Aerlume Wedding Photographer in Seattle
If you are looking for an Aerlume wedding photographer, this is what a winter wedding there actually looks like. Two grooms, a terrace above Elliott Bay at dusk, and one long dinner table for everyone they love. Evaro Studios photographed it on a February evening in Seattle, a few steps up the hill from Pike Place Market.
There was no aisle and no big production. They stood at the railing with the water behind them, said what they had to say, and put the rings on. Then everybody went inside to eat.
That is the whole shape of the day, and it is the shape more couples are asking for.
Why Aerlume works for a small wedding
Aerlume sits at 2003 Western Avenue, on the hillside between the Market and the waterfront. Its own site describes the place as steps from Pike Place Market and perched above Elliott Bay, with spaces warmed by live fire, and that is exactly what you get on the terrace: a wood-panel wall, a glass railing, a fire table, and the bay and the piers straight ahead.
In February the sun is gone by half past five. They exchanged rings right at dusk, when the sky over the water goes a deep blue and the city lights start coming on behind the Great Wheel. It is the best twenty minutes of a winter day in Seattle, and it does not last. We were outside, ready, before they came out.
A dinner party, not a reception
Inside, the restaurant had set a single long table for the whole group, red and blue down its length, flowers in the middle, wine on ice by the door. The cake was two white tiers with red roses and purple blooms, waiting on its own table by the window.
With a guest list this size the evening runs itself. People arrive, find the grooms, hug, get a glass, and the photographer's job is to stay out of the way and watch. Most of the frames from this stretch are candid, and several of them are black and white, because the room was warm and dim and the faces were the point.
The table, the toasts, and the last of the night
Once everyone sat down, the photographs change. The long table from one end, the place settings, a cocktail in someone's hand, the top tier of the cake moved onto a wooden wine box so it could be cut. These are the frames couples come back to years later, because they are the details nobody remembers choosing.
The toasts were short and loud. There was dancing in the space between the table and the windows. The last frame in the gallery is at half past six, a little over an hour after the first.
An hour. That is the honest length of a wedding like this, and it is why Evaro Studios prices small weddings by the hour instead of by the day.
Planning a wedding at Aerlume
Aerlume's private dining page lists two glass-walled private rooms that open to views of Puget Sound, the Olympic Mountains and the waterfront, a Fire Table space, a seasonal front patio, and a full buyout for up to 250. For a group of twenty to forty, you are choosing between a room with the view and the terrace with the fire. In winter, book the terrace for the vows and the room for dinner, and time the vows for the twenty minutes after sunset.
Evaro Studios covers weddings like this on the Intimate tier: up to four hours, one photographer, a full edited gallery and print rights, from $2,000. If the day runs longer, Essentials starts at $3,000 and Story, with a second photographer and a highlight film, at $4,500. Every LGBTQ+ couple gets the same photographer, the same pricing and the same gallery; there is a page for you at LGBTQ+ weddings in Seattle.
While you're there
- Pike Place Market - two minutes on foot. Walk through it before the ceremony while the light is still up.
- Victor Steinbrueck Park - the small park at the north end of the Market, the closest open view of the bay for a quick set of portraits.
- Olympic Sculpture Park - nine acres on the water north of the Market, free, and a good morning-after walk.
- Waterfront Park - the new 20-acre park below the Market, including Pier 62 and the Overlook Walk.
- Le Panier - the French bakery at 1902 Pike Place, open every day 7 AM to 5 PM. Coffee and a croissant before you get ready.
- Moore Coffee - on 2nd Avenue two blocks up the hill, the right stop if you are staying downtown.
Questions couples ask
Can you have a wedding ceremony at Aerlume?
This couple did. Their rings were exchanged on the terrace, with the bay behind them, and dinner followed inside at one long table. Aerlume's own site lists private rooms, a fire-table space and a seasonal patio, so ask the restaurant which space fits your group and your month.
What time should a winter ceremony be?
Right at dusk. In February the sun sets a little after five and the sky over Elliott Bay stays a deep blue for about twenty minutes after. Plan the vows for that window and the dinner after it, not the other way round.
How many hours of photography does a dinner-party wedding need?
Usually two to four. This one ran about an hour from the first frame to the last, which is why the Intimate tier covers up to four hours and still leaves room for portraits at the Market beforehand.
Do you photograph LGBTQ+ weddings?
Yes, and we always have. Same pricing, same photographer, same care. Half the point of this post is showing it rather than saying it.
Planning a wedding at Aerlume or anywhere on the Seattle waterfront? Check your date, or see every wedding package.
More small weddings from Evaro Studios: Kelley Farm in Bonney Lake and two grooms at the Volunteer Park Conservatory.
