Driving to Reno to Photograph a Wedding

I am always open to photographing a wedding outside of Vegas. However, even though the bride, groom, and their family were mostly local to Reno, I considered this wedding a destination wedding because of its distance from Vegas.

So far, I have only done one “destination wedding”, where I traveled to the San Francisco Bay area. I have also worked as a primary and second shooter for other photographers in Southern and Central California, but those do not count.

Unfortunately, I did not get to see much in Reno because I was only away for the weekend. I’ve spent a Friday driving up to Reno. The ceremony and reception was on a Saturday, and I drove back to Vegas on a Sunday. I also had to take my pugs with me and leave them in a pet-friendly hotel. One is a super senior who is deaf and near blind. My other pug, who is younger, is blind.

Reno is such a different vibe than Las Vegas. The family rented a beautiful AirBNB that was perfect for the getting-ready shots. The house looked like it was located in the mid-west or east coast. It was so much different from the typical cookie-cutter tract homes in the Vegas area.

The ceremony was at Antique Angel Wedding Chapel, which was right near the Virginia Street Bridge and the Truckee River. The reception was at the Grand Sierra Resort.

The downside of photographing a destination is the lack of familiarity of a location. That was evident when I spent too much time finding parking and walking a far distance to the reception room at the Grand Sierra.

Overall, it was a fun experience and I would love to do another wedding in the Reno area again!