WEDDING PHOTOS: Bali Hai Restaurant, Shelter Island
If you are between having a tropical beach vibe wedding or a city vibe wedding, there is no better choice than having your San Diego wedding at Bali Hai! It is the perfect blend of city marina views and tropical lush green surroundings. I never get tired of shooting at Bali Hai. Each time I find another nook for a great wedding photo opportunity!
There are a few options of getting ready locations when having your San Diego wedding at Bali Hai. You can get an AIR BNB somewhere nearby or you can stay at one of the hotels down the street. I have shot getting ready photos at both Best Western Plus and also Humphreys Half Moon Inn. For this wedding the bride and groom both got ready at Humphreys. I found a super cool spot to hang the brides dress (as seen above). I liked the gold accent.
Some grooms do groomsmen gifts. Usually I see knives, liquor or lighters, never have I seen beach chairs and I think it’s such a fun idea! They were all from Huntington Beach, so it made complete sense and I am sure they were all stoked on it!
Did you look closely at the first photo? You can see the cork pop out of the bottle!! So fun! Yay bride, double fisting those two champagne bottles! CHEERS! Get ready to see her beautiful portraits, also taken at Humphreys!
The bride was a stunner!! Absolutely beautiful!! Such a fun spot to shoot at in front of Humphreys. Every car that would drive by would cheers the bride and congratulate her! The light was perfectly coming through the trees and lit her up like an Italian bridal model!
The ceremony happened right before sunset. The couple did not do a first look, so we had to be efficient with time after the ceremony. I would always have your ceremony start 2 hours before sunset time if you can, if you plan on going the traditional route. If you do a first look, when you and your partner see each other before the ceremony, they I would totally have your wedding 1 hour before ceremony.
For the tight amount of time we had for their formal portraits I feel like we got some amazing shots! When shooting at Bali Hai, you need to take account the actual sunset time. Since you have the Point Loma hill, you loose the light earlier. So make sure to take that into account when doing your timeline.
