Wedding photographer in Sarasota

Sarasota is where we live and work, so this is the place we know best. Weddings here tend to happen in one of three settings: on the Gulf beaches of the barrier islands, at the historic estates and gardens along Sarasota Bay, or in the hotels and ballrooms downtown. Each one has its own light and its own pace.

As a wedding photographer and videographer in Sarasota, we plan your coverage around the setting you chose, the season, and the hour of sunset, so that the best light of the day lands on the part of the day that matters most to you.

The bayfront is Sarasota's signature. The Ringling, with the marble terrace of Ca' d'Zan over Sarasota Bay and the courtyard of the Museum of Art, is one of the most recognizable wedding settings in Florida. A little north, the Powel Crosley Estate is a 1929 mansion on the water with open lawns. Downtown, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens puts banyans, palms, and the bay in the same frame. All three look out across the water toward the west, which means a sunset over the bay without leaving the venue.

South of the city, Bay Preserve at Osprey and Historic Spanish Point offer old Florida: live oaks, moss, and quiet water, with far fewer people around.

Then there are the islands. Siesta Key, Lido Key, and Longboat Key have wide Gulf beaches, and resorts such as The Ritz-Carlton, with its beach club on Lido Key, and the Longboat Key Club combine a beach ceremony with an indoor reception close by.

Each place asks for a different plan. Estates and museums have set rules on timing and access. Gardens have narrow paths and deep shade. Beaches have wind and no walls for the sound to hold on to. We plan for those conditions ahead of time, so on the day you only see the result.

Sarasota's beaches face west, straight into the sunset, and that shapes the whole timeline. The best light arrives in the last hour of the day. We usually suggest a ceremony that ends 45 to 60 minutes before sunset: your guests are not squinting, the heat has eased, and there is time for portraits while the sky changes color.

Sunset moves a lot through the year, from about 5:35 pm in December to about 8:30 pm in late June. A winter beach wedding often means a 4:30 ceremony. In summer it may be 7:00 or later.

The sand on Siesta Key is nearly pure quartz. It stays cool under bare feet and it is very white, which bounces soft light into faces in the evening and becomes blinding at midday. If your ceremony has to be earlier in the day, we look for open shade for portraits and save a few minutes at sunset for the beach.

From June through September, short storms pass through most afternoons. They often clear before evening and leave the most dramatic skies of the year, but a covered backup is worth having. Wind is the other constant on the Gulf. We record vows with microphones made for it and help you place the ceremony so veils, hair, and sound all behave.

Public beaches are shared with everyone else. Weekdays are calmer than weekends, and a short walk from the main access usually gives us a clean background.

We offer wedding photography and videography separately or together. When we do both, the photographer and videographer work from one plan instead of two.

In practice that means a shorter portrait session, because we are not repeating everything for a second camera. It means the ceremony is covered from agreed positions, with one of us wide and one close, and neither in the other's frame. And it means your film and your photos match in mood and color, because they were made by people who work together.

For film, we record vows and speeches with dedicated microphones so the voices are clear. Depending on the collection, you receive a vertical highlight for social media or a teaser within two days, a cinematic highlight film, and full edits of the ceremony and speeches. Photo collections include a preview within 48 hours and an online gallery with downloads.

Our way of working is calm and mostly hands-off. We give direction when it helps, during portraits and family photos, and stay out of the way when the day is moving on its own. Collections and prices are on this page, and every one of them can be adjusted to your day.

We are based in Sarasota and work across the area: downtown, Siesta Key, Lido Key, Longboat Key, Osprey, Venice, Bradenton, and Anna Maria Island. Tampa and St. Petersburg are about an hour away, and we cover weddings there too. We also travel two hours south for weddings in Naples.

Send us your date, your venue, and whether you need photo, video, or both. We will reply with availability and a clear quote. If you are still choosing between venues, tell us which ones. We can tell you how each will look in photos and film, and what time of day works best there.