There are a handful of venues in Lake Tahoe that feel genuinely unique, and Edgewood is one of them. Set directly on the South Shore with unobstructed views of the lake and the Sierra Nevada, it draws couples who want something refined, unhurried and unmistakably Tahoe. If you're planning a destination wedding at Edgewood Tahoe you already know that. What you might still be deciding is who will document it.
We're Ruta and Kris, a husband and wife photography and videography team based in Lake Tahoe. We love working together, which means you get both a photographer and a videographer who know each other, communicate well and stay out of each other's way. No separate vendors, no coordination overhead, no mismatch in style. Just two people who have spent years working side by side — not just at weddings, but in life. We know each other's instincts. When Kris shifts left, I already know why and I'm already adjusting. When the light changes or a moment starts to build, we don't need to signal or discuss. That kind of understanding isn't something you rehearse. It comes from years of trust and many of shared moments behind the lens.
Kris & Ruta Swanson
What that means for you is coverage that feels invisible. Two people with the same creative direction and a shared understanding of what matters — moving through your day with ease. catching things as they happen, and never pulling you out of the moment to get the shot. You stay present. We stay in sync. The coverage takes care of itself. One team. One point of contact. One creative direction. And a final product — both photos and film — that feels like it came from the same eye, because it did.
A Summer Wedding at Edgewood Tahoe | Jodie & Donnie
Summer at Edgewood is a particular kind of beautiful. The light on the lake in the late afternoon turns everything warm and directional. The ceremony lawns face the water directly, framed by the kind of view that you only see in fairytales. This summer wedding captured exactly that. The ceremony took place on the lawn overlooking the lake, with the Sierra peaks in the distance and the water catching the light just right. It was intimate in feel, even with a full gathering of guests, which is something Edgewood manages to do well. The scale of the venue never overwhelms the personal.
After the ceremony, guests moved inside for a reception that balanced the warmth of the setting with the elegance the venue is known for. The floor-to-ceiling windows kept the lake in view throughout the evening. Speeches, first dance, the easy back-and-forth of a room full of people who were genuinely happy to be there.
What we look for in moments like these isn't the posed or the expected. It's the glance between the couple just before they walk in. The way a parent looks during the first dance. The end of the night when guests have loosened up and the floor is full. Those are the moments that make a wedding film worth watching years from now.
What made this day work wasn't just the setting. It was the plan behind it. Jodie and Donnie had a well-thought-out timeline, and that matters more than most couples realize going in. When there's a plan — a real one, not just a list of events crammed back to back — there's room for moments to actually happen. You know what follows next. You're not being pulled in five directions. You're at ease, present, enjoying the day to the fullest.
That's where the real moments come from. Not from packing the schedule tighter, but from building in time to breathe. Time to sit down and eat with your friends. Time for a quiet conversation with someone you haven't seen in years. Time for things to unfold on their own — the spontaneous toast, the moment on the dance floor that nobody planned but everyone remembers.
We're protective of that time, and we don't say that casually. We've seen what happens when a timeline is too ambitious — the couple ends up rushed, the golden hour window gets missed, the dinner feels like a pit stop. We've also seen what happens when the day has room in it. People relax. They stop performing. And what ends up on film is something that looks and feels genuine.
Photography and Videography By One Team
We are one of the very few teams around the lake who offer both photography and videography under one roof. Every wedding is led by the two of us, and any additional team members work under our direct creative direction. The look, the approach, the way we move through a day — that stays consistent. We like to look at a wedding film as an extension of your photo gallery, not a separate product. Not a different vendor's interpretation of the same day — an extension. The photos are the stillness of the moment. The film is the motion, the sound, the voices, the music, the momentum of a room full of people you love. One picks up where the other leaves off.
When both come from the same team, that connection isn't something we have to manufacture in post-production. It's already there. The color, the pacing, the moments we chose to anchor the story — they align, because they came from the same eye on the same day. When you watch the film and then open the gallery, one doesn't feel like it belongs to a different wedding. They feel like two halves of the same memory.
Your gallery is what you'll flip through on an ordinary Tuesday. Your film is what you'll put on when your family is together and someone says, "Can we watch it again?" These are the two things that outlast the flowers, the dress, the venue contract — everything. They're what your kids will see someday.
Every wedding we lead is directed by the two of us, and any additional team members work under our creative direction. The look stays consistent. The story that comes back to you — whether you're looking at a single frame, watching a three-minute highlight or a 30 minute film, it feels whole.
If you're considering combined photography and videography, our FAQ on hybrid photo and video walks through the specifics.
Destination Wedding Videography in Lake Tahoe
Most of the couples we work with are planning their wedding from out of state, which means they're making hiring decisions remotely — often before they've even met the vendor in person. That's a different kind of trust, and we take it seriously.
Weddings share a lot in common, but the wedding film you actually want can look very different from one couple to the next. Some want a short, polished piece for social media. Others are planning a multi-day wedding weekend and want a longer film — sometimes 30 minutes or more — that captures the full arc of the experience in a way that feels engaging and entertaining to watch from start to finish. And some couples haven't figured out what they want yet, which is where we can ask questions to better understand your preferences and suggest a tailored to you option.
You may wonder why would you need to hop on a call if you only want to see the packages. Which is understandable. We do have pre-built wedding videography collections, but more often than not we end up adjusting them to fit what a couple is actually envisioning. Coverage isn't one-size-fits-all, and a 15-minute conversation usually tells us more than a form ever could. Sometimes we can even help shape the timeline or flow of the day so that what ends up on film feels intentional rather than incidental.
If you're planning a wedding at Edgewood, Gar Woods, Valhalla or another Lake Tahoe venue, we'd like to hear about it.
