Cleveland Botanical Garden wedding photographer
One of my favorite ways to show the breadth and scope of a venue is to focus on a smaller detail and position it in a way that highlights the space. This three-tier cake, with its navy scrollwork and that soft cluster of white hydrangea on top, was sitting on the terrace at Cleveland Botanical Garden, and instead of shooting it up close and isolated, I wanted to pull back and let the whole space breathe around it.
I've photographed a lot of weddings at CBG over the years, and this terrace is one of my favorite corners of the property. It's a popular spot for cocktail hour, and just out of frame behind the camera, there's a set of wrought iron gates that make a gorgeous backdrop for ceremonies too. It's also just steps from the rose garden, which is where I love bringing couples for portraits — so by the time we get to this terrace for cocktail hour, we've usually already made our way through some of the prettiest corners of the whole garden. This is a venue that keeps giving you new backdrops as the day goes on, and I never get tired of shooting here.
The terrace itself has this reflecting pool running along it that creates natural leading lines, pulling your eye straight through the space toward the cake, with the garden's greenery soft and blurred behind it. What really makes the image for me is the color echo — that deep navy in the cake's piping picked up by the blue linen on the table, set against all that rich botanical green. Sometimes a couple's color palette just happens to sing against a venue in a way you couldn't have planned on paper.
Technically, I shot this with a wide enough aperture to keep the cake crisp while letting the terrace and garden fall out of focus— close enough to feel like you're standing right there, but with enough depth to remind you how much space surrounds this one small, beautiful detail.
Wedding cake photographed at Cleveland Botanical Garden in Cleveland, Ohio by Lindsey Beckwith.
Location: 11030 East Blvd, Cleveland, OH 44106 .
