Coastline, vineyards, redwoods, and city rooftops — Monterey gives a wedding every backdrop in one day.
Shooting in and around Monterey means marine layers that turn into perfect soft light, sunsets that demand a second portrait session, and venues from cliffside lawns to warehouse lofts. We plan for the fog and celebrate when it lifts.
Elizabeth Scott is a national studio: senior photographers and filmmakers, travel already included, and a calendar kept deliberately small so every wedding gets a first-team crew. If we haven’t worked your exact venue yet, we scout it before your day — light, timing, logistics — so nothing about Monterey surprises us on the morning of.
Selected frames from the Elizabeth Scott portfolio. Ask and we will send full galleries from weddings closest in size and setting to yours.
Ceremony time decides how your photographs look, and the answer is different in Monterey than it is three states over. In June the sun sets here at 8:27 PM and golden hour opens around 7:49 PM; by October sunset has slid back to 6:31 PM — a swing of 1 hour 56 minutes across one wedding season. Start a Monterey ceremony at roughly the times below and you will finish vows, family formals, and portraits with the good light still in front of you rather than behind you.
| 2027 | Start ceremony | Golden hour | Sunset | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May | 5:22 PM | 7:31 PM | 8:07 PM | 14.1 h |
| June | 5:42 PM | 7:49 PM | 8:27 PM | 14.7 h |
| July | 5:40 PM | 7:48 PM | 8:25 PM | 14.4 h |
| August | 5:13 PM | 7:23 PM | 7:58 PM | 13.6 h |
| September | 4:30 PM | 6:40 PM | 7:15 PM | 12.4 h |
| October | 3:46 PM | 5:56 PM | 6:31 PM | 11.3 h |
Times computed for Monterey (Los Angeles) on the 15th of each month. An outdoor ceremony in open shade can run 20–30 minutes later than the figures above; a church or ballroom ceremony is unaffected.
These are the Monterey venues couples ask us about most. We have not shot every one of them — nobody has — so when a venue is new to us we scout it before your date: light through the ceremony hour, where formals hold up, how long the walk from getting-ready to first look actually takes.
Venue list is informational; Elizabeth Scott is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or booking on behalf of any venue named above.
Timeless, true-to-color imagery — several hundred edited photos per wedding.
Story-first edits built from your real audio — vows, letters, laughter.
One team for both — the best value and the smoothest timeline.
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Also serving: Carmel, CA 5 mi · Big Sur, CA 8 mi · San Jose, CA 52 mi · San Francisco, CA 89 mi · Paso Robles, CA 93 mi · all locations →