Crystal Cove State Beach Bridal Portraits

Crystal Cove State Beach//Daniel & Danielle had chosen to elope in 2022, and held their backyard wedding reception in 2023. I had photographed their wedding reception the day prior to taking these bridal portraits at Crystal Cove State Beach in Newport Beach. When Danielle and I were speaking over the phone she had mentioned that she wanted to take bridal portraits before their wedding reception at Yorba Linda Regional Park, but really had her heart set on taking photos at a beach during sunset. I wanted to make her wish come true and agreed to take the second set of bridal portraits at the beach. Danielle’s really wanted to capture the details of her princess styled dress and wanted the photos to look like they were something out of a dream. We got very lucky with cotton candy skies and a beautiful sunset, and she was very happy with the final results. Crystal Cove State Beach actually hadn’t been our first beach selection, and we had originally planned to meet in Laguna Beach. Given that it was the middle of summer; Laguna Beach was extremely crowded and we ended up circling the neighborhood looking for parking for over 45 minutes. Thankfully Daniel had suggested going to Crystal Cove Beach, and we were able to park and take photos 1 hour before the sun set.

Melissa Rodriguez Photography is a Los Angeles based destination wedding and portrait photographer. She focuses on documenting the lives of couples at the beginning of their grandest adventure. Melissa is driven to create something gorgeous, powerful, romantic and authentic with her couples; such as with these photos at Crystal Cove State Beach in Newport Beach.