Thinking of having a Grass Room DTLA wedding? I am a wedding photographer in Los Angeles who has photographed at Grass Room DTLA multiple times. I’m going to give all of my tips for planning a wedding a there below, with an emphasis on how to make the most out of your day, have a lot of fun, and get some amazing photos while you’re at it!
How to Plan for Getting Ready Photos at Grass Room DTLA
Grass Room DTLA allows couples to arrive at the venue a few hours before the ceremony. From my experience, they don't let couples arrive too early. In most cases couples have to get ready elsewhere and then arrive at the venue for finishing touches. Here are two solid options for the "getting ready" portion of the day.
Option 1:
The couple can do the majority of their getting ready elsewhere and then complete finishing touches at the Grass Room. For example, you can arrive with your hair and makeup done and put on your dress at the venue in their "getting ready" room. In this instance, your photographer could begin his/her coverage at the Grass Room. This will allow you to still get some getting ready shots. You can then have your first look at the venue.
Option 2:
The couple can completely get ready somewhere else and have their photographer document it at that location. After getting ready photos, you can have your first look at the location you are getting ready at OR you can postpone your first look to have it at the Grass Room Downtown LA.
Since the "getting ready" space at Grass Room DTLA is so unique, (it has a 70s theme to it with cool furniture and pink walls / I've included photos below) you can still use it for some fun portraits with you and your significant other.
Getting Ready Locations Near Grass Room DTLA
Below are a couple of hotels and Airbnbs that would work as amazing getting ready locations close to the Grass Room DTLA.
Unique Airbnbs in Downtown LA
Hotels in Downtown LA
Ideal Timeline for a Grass Room Downtown LA Wedding
I’m going to include an optional wedding day timeline below, specifically for a Grass Room Downtown LA wedding.
Here’s an estimate of how long it takes to capture certain photos.
Timeline
12:00 - 1:30: Details & Getting Ready Photos at Hotel
1:30 - 2:00: First Look + Couple Portraits at Hotel
2:00 - 2:45: ALL Wedding Party Portraits at Hotel
2:45 - 3:15: Travel from Hotel to Grass Room DTLA
3:15 - 3:45: Downtime for Couple / Meanwhile Photographer Captures Reception & Ceremony Details
3:45 - 4:15: Family Portraits
4:45 - 5:15: Ceremony
5:15 - 5:45: Couple Portraits During the Golden Hour
5:45 - 6:15: Either More Wedding Party Portraits OR Couple Relaxes and Enjoys the Rest of the Cocktail Hour with Guests
6:25: Grand Entrance + First Dance
6:30 - 10:00: Reception Formalities + Dancing
Best Areas for Photos at Grass Room DTLA
Photos of all of these backdrops are showcased within this post!
- The Ceremony Site / Jungle Area
This space is typically used for the ceremony and it's surrounded by greenery everywhere. Beyond the ceremony photos, this is a phenomenal location for some couple portraits or even some group photos.
- Underneath the Arches
Grass Room LA has several arches. Keep in mind that these arches having sliding doors that go through them, which can completely change their look.
For example, one arch has this light pink sliding door that slides through it, which means that you can then get photos with this softer, light pink background. This is great for variety!
There are quite a few different options when it comes to the arches, so I'd make sure to look at them all and then choose your favorite, especially if your wedding day timeline is on the tighter side.
- The Whale Mural
Directly outside of the Grass Room LA wedding venue, there is this huge whale mural. I love this because it gives photos more of funky look. This space is on the larger side, making it perfect for wedding party and family portraits.
- Downtown LA Cityscape
This is one of my favorites. When you exit the the venue, take a 1 minute walk to the light intersection and get some shots there with the Downtown Los Angeles Buildings in the background. If you are a lover of the city of the dreamers, I think this is an amazing shot to really feature the cityscape in the background.
- Retro Pink Getting Ready Room
This room is SO fun. It's filled with pops of bright red and pink and has a 70s vibe.
- Blue Mural with Pelicans
This mural is right outside of Grass Room LA's gates. It's a long wall that has blue accents and painted pelicans. It's also surrounded by some greenery. This is a great spot for some wide shot photos.
- Horseshoe
There is a giant horseshoe that lights up, which is located right outside of the venue in it's outdoor lounge area. This is a great spot for some photos at night.
- Wedding Date & Names Marquee
Outside of the venue, there is a marquee that will have your wedding dates and names on it. This such a cute spot for a photo op!
Why You Should Limit the Amount of Locations on Your Wedding
Traveling from location to location takes time from the wedding day. Time that you could be spending with loved ones and enjoying your day. With this said, I HIGHLY recommend minimizing the number of different locations you have to travel to on your wedding day to as little as possible. 1 - 2 locations is usually the sweet spot. 3 is doable. 4 or more is not recommended...as it's usually way more stressful for the couple.
I have seen it time and time again. The couple just arrives to a location, wants to relax and catch up with friends/guests, and then BOOM, before you know it, they are scheduled to go to the next location. And if anything gets behind schedule (traffic, wedding party running late, etc.) it can massively impact the overall flow of your day.
Keep in mind that if you're thinking of having more locations for photos, a great photographer with a solid amount of experience should be able to make almost any location work. Another thing to keep in mind is that Grass Room Los Angeles is such a fun and beautiful space, that it makes sense to spend the majority of one's wedding day there!
Grass Room Wedding Cost
A Grass Room DTLA wedding ranges between $35,000 - $50,000 depending on several factors including vendors chosen, food and beverage, etc. The rental fee for Grass Room DTLA ranges between $6735 - $13,115. This price range does not include food or beverage. The exact rental fee amount depends on:
- 1) The day of the week
- 2) Your Guest Count
This rental fee includes the use of the space, site management, kitchen rental, and furniture setup. Valet service is additional and mandatory.
Crucial Tip For Your Grass Room Los Angeles Ceremony
The ceiling within the ceremony space is made of a glass-like material in which you and your guests can see the sky. This is obviously gorgeous, BUT depending on the time of day that your ceremony will be at, you may want to have the Grass Room Los Angeles team close it with their retractable shades.
They have some shade panels that can cover this room. These panels still let light through, but it won't be as harsh. This can make a drastic impact on your photos because when the sun is directly overhead and bright during the ceremony, it creates harsh shadows on one's face. Yes, it's unfortunate that the sky won't be showing, but if the choice is between amazing photos of you and your love exchanging your vows OR seeing the sky during the ceremony, I think most would go with prioritizing the first.
Keep in mind, you can always reopen the shades through the rest of your wedding day, so that guests can look up and see the sky during the cocktail hour, etc.
Make Sure You do this at Your Wedding
I HIGHLY recommend giving a family shot list to your wedding photographer in advance.
NOTE: This isn't a shot list of different photos or poses you want on the actual wedding day. An experienced wedding photographer won't need a shot list as he or she will know what moments to look for and are able to anticipate when certain key shots are going to take place. However, a family shot list is ALWAYS encouraged.
This is a list that includes the different family groupings that you would like for family photos. Usually it's anywhere between 5 - 15 groupings that looks something like this:
- Couple with all of Partner A's immediate family (parents, siblings, grandparents, nieces & nephews)
- Couple with Partner A's parents & siblings
- Couple with Partner A's parents
- Couple with Partner A's siblings
- Couple with Partner A's parents AND Partner B's parents
- Couple with all of Partner B's immediate family (parents, siblings, grandparents, nieces & nephews)
- Couple with Partner B's parents & siblings
- Couple with Partner B's parents
- Couple with Partner B's siblings
I also always recommend including names within the shot list. For example: 1. Couple with Partner A's parents (Kevin & Brenda). 2. Couple with Partner B's parents (Susan & Michael).
This list helps to make sure that no family members are missed during family portraits.
How to Make Your Grass Room Wedding Extra Special
My biggest tip is to be intentional with your wedding day decisions. Customize your wedding according to your interests and style.
Weddings should be made to fit you both, not the other way around.
Angelica & Boris had a beautiful way of being really intentional with their Grass Room wedding. I’ll include some examples of how they did that below:
- They both love getting boba together, so they integrated this into their wedding day with a boba cart.
- They wrote their own vows. This really helped to personalize their wedding ceremony.
- They ditched certain traditions that didn't really excite them, such as the bouquet and garter toss.
It’s these little type of details that really can make a day feel more like the couple. Instead of doing something just because everyone else is doing it or because you saw it on Pinterest, think about what you both love and what would make your day feel more like the two of you.
Grass Room Wedding Photography Tips
Get Ready Somewhere Close By
Los Angeles traffic is no joke. If you're from the area, you already know this. If you're not native to LA are planning from abroad, please keep in mind that in LA, short distances can still take forever to travel within because of how terrible the traffic is.
With this, one of my best recommendations it to get ready at a location that is nearby, preferably somewhere already in downtown LA. Once you're in downtown LA, it's easier to get from point A to point B. But driving to downtown LA from a nearby city usually takes a lot of time because of the traffic entering the downtown LA area.
The good news is that downtown LA has so many great hotels and even some really cool airbnb spaces (I've included several recommendations above!). Having you, your partner, your wedding party, and your immediate family stay at one of these nearby hotels the night before will save you so much stress and time the day of the wedding.
Take Some Portraits at the "Getting Ready" Location
From what I've gathered, Grass Room DTLA doesn't let people enter the venue until the afternoon. If one waits to take all portraits then, it could feel really crammed, timeline wise.
My biggest recommendation is to have a first look earlier in the day and gets some portraits taken then, such as some couple portraits and either family or wedding party portraits.
Keep in mind, when you get to the wedding venue, you can take more portraits there, of course! But it's always a good idea to get some beforehand to be on the safer side. This way, should anything run behind schedule, you already got some portraits in.
Please keep in mind that when photos aren't taken beforehand, usually the couple will be taking photos all throughout the cocktail hour at the Grass Room DTLA. With that said, it it's a priority for you and your partner to be able to enjoy some of your cocktail hour with guests, I highly recommend taking some photos beforehand at your getting ready location.
Have a First Look
A first look is when the couple opts to see one another BEFORE the ceremony. This is typically a very intimate moment with just the couple, the photographer, and videographer (if applicable). I'll include the many benefits of having a first look below.
Pros of Having a Grass Room Los Angeles Wedding
Location
Grass Room is in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, making a fun spot for a wedding, especially if you're looking for a more modern type of wedding day feel.
A Green Space
Grass Room is also a green space. Their mission is to limit environmental impact. They are energy efficient and help to support local green events, as well as vendors who use sustainable resources.
Unique Backdrops
Grass Room DTLA is pretty amazing when it comes to it's design. The ceremony space is brimming with GREEN, as well as warm sunlight. The walls throughout the space are made of textured clay and wood, and the ceilings are high. When you look up, you can see the sky since the Grass Room has a greenhouse roof with retractable shades.
This downtown Los Angeles wedding venue also has stained glass, a cinema screen, Italian leather chairs (these are SO beautiful and comfortable for guests!), fun arches, and an outdoor alley area where guests can lounge and enjoy the city lights and fresh air.
Why I Highly Encourage a First Look
- It will add 3 or more hours to your Grass Room Los Angeles wedding. It allows me to shoot beautiful portraits before the ceremony while also giving couples very intimate and personal time to just be together! So not only do they receive intimate time together, they also enjoy a stress free timeline, and around 40% more portraits.
- For example, most couples who share a first look take portraits before the ceremony and then immediately take all of their wedding party and family portraits. This means that we can capture some more couple portraits post ceremony, typically during the golden hour. Once that's done, couples normally start greeting guests by joining the cocktail hour...while we capture the untouched reception details and mingling!
- It’s completely fine to opt-out of the First Look, but It's important to note... that if I have less time, you will have less portraits and images of the day. Photography will most likely feel rushed to accomplish everything we will need to get done, and either we will have to cut portraits short or we will have to forfeit an untouched reception shot or cocktail hour coverage.
- Since a first look is such an intimate moment, the images tend to come out a lot more sincere. Despite popular belief, the First Look does not take away the special and sacred moment of one coming down the aisle to his or her partner, if anything, it strengthens the emotions of that moment because the anxiety, nervousness and uneasiness of the day have been removed.
- One tends to be more relaxed and is able to respond emotionally when the nerves of the day are removed and he/she can just focus on the gravity of what is happening in that moment.
- If you are having a later ceremony, having a first look will guarantee your portraits are shot during the daylight.
A Little Bit About Grass Room DTLA
I would describe the Grass Room wedding venue as unconventional, hip, unique, and fun. It is a greenhouse space, so it's surrounded by greenery and plants, giving it a jungle vibe. I particularly love the ceremony space, which is where the greenhouse is. My favorite part is that the ceiling is glass, so when you and your guests look up, you can see a beautiful, bright blue sky.
The venue also has a lot of visually interesting backdrops, including a lot of arches, as well as a "Grotto Bar" that transports you to the ocean. It has a cave-like effect and ceramic sea life. Cool, right?
Grass Room is about 6,000 square feet and beyond weddings, it can also be used for live performances and other private events. The space is perfect if you're looking to have an intimate wedding to a somewhat larger event of up to 150 seated guests. The space itself was originally established in the 1920s and has had several various uses, including a marijuana cultivation space, an oyster company, an ice cream factory, etc.
Where is Grass Room Located?
Grass Room is located on Fourth Street in Downtown Los Angeles. To be honest, if you were just driving or walking by, you'd never notice it. It's completely covered by a blue gate and wall. It's once you go inside of the gate that you get to witness the space in all of it's splendid glory.
Grass Room is actually is adjacent to the Valentine, which is another Marvimon owned wedding venue.
Vendors from Boris and Angelica's Grass Room Wedding
Venue: The Grass Room DTLA
Photography: Elyana Photography
Wedding Planning: A Fabulous Soiree
Florals: Violette's Flowers
Grass Room DTLA is one of my absolute favorite wedding venues in Los Angeles. If you are having a wedding there and still looking for a wedding photographer, please feel free to reach me HERE.
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