Napa and Sonoma Photographers: Lily Rose Photography

Lily Rose Photography is based in Napa and Sonoma County, providing wedding photography services throughout California and across the country. We photograph a wide range of celebrations, including traditional weddings, elopements, and destination events. Our goal is to document each couple's story with a clean, honest approach that balances natural moments with intentional artistry.

We're passionate about creating stunning, authentic images that reflect the beauty and individuality of each wedding. If Lily Rose Photography seems like a good fit for your vision, or if you have any lingering questions or need further details, please don't hesitate to get in touch. We're here to make your wedding photography experience as seamless and memorable as the day itself.

"A thing that you see in my pictures is that I was not afraid to fall in love with these people." - Annie Leibovitz.

A Guide to Wedding Photography

Wedding photography is more than a collection of posed images. It's a visual record of the people you love, the emotions you experienced, and the details that made your day feel personal. Whether you're planning a large gathering or an intimate ceremony, we create images that help you remember not just what happened, but how it felt to be there.

Services We Offer

Full Wedding Day Coverage

Full-day coverage is built around your timeline. We begin with preparation and follow through to the final moments of your celebration. We plan with your coordinator to ensure photography runs smoothly and stays aligned with your priorities. Whether your wedding takes place at a Napa vineyard, a San Francisco hotel, or a family estate, we work discreetly and efficiently to photograph what matters most to you.

Destination Weddings

Traveling for a wedding requires planning, flexibility, and experience. We've worked with couples in a variety of locations and understand how to approach different lighting situations, schedules, and climates. If your celebration takes place outside of California, we can help with travel planning, customs for transporting film, and scheduling portrait sessions in unfamiliar locations.

Dreams Inn Destination Wedding Photographers

Elopements and Small Weddings

Not every couple chooses a complete guest list. If you're planning a courthouse wedding, a vineyard elopement, or a small gathering with close friends, we offer custom hourly coverage to suit your needs. These sessions often focus on portraits, ceremony moments, and a few meaningful details. We'll help you choose the right amount of coverage based on your location, guest count, and flow of the day.

Engagement Sessions

An engagement session is an excellent opportunity to become comfortable in front of the camera before your wedding day. These relaxed portrait sessions are designed around your style, schedule, and location. Couples often use these images for announcements, save-the-dates, or wedding websites. Engagement sessions also provide an opportunity for us to get to know each other before your wedding day.

Why Wedding Photography Matters

Wedding photography captures the only part of your wedding day that increases in value over time. After the day is over, the images are what remain. They preserve the people who were present, the expressions they wore, and the way the day unfolded from your perspective.

Photography can also help you experience moments you didn't get to witness. From your partner getting ready to a spontaneous dance between guests, the photos become your eyes on everything you missed. Your album is not just a keepsake. It's a record of your day and a visual story that will be shared with others for years to come.

How We Work

We've photographed hundreds of weddings in a range of locations, varying lighting conditions, and weather conditions. From bright midday ceremonies to evening receptions lit only by candlelight, we tailor our process to suit the flow and ambiance of your special day. Our planning process includes input on timelines, a request for a list of family groups, and a detailed questionnaire.

Photography is just a trigger to a memory you have created. These memories will occur whether you have a photographer or not, but looking back at an image can bring back the way the air felt, what you were thinking, or how someone made you laugh. It's not just about the picture itself—it's about what it unlocks. A well-timed photo can evoke the sound of a voice, the scent of flowers, or the warmth of a hand on your shoulder. Wedding photos do more than show what happened. They help you feel it again.

We don't just capture faces and places; we capture the essence of them. We pay attention to small, honest moments that later become the ones you remember most. These are the images that help you return to the day and hold onto what mattered.

The value of wedding photography ~~often~~ grows with time. As memories fade, your photos help bring them back clearly and thoroughly. No one has ever come back years later asking if I had the detail photos from their wedding, but time and time again we are asked if we have images of people that are no longer with us.

Why Choose Film?

Film photography brings a distinctive look that can't be replicated digitally. It handles light in a way that creates soft highlights, rich skin tones, and subtle color shifts, adding depth to your images. Medium format film, in particular, offers a wide dynamic range that's ideal for capturing natural light and open landscapes familiar in California weddings.

Shooting with film encourages a slower, more thoughtful pace. Every frame is composed with care, and the result is a set of images that feels intentional and timeless. If you're drawn to photography that evokes a classic, tactile, and emotionally rich aesthetic, film may be the right choice for you.

We shoot with both 35mm and 120mm film throughout the wedding day, during portraits, ceremonies, and even receptions when lighting allows. All film is professionally developed at a professional lab we've trusted for years. You'll receive high-resolution scans along with your digital gallery, seamlessly integrated into your final delivery.

We offer both digital and film coverage. Most couples opt for a mix, although full film coverage is available upon request.

Locations We Serve

We are based in Napa and Sonoma County and frequently work in nearby areas, including:

San Francisco
Sacramento
Carmel
Lake Tahoe
Monterey
Santa Barbara
Los Angeles
Selected out-of-state and international destinations

We are familiar with many venues throughout Northern California and have long-standing working relationships with planners, caterers, and coordinators across the region.

Tips for a Smooth Photo Experience

Contact your photographer early in the planning process
Build enough time into your timeline for portraits and transitions
Consider an engagement session to build comfort and connection
Ask questions and communicate clearly about your principles
Let go of the small things on the day of and focus on enjoying the people around you

Albums and Printed Work

Your wedding images are meant to be seen and shared. We offer custom-designed wedding albums, framed prints, and wall art options that turn your photos into something you can enjoy every day. Albums are printed using archival materials and are available in a range of sizes and cover options.

We guide you through the design process and help select the best images to tell your story. Once approved, the album is professionally bound and delivered to your home. We also offer gift albums for parents and additional copies for family members.

We are honored to participate in every wedding we photograph and treat both the day and the people involved with the highest respect. Most of all, weddings are days filled with beauty and magic that emerges effortlessly. Our job is to capture that magic most authentically - unobtrusively, honestly, and joyfully! I am a hopeless romantic, by the way! We photograph weddings, micro weddings, petite and tiny weddings, elopements, engagements, proposals, and celebrations in Northern California, Carmel, Napa, San Francisco, Sonoma, and Tahoe. Still, we are available for destination weddings worldwide. We love to photograph in new cities and venues; if you are looking for a wedding photographer, we would love to be considered for your wedding day.

We are “people” photographers specializing in weddings.

Our approach to a wedding day allows us to create the perfect balance of images, capturing the day you have dreamed about for years and ensuring your wedding vision becomes a reality. During the wedding day, the photography emphasis changes from ‘creating moments’ to ‘capturing events’ and back again. Our style is best described as “all of the above”…. During the getting ready portion of the wedding day; we are documentary photographers; contemporary for details; timeless during family groups; fashion during portraits and romantics and photojournalist for the ceremony. When shooting, we will encounter every type of light, from incandescent, to natural to created light. The goal is a perfect balance.

Ready to Talk?

We offer consultations by phone, Zoom, or in-person at our Sonoma office or Vacaville studio. Whether you're just starting to plan or ready to book, we're happy to answer your questions and guide you through our process.