Our Photographers in St Petersburg

Shooting Weddings in St Petersburg, our Photographers St Petersburg tour of Wedding Venues

Our Photographers St Petersburg Love the Culture this City Provides

Photographers-in-St-Petersburg-Sunken-GdnsFrom the Mahaffey Theatre to Sunken Gardens, St Petersburg is one of the better cities in the country for artistic wedding photography.  Downtown Tampa is great as well and has it’s advantages, but you cannot beat the culture, the atmosphere of St Petersburg.   The following are some venues that our photographers St Petersburg love to shoot at.

If there is one word to describe The Vinoy Renaissance, it is “Elegant”, with its salmon colored Mediterranean Architecture.  Like Nova 535, it was built-in the 1920’s and renovated in 1992, and has become a popular wedding venue for St Petersburg Brides.  Our photographers in St Petersburg like to use the iron railed stairway, makes for some glamorous elegant shots.  The mezzanine level provides for nice pictures with the chandeliers and the curved ceiling in the background.  Another nice feature about The Vinoy is on the mezzanine level the window sill is low, so makes it easy to sit a bride in the window for some fashion oriented shots.  The Tea Garden makes for a great outdoor ceremony site,  with the mixture of the soft pink building and the green grass provides some great contrast which will make your wedding colors “pop”.

Nova 535 , provides a nice intimate, casual, rustic atmosphere for a wedding. The use Photographers in St Petersburgof uplighting against the brick walls and wooden beams are beautiful and definitely give this place a unique feel. We like to use low light lenses, so that we capture the ambient lighting of Nova. The wedding ceremony can be inside or outside in the Bamboo Courtyard, which provides a nice tropical atmosphere. The only thing that can be challenging for photography and video is the bright sun mixed with shadows at certain times of the day, so the lighting can be very uneven.  If having a wedding at Nova 535 in the courtyard, ideally it is best to have the ceremony start at about 90 minutes before sunset.

St-Petersburg-Wedding-PhotographersIf you like a Nautical Theme, there is no better wedding venue in St Petersburg than Tampa Bay Watch.  Tampa Bay Watch is a Marine Resource and Education Center that doubles a Community Center amidst a estuary sanctuary. Above the community center is a real lighthouse, modeled after the Boca Grande lighthouse and embodies traditional Florida coastal architecture. It has a wrap around veranda deck, perfect for cocktail hour as guests overlook the bay. The 2nd floor can hold 150 guests with Bamboo flooring. Our  photographers in St Petersburg, love how the green grass comes right up to the big body of water.  This provides great contrast and helps to make your colors pop.  The aerial shots are stunning, you can actually see the Skyway Bridge far in the background.  See the highlight video below of a wedding at Tampa Bay Watch.

Mirror-Lake-Lyceum-St-Petersburg-PhotographersThe Mirror Lake Lyceum, another historical wedding venue in St Petersburg, was a popular church in the 1920s with its structural grandeur and mediterranean architecture. The Mirror Lake Lyceum provides a perfect atmosphere for some fun “roaring 20s style” vintage shots. We did most of these photos in the theatre seating in the balcony. During the 1920’s in Saint Petersburg, the Lyceum was a popular theatre and a church.
Today this historic building is popular for weddings and for good reason. The surrounds gives a artistic wedding photographer a lot to work with its historic décor. Chandeliers and original fixtures of plaster, crystal and alabaster ornament the Lyceum’s Grand Hall with it’s soaring 53′ domed ceiling. The wooden theatrical seating in the balcony is great for vintage shots which we used on this video. The stairs at the front entrance provide a great area for group shots as we can creatively stagger people for family portraits. In the basement is some nice colored walls which are like a studio backdrop which you see in this video below.  On the outside is beautiful Lake Mirror with the downtown St Petersburg skyline in the background.

Photographers St Petersburg-Sunken-GdnsIf garden scenery is more your style, try Sunken Gardens, originally opened in 1935, and like The Vinoy & Nova 535, had a period where it was not taken care of, however was renovated and now owned by the city of St Petersburg. Any Photographers St Petersburg tour has to go through Sunken Gardens.  The Gardens consist of a variety with meandering walkways that wind through the shady oasis that surrounds you with thousands of lush tropical displays, hundreds of vibrant flowering plants, and cascading waterfalls.  In the video at the top of the page, the ceremony was in the Butterly Garden and the reception under a tent in the Oak Pavilion.  See our blog of this wedding at Sunken Gardens.

Are you looking of a unique wedding venue, try The Dali Museum in St Petersburg  where you get married in the middle of a spiral staircase while your guest view from above you. Due to this unique ceremony layout, it is critical that  you better have experienced Photographers and Videographers who can handle this challenging situation.

If you are not into all the historical atmosphere we have a more contemporary venue on our photographers St Petersburg tour.  The Mahaffey Theatre with a three-story showcase glass atrium which faces the Tampa Bay, offers a futuristic look.   When doing weddings at Mahaffey Theatre, our photographers in St Petersburg will walk across the street to Bayfront Park, which provides for some great water shots with waterfalls and the Bay Walk.    Columns provide for some great depth of field shots.  Near the Mahaffey Theatre is the Bayfront Hilton, which has a great lounge room which overlooks the Bay and Al Lange Stadium, makes for some great getting ready shots.

Photographers in St Petersburg FLAnother great venue is the Museum of Fine Arts which sits in the heart of downtown St Petersburg.  Its european architecture and art adds culture to your wedding photography.

St-Petersburg-Womens-Club-PhotographyThe St Petersburg Woman’s Club also built around the same time period as The Vinoy & Mirror Lake Lyceum.   This lovely waterfront setting among shade trees with sprawling manicured lawn provides a great atmosphere for garden weddings.  The location is convenient for wedding photography as it sits on the water near Snell Isle Bridge which makes a great background.

Photographers St Pete HiltonA little ways from the downtown area is the Hilton St Pete Carillon which is not only an good place for a ceremony, but also a great location for getting ready if your ceremony is at a venue that doesn’t not really have any areas for gettting ready.  There is a pond and boardwalk area as well as plenty of great foliage which makes for a good background for wedding photography.

See more weddings in this beautiful area on our photographers St Petersburg pinterest page.  If you are having a wedding in St Petersburg, and have questions about a venue and how it relates to photography, feel free to contact us. See all of our St Petersburg Weddings on you tube below, click play and it will play through several St Petersburg Weddings. We consistently make our brides happy see our recent reviews.
Gulfport, Florida between downtown St Petersburg and St Pete Beach has a small town beach atmosphere for a wedding.  Although the Gulfport Casino Ballroom is a little bit of an older building, it has plenty of space and when decorated can look pretty nice.  There is a beach area for the ceremony right next to the ballroom.
Are you looking of a unique wedding venue, try The Dali Museum in St Petersburg  where you get married in the middle of a spiral staircase while your guest view from above you. Due to this unique ceremony layout, it is critical that  you better have experienced Photographers and Videographers who can handle this challenging situation.