In a place known for its urban lifestyle, Los Angeles County can be a bit tough to find a lot of areas for nature. However, for a nature-style engagement photography session, visit the Los Angeles Arboretum in Arcadia, CA. Los Angeles Arboretum Engagement Photos in Arcadia by Three16 Photography will add some truly beautiful nature to your engagement photos. Outside of open land, these botanical gardens are one of the nicer nature-style locations around LA, and throughout Southern California. 

The Fullerton Arboretum at California State at Fullerton is an amazing location, but the one in Arcadia is much larger in size. Almost like a small zoo of the plant world if you will. The Los Angeles Arboretum is truly amazing and is the perfect location for engagement photography. There are many background opportunities that will add a lot of personality to your photos, as well as having random peacocks just running around the grounds. The characteristics will cause your photos to pop.

Do you want to experience leaves that encompass the fall colors? They have it! They also have the Celebration Garden, Rose Garden, the Grace Kellam Perennial Garden, the Meadowbrook Garden and our favorite, the Herb Garden. The aroma from the Herb Garden, especially the basil, is something special.

Something really unique to include in your Los Angeles Arboretum engagement photos is the Queen Anne Cottage. For us old-timers, this is the house with the bell tower that was featured as the home on the television show, “Fantasy Island.”

Other areas for us to consider include a small pond area, random trails, small grass areas and so many flowers and plants. Two areas that we love the most is the desert oasis area. We love all the features of this dessert display garden. The other area that stands out to us is the amazing waterfall, known as the Meyberg Waterfall. It truly is stunning and a real must for any engagement photo session at this location, as well as a pretty cool looking bridge and staircase near the waterfall.

Unfortunately, even though you are there for a photo shoot, unless you are a member, the arboretum will still charge an entry fee and you will have to purchase a permit. We recommend viewing their website for more information. Something unique that they offer is a park ranger tour. Instead of walking the entire grounds, they will have someone drive us around on a golf cart to all the locations you want for your photo session. It will allow us to pack 2-3 hours of walking time down to a 1-hour photo session. So, we can definitely hit up significantly more area in a short period of time. This option does come with a hefty fee, but for what you can accomplish, it may be worth the price.

To explore this location as a wedding venue, please visit Los Angeles Arboretum Wedding

The LA Arboretum is a truly wonderful location for nature-like scenery in LA and a great choice for your engagement photography session.

You can learn more about the Los Angeles Arboretum as your engagement location by visiting arboretum.org.

Some locations are subject to permit and/or travel fees.