Queen Mary Wedding Photographer
Art deco weddings aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach — by Lulan Studio.
The Queen Mary is unlike any other wedding venue in Southern California: a legendary 1930s ocean liner permanently docked in Long Beach, with art deco salons, polished wood promenades, and open decks looking across the water to the city skyline. Weddings here feel like stepping into another era, and they photograph that way too.
We love working aboard the ship. Between the deco details, the portholes and smokestacks, the long teak decks, and the skyline at dusk, the Queen Mary gives a wedding gallery range that no ballroom on land can match. Here is how we photograph a full wedding day aboard.
Pros
- True art deco interiors: wood-paneled salons, brass details, and vintage glamour in every frame.
- The promenade decks deliver ocean air, smokestack backdrops, and Long Beach skyline views, all a short walk from your reception room.
- Everything happens aboard one ship, so the timeline never loses minutes to travel.
- Evening portraits on deck, with the city lights across the water, are unlike anything else in Los Angeles wedding photography.
Getting Ready Aboard
Staterooms and suites give us intimate, characterful spaces for prep coverage: the dress against vintage wood paneling, details on deco furnishings, and candids with your wedding party in the corridors of a historic ocean liner.
Art deco salons aboard a legendary ocean liner
Couple’s Session on Deck
This is the part our Queen Mary couples remember: a walk along the promenade deck, portraits under the smokestacks, frames through portholes and rigging, and the skyline across the harbor. We plan one session in daylight and a second at dusk, when the ship’s lights come on and the city glows behind you.
Wedding Ceremony
Ceremonies happen in the ship’s historic salons and chapels or outside on deck with the harbor behind you. We scout the room in advance, plan for the lower light of interior spaces, and cover the processional, vows, and first kiss from both sides without ever blocking a guest’s view.
Golden hour on the promenade deck
Wedding Reception
Receptions aboard the Queen Mary run through art deco ballrooms and salons that were built for celebration. We bring off-camera lighting so the warm interiors read rich and true after dark, and before the last dance we take you out on deck for a night portrait with the skyline, the kind of image that ends up framed above the mantel.
Sample Wedding Day Timeline
1:00 PM: Getting-ready coverage in a stateroom
3:00 PM: First look and wedding-party photos on deck
4:30 PM: Ceremony in a salon or on deck
5:15 PM: Family formals, then cocktail hour
6:45 PM: Dusk couple’s session on the promenade deck
7:30 PM: Reception, toasts, first dance, open floor
9:30 PM: Night skyline portrait and grand exit
Queen Mary Wedding Galleries
See Julia and Peter’s full wedding gallery aboard the Queen Mary
Exploring venues nearby: see our guides to The Majestic Downtown and our Long Beach wedding photography, or browse all of our Los Angeles wedding photography.
Vows on deck, the skyline behind you
Queen Mary Wedding FAQ
Where do couples take photos on the Queen Mary?
The promenade decks, under the smokestacks, the grand staircases and deco salons, and the rail with the Long Beach skyline behind you. The whole ship is your backdrop.
Is the light difficult inside the ship?
Interiors are darker than a garden venue, and that is exactly why couples hire us: we bring off-camera lighting and know the rooms, so the deco interiors read warm and cinematic instead of dim.
When is the best time for portraits?
Late afternoon on deck, then again at dusk when the ship and the skyline light up. We build both windows into your timeline.
How much does Queen Mary wedding photography cost?
Our current wedding collections are listed on our rates page. Most couples choose a full-day photo and video package.
Ready to check your date? Inquire about availability or ask us anything about planning a Queen Mary wedding.
