Our Mission

At Golden Glow Weddings, we believe that the happiest day of your life deserves more than an average video recording. The pure joy, dazzling light, and extraordinary love of your wedding day are not only seen, but felt. This is exactly what we strive to capture and deliver at Golden Glow Weddings: Love Illuminated for Life. Our skilled production team will work hard to cater a highly personalized cinematic experience in which YOU are the star. We wish to provide a memory preserved in gold; each and every second expertly tailored to highlight the full scope of your most cherished moments. Through direct communication and constant, insightful creativity we can ensure that you will be 100% satisfied with the extraordinary story that is your love. Book a consultation today so that we may discover who you are and partner in bringing your grandest visions to life.

 
 

Jake’s Journey to Golden Glow

 
Man in pink button up shirt leaning against a wall.
 

Written by Jake Douglas

 

I get extremely nostalgic thinking back on my journey to where I am now. It’s been what? 8 years since I first touched a camera? Maybe even longer. In those 8 years my camera has taken me places I could’ve never imagined, let me meet people who I consider my best friends now; people who have been fundamental in building the foundation to who I am now, and who I am becoming. I don’t have a destination with any of this. Yeah, I have goals and benchmarks I want to hit, but the possibilities of what I can do, and what I will do… are infinite. If I give myself a destination, then what happens when I get there? That’s a question I don’t ever want to have to answer. I’m an artist - I live to create.

There’s two key mottos or principles I’ve sort of based my attitude towards life on: 

  • “It’s all about the process” 

  • “Never peak, always improve.”


The first one got ingrained into me at a young age while I was wrestling. For those of you that don’t know, wrestling SUCKS! It’s really hard and the tangible rewards at the end of it are, well… nothing. I wrestled from the age of 4 all the way until I was 20 years old, when I stopped in college. I got really good at wrestling throughout the years though, and that’s because I loved the process of getting better. I loved the late nights of training with my brother, with the single flickering light on in the corner of the room. I loved showing up to class in the morning smelling like chlorine, because we had 5am swim conditioning beforehand. I loved the bus rides. I loved it all. Ask me if I loved it then, and I would have probably told you, “This shit sucks. I’m hungry and I want to go home.” But inside, I knew I loved it all. Who it made me. The qualities and skills it developed that I’ve carried with me my whole life. It was all so important to who I am now and in allowing me to have a perspective on life that will help me to flourish and do what I love forever - create and inspire.


The second motto goes in hand with this wrestling analogy I’ve got going on here. Winning the state tournament was everyone's goal and it was always preached, “you want to be at your best for this tournament, this for all the marbles! Let’s make sure we peak for this tournament.” I didn’t really like the concept of that at all. In my head, after State was nationals, then after that was college. If I peak now, I’ll never get to the level I want to be at. So “Never peak, always improve” has flowed through my head every day and it has been applicable in every facet of my life since then. It’s easier to understand if you view it as a graph. No, it won’t be linear all the way up. There will be ups and downs along the way - that’s life! But if you peak, that’s the top. There’s no getting better after that. So I don’t plan on ever peaking. I want to improve at my craft - whatever that may be - until the day that I die. 

Now that you’ve taken a brief look inside of my head, and seen some of the foundation of who I am. Let me tell you about this journey I’ve had with photography, videography, art, expression and the beauty all of this possesses and why it means so much to me, and how it has led me to begin my own full service wedding production company - Golden Glow Weddings.

I first got into photography when I was 16, during my sophomore year of high school, when I took the now retired and infamous Mrs. Granillo’s photography class. In all honesty, I took the class because it seemed like an easy A and I had a few friends in the class. Maybe there was even a girl I was crushing on at the time, but that doesn’t matter all that much; what’s important is that I was there, and that I was learning about what was soon to become my ultimate passion - capturing beauty, love, and the entire process of expression through creation and art. 


After that Photography class, my parents got me a cheap little camera for christmas. I don’t remember the brand or model, but I do remember vividly, my older brother saying, “Why would you get him that, mom? It’s obviously just a phase and he won’t touch that camera again a month from now.” Which at the time, I don’t think he was necessarily wrong; however, that camera became an escape for me. It became a way for a kid who has always felt massively misunderstood, a way to express himself. It gave a kid who was dealing with crippling anxiety and some of the darkest depths of depression a teenager can go through a way to communicate his feelings to the world, a way to feel understood, a way to feel heard, to feel seen.


When I can’t sleep at night, which is pretty often I might add, It is usually because I'm dreaming up an idea or a concept for some piece of art. In high school, it was photography concepts that visually explained quotes or feelings. Nowadays it’s more of the same, but on a bigger scale and with more mediums of art I can utilize to paint the feelings inside of my head to the world. Or how I can portray someone's love story in the most beautiful, heartfelt way possible. But it’s always been a very similar process no matter what stage of this I’m at or what I’m trying to invoke in people. I believe it will always be that way too. These ideas and that camera have probably kept me and my friends out of more trouble than we already got into, because when we had free time we would go outside and shoot, we would create art. My best friends at the time would explore all over Washington with me. That’s where I grew up - Lake Stevens, Washington. It was amazing and it gave us something truly incredible to do. When we get the opportunity we all still go do that stuff today. It’s one of my favorite activities ever and honestly I think it always will be.


By the time I was a senior in high school, my life consisted of wrestling, photography and school. In that order of importance too. My peers began to recognize me as a photographer and everyone was beginning to need their “Senior Photos”, so I started taking all my friends senior pics - charging $50-$100 which that was even hard to get some of the parents to cough up for what was probably 6 hours of my time with shooting and editing. It got to the point where the only time I had to actually edit the photos was while I was at school. So I would be editing my friends' senior pictures in the back of all our classes. My teachers weren’t always pleased, but I was a smart kid and the teachers liked me, so it seemed to fly most of the time. I probably took 50 kids' senior photos my senior year. I used that money I made to upgrade my equipment to get that “professional” look to everything, because my mind shifted a little bit once I realized I could actually make money with my camera. This could be my career. I could do what everyone dreams about  - doing what I love and am passionate about as my job..


Over that summer, after graduating, I started trying to find every angle to approach making money with my camera. The list of gigs I did during that summer:

  • Senior Photos

  • Real Estate Photography

  • Commercials and Photos for hair salons and other businesses

  • Professional Headshots

  • Product Shots for companies

  • Clothing Brand Photoshoots

  • Probably more that I don’t remember


I pretty much have said yes to every opportunity that has come my way and have sent a ton of emails to random businesses all over the place asking for work. Which has led to some pretty awesome experiences and has given me a skillset capable of accomplishing almost any type of media job. It’s pushed me to learn every facet of every editing program I can get my hands on. Although all of these jobs were fun and taught me so much. None of them compare to when I got asked to film my first wedding. I knew I could do all of these random shoots and commercials, but a wedding?! That’s one of the most important days of people’s lives. And they trust me to capture and create a video of their wedding day? That’s still insane to me. Honestly, writing this out is really weird. When you think about it, these are the videos people watch every year on their anniversary - bawling their eyes out. The photos on their walls that hang there for decades. It’s real, and it is important work to capture these moments for people, and the fact that there are people out there that trust me to do that will forever be hard for me to grasp with what a monumental day this is for people.


But to get back to the narrative - That first wedding video, in little Granite Falls, Washington was the end of the beginning in my journey to Golden Glow. I realized I loved being at weddings, seeing people filled to the brim with happiness, surrounded by all of their loved ones. It’s a beautiful sight and I get to be there capturing these moments from walking down the aisle to the little wink your grandpa gives you as you walk out for your first dance. Every little moment possesses so much love, power and meaning within it. I’ve fallen in love with the job and finding all of these big and little moments to capture throughout the day. I thought I’d get tired of it at some point, but with each wedding there's something brand new. Which yeah, there are prettier venues than others and awesome ceremony designs or floral patterns, but what really separates each one is the personalities there; from the bride and groom to the siblings and friends. That is exactly what keeps my work original too.


With every wedding, it’s easy to get algorithmic with how you capture it whether it’s photos or videos. Capture the kiss, the venue, the dance, the speeches, yeah all extremely important; however, that isn’t what makes any of the work original. It’s how you use these key moments and details to paint a picture of who they are. I love conversing with the bride and groom while at the wedding; learning about them from their friends and family and hearing the little stories and inside jokes they all have together. I try to really become connected to everyone there and build a vision of who they are individually, as a couple and as a family. That way when I’m editing I can bring out the details that attenuate everything that’s unique and special and beautiful about them, and what makes it different from every other wedding I’ve captured. I feel as though I’ve gotten better and better at that with every wedding. In the beginning, I was just worried about making sure I didn’t miss anything. Now though, capturing everything is second nature - it’s how can I capture this uniquely and cinematically in a way that tells their special story and nobody else's.


I have personally shot about 10 weddings now and have been a second shooter for 10+ more than that. I’ve worked under countless people and have learned something new from every wedding or person I’ve worked with. There’s been many other gigs along the way to where I am now. Sorority videos, Cyber Security media, Hotel content creation, the list goes on and on. The wedding company has always been something I knew I wanted to start though from that first wedding. The experiences it provides is unmatched. I’ve gotten to go to Cabo San Lucas and stay at an all inclusive resort with my friends for an entire week while capturing an Indian American wedding. Within that single wedding I learned about an entire new culture, religion and watched a couple break down cultural barriers that have stood for centuries. It’s magical to be part of something like that. There are moments that are special for individuals like that at every wedding. I don’t remember that exact date or event that made me do it, but I knew I wanted this to all be official. So I started an LLC - Golden Glow Weddings - and inherently became an entrepreneur in doing so. I plan on creating multiple businesses and ventures throughout my life, but Golden Glow is where I want to really start. 


I want to start with Golden Glow because it’s where I can see the two mottos I mentioned in the beginning really come into play within this journey so far. It’s enjoying the process of each and every aspect of this work. The mingling and getting to know everyone at the wedding. The dancing and celebrating with the bride and groom during the reception. The finding the special, tiny moments that they didn’t even realize they wanted captured. The hundreds of hours put into editing. Watching through all of the footage. Finding the perfect music to drive the story. Color Grading the clips to fit their personality and venue perfectly. Creating a beautiful gallery for couples to easily view their day. The designing of photo books for them to show their kids 15 years from now. Every aspect of this process is IMPORTANT! I have had to learn to love every single part of it, and I do, which I think makes me meant to be doing this right now. I also have a deep desire to be improving at this craft constantly - “Never Peak, always Improve.” - I want to capture a million weddings and I want to get better at some part of the process with each and every one. 


Maybe one day I’ll hit my benchmark of turning Golden Glow into a full service one stop shop wedding company where we will do everything from photo and video to catering and DJing as well. I have big dreams with all of this and I’m so extremely thankful to everyone that has helped me and trusted me along my journey so far. There’s plenty more to come and a long path ahead of me. So here’s to enjoying the process of it all and improving every single day along the way. 


*Raises glass for a toast*



- Jake

Book a Consultation NOW!

We offer this not as incentive for you to choose Golden Glow, but because we feel it is important to build a relationship before your wedding day. We’d love to hear about where you are in your planning and how we can assist you.