ATHENAEUM PHOTOGRAPHER

The Athenaeum at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) is a private club andis one of my favorite wedding venues in the Pasadena area.

I lived only a few blocks away from this reception venue for over 8 years and as a wedding photographer I’m very familiar with the entire Caltech campus, having photographed brides, grooms, their wedding parties, and even family portraits at the Athenaeum and on campus on dozens of occasions.

The Mezzanine room offers an intimate and old world feel for morning bridal preparations and the adjacent rooms are well suited to groomsmen getting ready photographs. The décor of the Athenaeum helps create a romantic backdrop for your wedding day with grand vaulted ceilings, wood-paneled walls, and arches and columns visible everywhere.

And with your wedding or reception held at this Caltech landmark, we also can have the run of the campus which boasts some of my favorite scenery for wedding day portraits.

Historically, the Athenaeum at Caltech was modeled after The Athenaeum of London. Opening in 1930, the building was designed by Gordon Kaufmann and landscaped by Florence Yoch and Lucile Council.

The Athenaeum is a private club and includes Caltech faculty, staff, alumni, and staff of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the Palomar Observatory, and the Huntington Library and Art Gallery.

DABNEY HALL PHOTOGRAPHER

If you’re looking for a wedding venue in Pasadena that has an old world feel, you might want to consider hiring me as your wedding photographer and selecting Dabney Hall on the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) campus as your ceremony location.

Dabney Hall was designed by Bertram Goodhue and embraces a combination of pueblo architecture with Mayan inspiration. The east wing of the building is where wedding ceremonies most often occur and the ceremony space is flanked by a small walled garden area.

The building was finished in 1929, it was originally home to the humanities department at Caltech. As the campus grew, the building took on a different role and with a recent renovation project, it has now returned to its former glory. And since the hall sits in the middle of the Caltech campus, as wedding photography location, there are few peers in the area.