Montalvo Arts Center | wedclix.com

Tag Archives: montalvo arts center

Wedding Wednesdays – Villa Montalvo

February 17, 2010 – 11:59 am

I am going to start a new series on the blog for everyone out there planning their wedding. The bay area has so many awesome locations to have your wedding at sometimes it can be hard to find that right place. Since we have been shooting weddings in the area for 11 years we have been to pretty much every venue around and know all the great locations to have your wedding at. Every Wednesday we will highlight a new venue and show some work from a recent wedding there.

For our first week I want to highlight one of my favorite places to photograph at, Villa Montalvo (now officially called Montalvo Arts Center) in Saratoga. Montalvo is a perfect location for a wedding, the stately mansion sits at the end of an expansive Italian garden and lawn area and the views around the grounds are just breathtaking. The mansion itself (built in 1912) is an amazing backdrop for a wedding, there are so many areas around this property that just inspire the artist inside me to create beautiful wedding images. And the grounds around the mansion are just as break taking, its nestled in the Saratoga hillside and common to see deer walking across the front grass as you and your guests are dining along the front veranda.

Here is a little history of Montalvo Arts Center:
Montalvo Arts Center was previously known as Villa Montalvo, a historic landmark built in 1912 by James Duval Phelan (1861-1930). Phelan, a passionate Californian who had been a three-term progressive mayor of San Francisco, went on to become California’s first popularly-elected U.S. Senator. Villa Montalvo was Senator Phelan’s favorite home and a center of artistic, political and social life in Northern California. Phelan invited leading writers and artists to Villa Montalvo to work on individual artistic projects in an environment rich in dialogue and fellowship. Jack London, Ethel Barrymore, Mary Pickford, Douglass Fairbanks, and Edwin Markham were among Phelan’s many guests.

And a little slideshow from one of our favorite weddings out at Montalvo last year:

Wedding at Villa montalvo and St. Claire Hotel from mark stagi on Vimeo.

Villa Montalvo Wedding Photography

September 17, 2009 – 9:26 am

We shot such a great wedding day at Villa Montalvo awhile back, it was a fun day with a great couple and think I am going to have to break the blog down into 2 posts since there are so many photos I want to include. Normally I try to post under 10 images of a wedding to keep the blog short and sweet and so it loads quick. This wedding started off at Villa Montalvo in Saratoga and then we stopped over at Hakone Gardens on our way to the St. Claire hotel in San Jose. Along the way we captured some great shot of the bride and groom and their families. I think i’ll seperate the blog into morning at Villa Montalvo and the the evening at the St. Claire Hotel.

So, here is a little glimpse into the morning of this beautiful wedding at Villa Montalvo.

[caption id="attachment_1651" align="alignright" width="900" caption="wedding rings"]

[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1652" align="alignright" width="900" caption="bride getting ready at villa montalvo"]

[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1653" align="alignright" width="900" caption="bride getting ready at villa montalvo"]

[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1654" align="alignright" width="900" caption="wedding ceremony at villa montalvo"]

[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1655" align="alignright" width="900" caption="wedding ceremony at villa montalvo"]

[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1656" align="alignright" width="900" caption="wedding ceremony at villa montalvo"]

[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1657" align="alignright" width="900" caption="Montalvo arts wedding"]

[/caption]

bride at villa montalvo

[caption id="attachment_1659" align="alignright" width="900" caption="villa montalvo wedding"]

[/caption]

Also for any of you who haven’t visited Villa Montalvo (actually really now called Montalvo Arts Center) its a great place to check out. Here is a little history of the property;

Montalvo Arts Center was previously known as Villa Montalvo, a historic landmark built in 1912 by James Duval Phelan (1861-1930). Phelan, a passionate Californian who had been a three-term progressive mayor of San Francisco, went on to become California’s first popularly-elected U.S. Senator. Villa Montalvo was Senator Phelan’s favorite home and a center of artistic, political and social life in Northern California. Phelan invited leading writers and artists to Villa Montalvo to work on individual artistic projects in an environment rich in dialogue and fellowship. Jack London, Ethel Barrymore, Mary Pickford, Douglass Fairbanks, and Edwin Markham were among Phelan’s many guests.

– Mark

By Mark | Posted in Weddings | Also tagged saratoga wedding photography, villa montalvo wedding photography | Comments (0)

Villa Montalvo Weddings

December 31, 2008 – 1:33 pm

Over the past years we have photographed a lot of weddings out at Villa Montalvo (now Montalvo Arts Center). It is really a gorgeous spot to get married, such a classic and elegant spot to have a wedding. There are so many great little areas around the grounds for weddings I can shoot there over and over and always find new places to shoot at that just look amazing. Greg and Sheren were such a sweet couple and so great to work with on the day, here are just a couple of favorite shots of the day:

[caption id="attachment_543" align="alignnone" width="200" caption="villa montalvo bride"][/caption][caption id="attachment_544" align="alignnone" width="900" caption="villa montalvo ceremony"][/caption][caption id="attachment_549" align="alignnone" width="900" caption="villa montalvo wedding photo"][/caption]