Hard Rock Hotel Archives -

08Dec

Chic Hard Rock Hotel Wedding: Jessica & Gregory

By True Photography, December 08, 2015 Weddings

Gregory is a recent import from London, England, and a resident of Los Angeles. So it made perfect sense that he and Jessica hold their wedding in San Diego :) In fact, this destination was chosen because San Diego is a favorite travel location for the couple. The pair was thrilled for their guests to experience this beautiful city as well.

Jessica has an infectious smile, and was a natural in front of the camera. She got ready in the Multi-Platinum Suite at The Hard Rock Hotel, an impeccably styled room with sweeping views of the city. With its rockin’ décor, enviable location, and sleek ambiance, The Hard Rock was the perfect choice for this ultra modern couple.

Jessica and Gregory’s romantic ceremony took place in the Imagine Room, which was well lit and intimately presented. Gregory was dressed immaculately, with a tuxedo suited for James Bond himself. The room was stylishly decorated by Blush Botanicals, who embellished their staging area with an astounding floral wall. This wall was later resurrected behind the sweetheart table for maximum effect.

Because the Hard Rock Hotel is in the heart of San Diego’s historic Gaslamp Quarter, we had a variety of urban-chic backdrops only steps away. So after the ceremony, we took to the streets with the jubilent wedding party, and captured some epic photos :) We also took full shooting advantage of the hotel itself, which has countless stunning photo locales.

The grand finale of the event, the reception, took place in the Hard Rock’s renowned event space, ‘The Edge.’ This loft-style room overlooks downtown San Diego, and feeds off of the energy of 5^th Street (the Gaslamp Quarter sign is so close you can practically touch it!) The room was perfectly decorated, and provided unbeatable photo opportunities.

Along with their guests, Gregory and Jessica danced the night away and reveled in all the festivities. Congrats to this sweet couple!!

Successfully creating the image above involved finding the perfect balance of ambient (natural light) and artificial light (flash). We achieved this using slower shutter speeds and off-camera flash, which enabled the sign to be visible and the couple to be well lit.

To ensure the photos are visually engaging and dramatic, we are always scouting for unique textures and color to use in our backgrounds.

We love to think outside of the box and showcase a variety of angles. In this image we had Jessica and Greg become more of a graphic element in the existing scene. This created a nice juxtaposition of tropical palm trees and and downtown cityscape.

Venue: Hard Rock Hotel San Diego
Coordinator: First Comes Love Weddings & Events
Cupcakes: Cute Cakes
Florals: Blush Botanicals

To see more of Jessica & Gregory’s wedding, please click here.

14Dec

Downtown San Diego Engagement Photo Shoot

By True Photography, December 14, 2014 Engagements

[geo_mashup_map]

From a photographer’s standpoint, Downtown San Diego provides almost every environment possible. For example, there are photo shoot opportunities at the boat dock, on and around trolleys, and in front of distinctive buildings. The Gaslamp Quarter alone boasts stunning venues such as The Hard Rock Hotel, The US Grant, and The Manchester Grand Hyatt, with unique textures and city scenes throughout the area. If you want your shoot to have an urban edge, downtown is the place to be. There are also small parks to get a bit of nature as well.

Tip: If you plan to arrive in heels, we suggest bringing a pair of flip flops, as there is typically more walking to hit up all the best spots.

To arrange a Downtown San Diego engagement shoot, please feel free to contact us. And be sure to check out recent Downtown San Diego engagement photo shoots below.

20Jan

Hard Rock Hotel San Diego: An Amazing Race Wedding!

By True Photography, January 20, 2012 Weddings

After writing blogs about so many awesome engagement shoots and weddings, it’s time to share the story of my own big day! About two years ago, my now-husband and I went on a life-changing adventure around the world on the CBS reality show, The Amazing Race 15. Being chosen for the Amazing Race was always a dream of ours, and we feel so fortunate to have won the whole thing. Only a few months after winning, we were engaged. We knew exactly who we wanted to photograph our once-in-lifetime celebration – True Photography! And the story gets better… not long after hiring True for our wedding day, True Photography hired me onto the team! I absolutely love working with all of our brides and grooms, and sharing their weddings on our blog.

Check out the January cover 2012 cover of Exquisite Weddings Magazine to see one of our favorite photos by True Photography! I hope you enjoy the recap of my wedding at the Hard Rock Hotel. Feel free to let us know what you think!

Cheyne and I knew from the beginning that we wanted our wedding to be a party. We wanted our guests to feel like this was an all-out celebration of “Team Meghan and Cheyne!” We chose the Hard Rock because we felt that it was a contemporary venue that optimizes the “rock star” party atmosphere that we were going for. We stuck to a color palate of dark blues, shades of gray and a touch of white. I wore a Romona Keveza dress and the bouquets by Blush Botanicals were beautiful with white peonies and anemones with deep blue centers.

We’ve always loved the Beatles, and because our wedding was at the Hard Rock, we incorporated a music theme throughout the festivities. We hinted at the Beatles in our invitations, which were screen printed with guitars and tied with “All you need is love” tags. There was even a Beatles guitar pick tab on the inside of the invites. We also played “All You Need is Love” as the recessional song during our ceremony. And of course, we couldn’t leave the Hard Rock without Aaron getting a great shot of us in front of the Abbey Road wall.

Cheyne and I were born and raised in San Diego, and have been friends ever since elementary school. San Diego was an easy choice for the location of our wedding, but we wanted it to be in an energetic atmosphere that was representative of us. We chose the rooftop of the Hard Rock Hotel, overlooking the buzzing downtown crowds during a Padres game at Petco Park, in the heart of the Gaslamp.

We also wanted to somehow represent our adventures on the reality show at our wedding. We had clay characters made of us in our backpacks and outfits that we wore on the show to top our cake from Sweet Cheeks Bakery! The escort cards were mini passports that lead guests to their tables, which were named after locations we traveled to on the Race, along with a picture of us completing a challenge. Not to mention, six of the 18 members of our bridal party were contestants we competed against on the show, and have now become friends for life!

To add to the party atmosphere, a custom monogram dance floor and dramatic draping was set up in the Legends Ballroom by Concepts Event Design. Also, Tim Altbaum Productions amped up the excitement with tons of uplighting, a light show, and a video DJ that allowed guests to watch music videos on the big screen as they danced the night away. Our centerpieces by Blush Botanicals worked perfectly with the feel of the room. Everything was better than we could have imagined, as people of all ages were breakin’ it down on the dance floor!

What I’ve always loved about True Photography is the way that color and emotion is captured in each photograph. Because our wedding was in the hands of True Photography and Aaron Feldman, we knew we had nothing to worry about but having fun. I feel so lucky to have these photos to remember the details of our wedding day, and I’m equally proud to be a part of a company that provides that gift to every bride and groom who chooses True Photography.