3 Beautiful Wedding Venues near Salem, Oregon

There are so many beautiful venues to choose from, while the major venues are well known did you know about these 3 beautiful gems?

  1. Ron’s Pond Wedding Venue

    Ron’s Pond is west of Salem 10-15 miles nestled in a lush green forest with a beautiful big pond as it’s centerpieces. One of the things I appreciate about Ron’s Pond Wedding Venue are the bridal suite and groom’s quarters, there’s room for everyone! The reception and dance floor is also very nice with plenty of room for all your wedding guests.

2. Pastre Creek Ranch

Nestled in the hills near Scio, Oregon, Pastre Creek Ranch is a perfect option for a beautiful wedding backdrop. The outdoor ceremony space feels intimate and the undercover/indoor reception space is nice and roomy for all your guests to enjoy dancing and dinner. A woodsy backdrop provides for beautiful photos that make the bride and groom stand out.

3. Roddy Ranch

Roddy Ranch is a wedding venue just south of Salem, Oregon about 10 miles. Amenities include wonderful getting ready rooms, flower garden, beautiful indoor reception space with outdoor dancing options. Wedding guests will love how close everything is and being able to escape that summer time heat in the beautiful reception area.

Jason & Devin's Fall Wedding

Jason and Devin’s Autumn wedding was full of jewel toned accents, old friends, lots of family and awesome dancing! The beautiful venue, Pastre Creek Ranch, was the perfect setting with it’s wonderful accommodations, large open reception area and breath taking views. What I loved most about their wedding was that it was so rich with family members, near and far! It was truly a celebration for a wonderful couple!

Eliana - Senior Pictures

Eliana’s Salem downtown session was so fun! I love me a good field for senior photography but I also LOVE an urban session in Salem, Oregon. The lighting is so great, it always beautifully compliments my seniors. Being a senior photographer is one of the best parts of my job. I get to meet fun ambitious seniors!

What I also loved about Eliana’s session was having Eliana’s mom along. She is the proudest of Eliana and it was so obvious she was her biggest fan!

Ian & Kassidy - Wedding at Log House Garden in Keizer, Oregon

Ian & Kassidy’s wedding was so amazing…they had long time friends, lots of family there but the biggest thing that made their wedding day so amazing was the connection between them. They are so in love and so excited to marry their best friends. Log House Garden was the perfect backdrop for Ian & Kassidy’s wedding. Being their wedding photographer was such an honor, it was so sweet to see and photograph their connection. And their dancing! Holy moly, this summer I’ve had such good dancers! Ian and Kassidy gliding across the dance floor, totally in-step with each other.

Venue - Log House Garden

Caterer - Adam’s Ribs BBQ

Hair - Bridal Harris

Cake - Gerry Frank’s Konditorei

Olivia & Cailyn Nursing School Graduation pictures at Linfield University in McMinnville, Oregon

Olivia and Cailyn’s nursing school graduation photography session was a hoot! These girls were so fun to photograph around the Linfield University Campus in McMinnville, Oregon. I love senior photography as I get to meet young, intelligent and ambitious young people. Okay so all you Linfield grads: let me take your grad photos!

Ananiah's Senior Photography Session

Photographing senior pictures for Ananiah was like being a Disney princess photographer! I’m pretty sure Ananiah IS a Disney princess! We had so much fun together shooting in Salem, Oregon. I loved hearing about her high school journey and finding a true group of friends. I picked her brain about her experience as I have a pre-teen and I want to know all the things! The whole time we were chatting I was of course shooting away. I am so honored that Ananiah chose me to be her senior photographer. She is such an ambitious young woman with a great head on her shoulders!

Get the Bounce House for your Wedding

On the fence about doing something a little different at your wedding? I’m here to be your cheerleader and say, “Just do it”. Blake and Emily wanted to create a unique wedding experience for their guests. They hired Ohana Soft Play to bring the fun to their wedding and their wedding photography. Ask any wedding photographer how much they’d love a white bouncy castle to photograph beautiful people in, they’d all say “ABSOLUTELY 100% YES!”

Fall Senior Season

I have been blessed with the best group of seniors this Fall! I’ve had so much fun getting to know these young men and women. Senior Photography has surprised me in so many ways…I never knew I would love it so much and let it inspire me so much. My favorite thing to do is hear about these amazing young people, the places they’ve been and their ambitious futures. Seniors are so full of life and so beautiful inside and out, I’m so happy I get to photograph them!

Emily & Blake Oregon Coast Engagement Session

When Emily asked if we could go to the beach for her engagement session, it was an absolute “YES!” from me. The Oregon Coast is so fun to photograph as you never really know what you’re going to get: fog, low/high tide, fast moving weather, wind, and sunsets can be wild!!! Emily picked a super pretty spot on the Oregon coast near Manzanita. We started our photography session on the beach and then moved to a very beautiful “edge of the world” type cliff. I was so honored to be Emily and Blake’s chosen photographer for not only a beautiful engagement session but also their wedding photographer!

Branding Sessions? Let's do it!

I often get asked what type of photography do I do? The answer is long. I love diversifying what I do, I believe having a wide range of skills helps in every shoot I do. Difficult flower girls don’t scare me at all because I do family sessions and know how to open kids up a bit. Teens in the family that want nothing to do with me? Not a problem because I do senior photography sessions all the time and I know what works with them (and what doesn’t). Wedding flat lays? No worries I love detail focused images because I do branding sessions. I don’t talk much about my branding sessions but I absolutely love bringing a brand together in new lights and providing plenty of quality content for my brands.

Fresh 48 Session

A session demographic I really hope to grow is my Fresh 48! A Fresh 48 is a photography session that happens the day after your newborn is born, at the hospital! I love the window light each hospital room provides, it makes for a beautiful light source on such a beautiful newborn. Another benefit from photographing at the hospital? You don’t have to clean your house! Amen to that!

If you’ve ever had a newborn, you know how those first couple days are so special, the endorphins from birth are still going strong, you are meeting your new little love for the first time and studying all the tiny newborn details. I love photographing this sweet time for my families.

Check out my Fresh 48 photography session of little Freya Lennon…

#1 Tip when Styling Families for a Photography Session

As a photographer, my most common questions I hear from my clients is, “What should we wear?” I love this question as when you dress your family for everyday life is DRASTICALLY different the dressing them for a photography session. That being said I want my family’s true personalities to come out in the photos and that can’t come through if mom is wearing a ball gown in which she never wears! So #1 rule, like what you are wearing that does express who you are as a family. But more specifically, my #1 tip when families ask, “What should we wear” is

Choose colors that are slightly off from it’s true color so Red becomes Rust, for Yellow choose Mustard, and so on…

That’s it! Now my family will choose clothes they are comfortable in and in colors that make a pleasing portrait.

My 3 Go-To Senior Picture Prompts

Senior pictures are one of my favorite things to photograph. I think this time in a young person’s life, their senior year, is such a precious time. One minute, I can see hints of my clients childlike selves and then next I see them as a grown woman/man. Seniors are on the cusp of starting the rest of their lives and I just love to capture it.

It can be difficult sometimes if my senior isn’t exactly comfortable in front of the camera, very few are. So I have a whole list of things I do to loosen them up and give me different looks. Here are my Top 3 Prompts to do at senior sessions

1.Would you Rather?

I love playing would you rather questions with my seniors. My crazy questions usually elicit a fun look or a genuine smile. My favorite would you rather question? Would you rather Poop Chocolate or Pee pop….suuuuuuuper gross but also really funny to talk about after, ha!

2.Walk on your Toes

Movement provides very interesting pictures, compositions, and looks. I always have my seniors on the move. I even tell them to skip their workout because we’ll both be sweating by the end of our session! One of my favorite things to have them do is to walk up on their toes. This provides a fun, bouncy walk that makes them feel light and airy as well as a bit goofy once again eliciting more of a genuine smile. I almost never include a full body shot of them looking like ballerinas on their toes, ha! I deliver 3/4 portraits most of the time with this prompt.

3.Have mom tell you about their Senior as a Baby

9 times out of 10, my senior has their mom at their senior picture session. My next prompt may be my favorite for those hard to reach smiler’s. Especially my boy seniors, if I get their mom, or dad, to talk about them and how they were as a baby, it usually always makes my senior smile. Most love to hear about this time in their life they almost probably never hear about. I ask mom, if their senior was a big baby, small baby, good sleeper, up all night sleeper, were they a happy, bossy, sweet or sassy baby. How about a cuddler and do they still cuddle? My seniors just love to hear about it and it gets mom involved and drums up some great memories and emotions for all.

Those are my top 3 senior prompts I will do at nearly all my sessions. Many photographers I’ve heard loathe senior pictures because there is no one in the frame for them to interact with and this is maybe why I love senior pictures the most. The focus is just on them, it’s their time to shine and I just love getting to know my seniors and letting their personalities come out in these fun prompts.

I book senior pictures every month of the year! Even in bad weather I we have options I love exploring. Feel free to reach out at hollywoodsphotog@gmail.com if you’d like to get on my calendar!

Jake & Melissa's September Wedding

Jake and Melissa’s September wedding was an unforgetabel day. It was a beautiful sunny day at Riverbell Farms in Jefferson, Oregon, a perfect backdrop for a wedding. Jake and Melissa had a huge supportive guest list, comprised of old friends…old friends are THE BEST especially at a wedding. It made for touching toasts, funny moments, and a great party. I loved Jake and Melissa’s wedding and hope to photograph many more just like it!

Venue - Riverbell Farms

DJ - DJ Wildtim

Hair & Make-Up - Allelu Beauty

Matt & Molly's Autumn Wedding

The hottest October day I can remember happened on Matt and Molly’s wedding day this past fall. Despite the heat, it was one of the most beautiful Fall days, especially for a wedding! The venue was the beautiful Barn Kestrel in West Linn, Oregon. Molly was a stunning bride in an elegant dress from Heavenly Bridal Boutique with hair and make up by Blossom and Beauty. The intimate day was filled with long time friends, an amazing live band, the June Bugs, delicious food and lots of dancing!

Venue Barn Kestrel

HAMU Blossom and Beauty

Coordinator Daisy May Events

Dress Heavenly Bridal Boutique

Florals Flowers and Stuff

Catering Delilahs Catering

Band June Bugs

Mike & Ellie's Beautiful Beach Wedding

Mike and Ellie’s Oregon Coast Wedding was incredibly beautiful to photograph. I first met Ellie as I had photographed her brother’s engagement sessions a couple years ago. A referral is just the highest compliment I could ever receive as a photographer. I immediately clicked with Ellie and loved her thoroughness, she asked all the right questions and I knew her wedding would be really special. It was a beautiful July day near Lincoln City, Ellie’s venue was a friends gorgeous house right on the beach. The day was filled with elegant decor, the guest list was filled with old friends (which are just the best at weddings), beautiful wedding colors, and just perfect weather. I hope I get to photograph many more weddings just like Ellie and Mike’s.

Dress - Anna's Bridal in Lake Oswego

Cater - Willabys

Cake - Gerry Franks Konditoeri

Ben's Senior Session

Ben is a kid I hope my boys grow up to be like…ambitious, kind, smart, achievement oriented, and of course handsome! I had so much fun in Ben’s two part senior session. We first started out in downtown Salem earlier this year to get a few images for his yearbook deadline submission. We then met up later in the Spring for the second half of his senior session near Dallas, Oregon. Photographing and getting to know Ben throughout his session was such an honor!