end of the ceremony, they released butterflies that they had woken up the hour before to symbolize their love for one another and the whole area was filled with butterflies for the rest of the evening. It was seriously magical.

At the reception, we got to see the cake and it was a beautiful three-tiered white cake with beautiful flowers and leaves cascading down the tiers. It was placed next to gothic black candles on gold candle holders and underneath was an emerald gold table cloth. It was very on theme. They also had custom gummy bears on every table which was so cute and sweet!

The reception was gorgeous and bursting with white flowers, Roses, hydrangeas, high-end tea roses, and white fox gloves along with other beautiful white wildflowers. The reception was a PARTY! I meant that with all caps because this family knows how to party. There were so many tears of love…so many hugs..so much love..so much laughter. Gracie and Frankie hired a live band and they had everyone on the dance floor the whole night. They played everything from Spanish to rap to oldies. They did the garter toss and bouquet toss, both of which were fought for pretty hard and one of the groomsmen actually caught the bouquet, man this guy was a character and was trying to crack me up the whole day. They’re all coworkers of my Fiance so I had met some of the party guests before so it was nice to get to see them and get to know them even more. Everyone was so sweet and dorky and funny and I had a blast with everyone. Then towards the end of the evening, Gracie asked for “Time of My Life” to be played….and she dances and sang and kissed Frankie and everyone hugged them as a huge crowd all around them on the dance floor. It was a moment to never forget. As this wedding was a wedding to never forget! The after-party went on all night in the basement of Newhall…The gentleman’s tavern. DJ…drinks..the whole nine!

Thank you to my Fiance Josh for FINALLY recommending me to someone and a big shoutout to my lovely couple Grace and Frank. They had already been together for a while and you could tell their love was already solid and firm. They created such a beautiful day full of love, tears, dancing, and laughter and I’m honored I could be a part of it. Thank you to my crew and a huge thank you to everyone that made this day possible…..

Florals – Celebrate Florals @celebrateflorals

Venue –  Newhall Mansion @Newhallmansion

Band and Master of Services – Miriam Neblina Latin Band @miriamneblinalatinband

Violinist – Mauricio Molina – @mao_violin

Wedding Coordinator – Tricia Dahlgren Events – @tdahlgrenevents

Rentals – Bright Rentals and 24/7 Rentals @brighteventrentals and @247events

Makeup and Hair – Vivian @Viviantranartistry

Dress and Veil – @pebblesbridal

Dessert (Rolled Ice Cream) – Chillbachi @chillbachi

Cake – Jill @Jillscakecreations

Photography– Edna @squareeyephoto

Video- Patrick @Patrickstaehlemedia @Patrickstaehle