Summerour Studio Wedding Photographer
Atlanta, GA — the ivy courtyard, the staircase and the arched windows, and what it is like to photograph a wedding here.
Thinking about Summerour Studio for your wedding? It’s one of our favorite venues in Atlanta, and after photographing weddings there we know where the good light falls, which corners to walk you to, and how long it takes to get from the courtyard back inside before your ceremony starts.
Summerour Studio sits in west midtown Atlanta, just off 17th Street. What makes it unusual to photograph is that you get two completely different settings in one building — a warm, ivy-covered brick courtyard outside, and a tall, light-filled room with arched windows and timber trusses inside. You’re not driving anywhere for variety, which counts for far more than most couples expect once the timeline gets tight.
The courtyard and the ivy
The courtyard is the part people remember. Brick underfoot, ivy climbing the walls and arches, and a ruin arch at one end that frames the Atlanta skyline behind you. Late in the afternoon, once the sun has dropped behind the buildings, the light in there goes soft and warm and does most of our work for us.
It’s also genuinely big. We’ve put a full wedding party across those arches without anyone getting squeezed out of frame, and still had room to move in for the close portraits afterwards. If you’ve got a large bridal party and you’ve been worried about where they’ll all go, this is the answer.
The arched windows
Inside, the tall arched windows are the reason the interior photographs as well as it does. Details, the gown, bridal portraits, the quiet few minutes before anyone else is allowed in — all of it can happen in window light with nothing added and no flash.
That helps if you’re booking a winter or early-spring date, when the outdoor light goes early. The courtyard is lovely, but it isn’t the only room in the building that works.
The staircase
The staircase is Summerour’s other signature, and we’ve photographed it two completely different ways. Once banked with candles and a single white arrangement for an evening ceremony, and once covered in spring flowers for portraits between the ceremony and the reception.
Either way it gives you height and depth, and a natural place for the frames that need room — a train spread down the treads, a cathedral veil falling behind you, guests watching from below. If there’s one thing we’d tell you not to skip here, it’s this.
The main room
The ceremony and reception space has timber trusses overhead and real height to work with. We’ve photographed a suspended flower installation with gold orb lights, tall orchids running the length of a table, and string lights over a full dance floor.
Florists like it for the same reason we do — there’s vertical room to build into, so your reception photographs have depth instead of a flat wall behind every table. It’s also why the same room can look formal and candlelit one weekend and like a garden the next.
It also gives you a real rain plan. The ceremony and reception space is indoors under the trusses, so a wet forecast changes where you stand, not whether the day works. We’ve shot ceremonies in both spots, and neither one feels like the backup option.
Weddings we’ve photographed at Summerour Studio
Two very different days in the same venue, which is the best argument we can make for how flexible the space is.
The first was a spring wedding built around garden florals — a flower-banked altar under the trusses, the staircase covered in blooms, and a long table beneath tall orchids. You can see the full spring wedding at Summerour Studio here.
The second leaned classic and navy, with white peonies, an ivy-wall first look and a candlelit ceremony down the staircase. That one was later featured in Aisle Memories, and you can see the whole wedding at Summerour Studio here.
Planning your photo timeline at Summerour Studio
Because the courtyard and the interior are a few steps apart rather than a drive apart, you can run a tighter timeline here than at a lot of Atlanta venues. In practice that usually means more time for portraits, or simply less standing around in heels.
If you’re still working out how your day should run, our wedding photo timeline examples for Atlanta weddings walks through a few realistic versions, including one built around a five o’clock ceremony like the ones we’ve shot here.
And if you’re still filling in the rest of your team, our Atlanta wedding vendor guide collects the planners, florists, bands, bakers and makeup artists we work alongside across the city — including Martha McIntosh, who planned the spring wedding above.
Photographing your wedding at Summerour Studio
We’re Love & Story Photography, and we photograph weddings across Atlanta and north Georgia. Knowing a venue in advance isn’t everything — but it does mean we’re not working out where the light is on your wedding day, and that’s time that goes straight back to you.
If you’re comparing venues, our Venue at Sharp Mountain, Callaway Gardens, Roswell Mill and Wahoo! Grill galleries cover a mountain venue, a lakeside chapel, a mill and waterfall, and an intimate restaurant wedding in Decatur.
If you’re booked at Summerour Studio, or you’re still deciding, get in touch and tell us about your day. We’d love to hear what you’re planning.