Providing both indoor and outdoor options with rain plan spots, this wedding venue really is the best of both worlds. Venue rental includes exclusive access to the entire grounds and it is placed conveniently just outside of downtown Austin. The venue is close enough to Austin for guests to stay in the city and make a weekend getaway out of the wedding experience. See the magic that I captured at this Camino Real Ranch wedding as a second shooter for Rebekah Paul Photography.
Camino Real Ranch: Austin Wedding Venue Covers the Entire Day
Starting with Camino Real Ranch’s own perfect description of the wedding ranch venue, it is “modern desert meets Texas terrain.” Covering over six acres of land, the previously fully-functioning farm provides access to all venue spaces. Your rental also includes some complimentary rentals with access to others such as decor, tables, chairs and a bar.
One highlight that the venue spaces include is a greenhouse which offers the most beautiful diffused natural light at any time of day. At night there are also twinkle lights with six color-changing lights available. Austin wedding photographers seeking beautiful light and design to create artful images on a wedding day don’t need to look any further!
In addition to The Greenhouse are these other locations:
- The Quonset Hut: arched 1600-square-foot indoors and 600 sq. ft. of front and back patio accessed via large glass garage doors. This is the first thing you see upon entering the grounds and it makes such a statement! It features high ceilings and a rod iron spiral staircase to the loft. Perfect for cocktail hour (125 standing) or an intimate wedding reception (50 seated).
- The Farmhouse: two-bedroom small farmhouse dated from the 1940’s has a complete kitchen and full bathroom with a vintage clawfoot bathtub. Usually used as a bridal getting-ready space, it’s fully furnished and intentionally designed to be stunning yet functional.
- The Cabin: another house from the 1940’s, this rustic cabin is right across from The Farmhouse where the groomsmen get ready. It’s a very minimal and functional space with some lovely mood light, great for more masculine getting-ready photos.
- The Pond: two trees create an arch over The Pond covered with bistro lights and surrounded by cedar bench seating perfect for an outdoor ceremony. There’s also a gazebo near the pond that works for an outdoor ceremony or dance party!
- The Tipi Terrace: a circular concrete terrace with an embedded Texas star decal works as a reception area, lounge seating area, reception, or ceremony location.
Design Details & DIY Customizations at Camino Real Ranch
Camino Real Ranch has minimal and modern design that’s stylish yet enough of a blank space to be timeless and not too trendy. There’s a lot of outdoor room for guest activities including outdoor lawn games (cornhole, ladder golf, giant Connect Four available for rental).
The groomsmen enjoyed beer while playing a game I had never seen before called the Stump Drinking Game. They threw a hammer in the air, flipped it to catch it by the grip and then hammered another player’s nail into the stump. Whoever owns the last nail standing wins and it was such a fun activity to document!
Some of my favorite custom elements of the day were designed by the groom. Joel created DIY wedding invitations, customized the ring box, and built every DIY wedding sign. This groom even made custom kids menus for the dinner which had coloring pages, mazes, and a word search. It kept the kids busy during dinner and I thought it was genius!
These DIY wedding decorations brought a personal touch to the day and really elevated the decor experience.
Letting the Documentary Wedding Moments Happen
The moments you may treasure the most from your wedding day are not always what you would expect. Even as your Austin wedding photographer, I’m not always prepared for the surprising ones that come from the most unexpected places.
The highlight moment from this Camino Real Ranch day was the groom wearing his father’s wedding suit and getting ready together in The Cabin. While photographing Joel, I instructed him to use a particular corner of the room. The rest of it made for a chaotic background with groomsmen hanging out surrounded by beer cans and wrapping paper all over the place. Our chosen spot had nice light, a clean space and a mirror that he could use.
His dad happened to put his stuff down and start getting ready in the same spot. At first, I thought of asking him to wait since I was taking photos of Joel. But, I decided not to say anything and kept shooting. This resulted in some of my favorite very symmetrical groom-getting-ready-with-his-dad photos. It was a total win!
The balance between documenting and directing to get artfully composed yet honest images comes with time, experience and empathy. It’s something I’m constantly trying to improve and is part of some of my deepest photography values!
Another highlight was the heartfelt warmth of Madeleine and Joel waving from The Gazebo as guests walked to cocktail hour. The couple had a lot of fun greeting friends and family with open arms. They were so excited to see all of their favorite people in one place and it made the day so special.
The couple couldn’t have summarized the day any better, “This is so fun, I didn’t know we’d get to do this.” I couldn’t agree any more!
I can’t wait to hear your vision for a Camino Real Ranch wedding and how you creatively use all that this venue has to offer!
Wedding Vendors
Photographer | Nikole Velasco Photography
Venue | Camino Real Ranch
Planning & Coordination | Brian Rudy-Moghaddasi with Blue Events & Co
DJ | Dart Collective
Catering | Dream Events
Florist | Remi & Gold
Bartending | Swish Events
Rentals | Marquee Event Rentals
Cake | Lilac Sugar Cakes
HMU | Project Artistry
Guest Shuttle | Fly-Rides
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