Every Burnaby wedding venue has a photo constraint that will not come up on your tour. Hart House has strangers walking through your backgrounds, Riverway has golfers, Mintara is beautiful but small, the Diamond Alumni Centre has few obvious photo spots, and Aria is best kept indoors. As a Vancouver wedding videographer who has filmed at all five, here is what to know before you sign.
When you tour a wedding venue, you are thinking about the room. How many people fit, what the catering is like, whether the ceiling is too low. Nobody walks you around and tells you where you will actually stand for photos, or who else is going to be in them.
I have filmed at five venues in Burnaby. Every one has something that affects your photos and your film, and not one of those things comes up on a tour.
Why Do Couples Choose Burnaby Over Vancouver?
Burnaby is usually more affordable than Vancouver proper, and it is more central than people give it credit for. There are a lot of ways in, whether your family is coming from the east or the west.
The thing nobody mentions is highway access. Most of these venues sit close to a highway. A lot of Vancouver venues do not. If half your guest list is driving in from Surrey or the Valley, that matters more on the day than anything on the venue’s brochure.
What Is It Like to Film at Hart House?
Hart House sits in Deer Lake Park, and it is a short walk down to the lake, which is the whole appeal. Tented area, good tree cover, genuinely beautiful sunsets. Parking is decent, which is not nothing.
Here is the part the tour will not mention: Deer Lake is a public park, and people walk there. All day. So when you go down to the lake for photos, there will be strangers in your background, or you will be standing around waiting your turn for a spot.
That is not a reason to rule it out. It is a reason to build fifteen extra minutes into your timeline for that part of the day, instead of finding out about it while your photographer is politely asking a jogger to hold on.
What Should You Know About Riverway Clubhouse?
Riverway is on a golf course, and it is green and open, which photographs well.
It also means golfers. They are in the background, they are moving, and they are not going to stop because you booked the clubhouse.
The bigger thing with Riverway is logistics. You are working around golf operations, which is a different animal from a venue that only does weddings. Which brings up something that applies everywhere on this list but hardest here.
A venue coordinator and a wedding planner are not the same job. The venue coordinator works for the venue, and they make sure the venue’s part goes smoothly. A planner works for you, and they are the one holding your whole day together. If you book Riverway without a planner, expect it to feel hectic, because nobody is quarterbacking the parts the venue does not own.
Is Mintara Worth the Drive Up Burnaby Mountain?
Mintara is the venue at the top of Burnaby Mountain. It used to be called Horizons, and the name change is recent enough that you will still see both.
It is beautiful up there. Tree cover, elevation, and the setting does a lot of the work for you.
The catch is size. The usable area is smaller than you would expect, and there is not much variety for photos. You are working a compact space, which means an experienced photographer and videographer will find angles in it, and a less experienced one will hand you twenty photos that all look like the same photo.
What Are the Photo Options at the Diamond Alumni Centre?
I have filmed at Diamond Alumni Centre, and what I remember most is the photo problem. It is up at SFU on the mountain, and there are not many obvious spots for a photo session. You end up walking around looking for them.
So if you are considering it, walk the grounds yourself before you book, ideally at the time of day your photos will happen. Decide where you want to be standing. Do not leave that to be solved on the day.
Who Is Aria Banquet Hall Best For?
Aria is at its best for corporate events, Indian pre-wedding events and receptions. The inside does what you need it to do.
My honest advice is to keep your photo session indoors here. The surrounding area is industrial. Transportation buildings, businesses, not much to work with. I would rather tell you that now than have you discover it when someone suggests stepping outside for golden hour.
What Do All Five Burnaby Venues Have in Common?
Light. Specifically, you are always in one of two situations.
Either you have heavy tree cover, like Hart House and Mintara, which gives you beautiful soft light and also means you are fighting for brightness once the sun drops. Or you are on open ground with nothing overhead, which is gorgeous until the middle of the day when there is nowhere to hide from hard light.
Neither is a problem if the people filming and photographing you have been there before and know which one they are walking into. Both are a problem if they are finding out when they arrive.
That is really the point of this list. None of these five is better than the others. It depends entirely on what you are going for. What matters is knowing the catch before you sign, so you can plan around it instead of reacting to it.
You can see how I handle both sides of that on my Vancouver wedding videographer and photographer page.
Where Can You See a Vancouver Wedding Videographer Film in Burnaby?
Jasmin and Jaivir had their reception at the Aria Banquet Hall.
So when you go on your next venue tour, ask one question nobody asks. Not how many people fit in the room. Ask where the photos happen, and what else is going to be in them.
-Shyah
