Wedding Photographer & Videographer in Glendale & Burbank

I'm Connery Davoodian, and I've been photographing and filming weddings across Los Angeles for 17 years. A huge share of that work has happened in a tight little triangle between Glendale, Burbank and the edge of the foothills — Armenian church ceremonies, Persian sofreh aghd setups, 400-guest banquet halls that don't get moving until 9pm. If your wedding is happening in this part of the Valley, you don't need someone who shoots "LA weddings" in the abstract. You need someone who has already stood in the choir loft of your church and already knows which corner of the ballroom the DJ's lights are going to blow out.

What's actually different about shooting weddings here

Glendale and Burbank weddings run long and they run in parts. A typical day I shoot here starts with getting-ready in a Burbank hotel suite, moves to a full liturgical ceremony at an Armenian Apostolic or Catholic church, breaks for a family photo session, and then lands at a banquet hall for a reception that genuinely goes until 1 or 2 in the morning. That's not a metaphor — Armenian and Persian receptions are marathons, and a photographer who's packing up at 10pm because that's when their "package ends" is going to miss half the party. I build my timelines around how these days really flow, not around a generic template. If you want to see how I think about pacing an entire day, I wrote a realistic wedding photography timeline for a Los Angeles wedding day that maps closely to what I see out here.

Two hard local realities. First, traffic. The 134, the 5 and the 2 all knot up at exactly the wrong times, and the drive from a Glendale church to a reception hall that looks like ten minutes on a map can eat forty on a Saturday afternoon. I build buffer into every schedule so nobody's sweating in the car. Second, light. Most of the celebration happens indoors in dim ballrooms with heavy uplighting and dance-floor color washes. That's a technical problem, and it's the one that separates people who can shoot here from people who can't. I light for it deliberately — I don't just crank the ISO and hope. Low-light ballroom work is a craft, and it's most of the job in this zip code.

Church ceremonies, sofreh aghd and khoncha — knowing the traditions keeps the day moving

I'll be blunt: the fastest way to ruin an Armenian or Persian wedding day is to hire someone who doesn't know the rituals. In an Apostolic ceremony there are moments — the crowning, the shared cup, the procession around the altar — where you get one frame and no second chance, and half the churches out here don't allow flash or don't let you past a certain point in the sanctuary. I already know those rules, so I'm anticipating the moment instead of chasing it, and I'm never the person a priest has to shush.

Same with a Persian sofreh aghd. The spread matters — the mirror and candelabras, the honey, the sugar cones held over the couple, the khoncha trays. Those details are the heart of the ceremony and they need to be photographed as carefully as the couple's faces. When I know the sequence, I'm in position for the sugar-grinding and the mirror moment before they happen, not scrambling behind a row of aunts. Knowing the traditions isn't a nice bonus; it's what lets me keep a long, multi-part day on schedule without barking orders at your family.

And speaking of family — the big group photos are non-negotiable here, and they're bigger than most photographers expect. Thirty, forty, sometimes sixty people. I run these fast and by name-groups so we're not burning an hour of your cocktail time. This is also exactly the situation where a second photographer earns their keep — one of us organizes and shoots the formals while the other is already covering the reception room and the candids nobody staged.

Venues I know in Glendale & Burbank

These are places I've actually worked in or right beside, and here's something true about shooting each:

Glenoaks Ballroom (LA Banquets), Glendale — A classic Glendale banquet room built for big Armenian receptions. The ceilings and uplighting mean I'm bringing my own light to keep skin tones clean once the dance floor opens up. It's a room that rewards a photographer who's shot it before.
De Luxe Banquet Hall, Burbank — Three rooms, so the first thing I do is confirm which one you've got, because they each light differently. Great grand-entrance sightlines. They'll hand you vendor referrals, but you're free to bring your own team.
Castaway, Burbank — The hilltop view over the Valley is the reason to be here, and it's a gift at sunset. I plan a few minutes on the terrace right at golden hour before we lose the light, because the interior is where the rest of the night lives.
Hotel Amarano, Burbank — A boutique hotel that's ideal for getting-ready coverage and intimate celebrations. Clean, moody interiors that photograph beautifully without a ton of extra rigging.
Anoush Landmark (LA Banquets), Mission Hills — Just over the hill and a workhorse for large Armenian and Persian celebrations, seating well past 800. Cavernous room, huge guest counts — this is pure big-hall lighting and crowd-management work.
Taglyan Complex, Hollywood — A short drive down the 101 and one of the most opulent ballrooms in the area, with a garden for ceremonies and portraits. They coordinate a lot in-house, so I make a point of syncing with their team early.
The Garland, North Hollywood — Garden-hotel setting with over forty years of weddings behind it. Lovely for a more relaxed, greenery-forward day and easy logistics for a hotel-based getting-ready.
Descanso Gardens, La Cañada Flintridge — Minutes from Glendale and a completely different look: oak groves, camellias, open sky. Catering is exclusive but photography is open, so I'm free to work. This is where I'd push you to read up on shooting an outdoor Los Angeles wedding, because the approach is nothing like a ballroom.

Photo and video from one team

Here's a stance I hold firmly: for a day this long and this complicated, you do not want a photo company and a separate video company tripping over each other at the altar. My photography and cinematography come from one team — same planning, same timeline, same understanding of the church rules and the sofreh sequence — so we're covering angles together instead of fighting for them. If you're weighing whether film is even worth the line item, I'd read my honest take on whether wedding videographers are actually worth it and, if the answer's yes, how a same-day edit can play on the screens at your reception — Armenian and Persian crowds love it.

Frequently asked questions

Do you know Armenian church and Persian ceremony rules?

Yes, thoroughly. I know where I can and can't stand during an Apostolic liturgy, when flash isn't allowed, and the full order of a sofreh aghd — the mirror, the sugar cones, the honey, the khoncha. That knowledge is exactly why I don't disrupt your ceremony or slow your day down.

Can you cover a reception that runs past midnight?

That's normal for me out here. These receptions go long, and I plan coverage around your actual celebration, not an arbitrary cutoff. If you're deciding how much time you need, my guide to how many hours of coverage you actually need walks through it.

How do you handle the big family group photos?

Fast and organized. I build a name-based shot list with you beforehand and run the groups in a sequence that never leaves anyone standing around confused, so we protect your cocktail hour. My shot list guide covers how I put that together.

How far ahead should I book?

For prime Saturdays in Glendale and Burbank, sooner than you'd think — the good banquet dates go early. Here's my honest answer on how far in advance to book.

Let's talk about your day

If you're planning a wedding in Glendale, Burbank or anywhere in this stretch of the Valley, I'd love to hear about your church, your hall and your family. Tell me the traditions that matter to you and I'll tell you exactly how I'd shoot the day. Call or text (818) 749-7039 or reach me through the contact page, and let's make sure the long, beautiful, chaotic marathon of your wedding is covered by someone who already knows the terrain.