WEDDING photos: Bali Hai Restaurant

June 13, 2019

I had so much fun shooting this San Diego wedding this past weekend at San Diego’s Bali Hai Restaurant! Bali Hai is a great San Diego wedding venue with beautiful cityscape views while being surrounded by tropical nature. The most memorable part for me was the dancing! DJ Bill Calhoun had everyone on the dance floor with Latin vs Arabic beats it had me wanting to drop my cameras and join everyone on the dancefloor!

The day was non stop, I started with some quick portraits of the bride and groom before the ceremony. Bali Hai has so many locations to choose from that offer completely different backgrounds. Now this was a day wedding, with the ceremony starting at 11. So I tried to take advantage of the early light. It was overcast during the groom portraits, which was great for lighting, but when it was the brides turn, the sun would creep out and then hide again.

Originally I wanted the marina look only for the groom and the palm / bamboo look only for the bride, but in the end I put them in both. The green background is just too good!

Shooting wedding photos: Bali Hai Restaurant really is a treat. You don’t have to walk very far to get all these diverse backgrounds. Great thing about having your wedding early in the morning and during the day is that there weren’t that many people walking around so you can shoot leisurely.

There were chairs nearby the bamboo so I had the bride sit there which made it easy for me to take shots from a higher angle since I’m short. I wish on wedding shoot days, or any shoot days, I could magically grow a few inches. I also think about buying a stool and having it attached to my backpack so I can instantly grow at any moment! Anywho, we make due with what we can and we certainly get creative! Enjoy the rest of the photos! It was a very fun wedding!