Cross Creek Ranch in Dover was built around old oaks, and the oaks were always the reason to film there. Labif Filmhouse shot this wedding on the property.
Cross Creek Ranch sat on acres of mature oak in Dover, east of Tampa. It ran two spaces: the Carriage House, a wooden barn with French windows and high ceilings, and the Oak Hall, a 12-foot air-conditioned modern barn. It held around 150 guests.
Note for couples researching venues: the property is listed as closed. This page is a record of a wedding filmed there, not a current recommendation.
How it actually films
Age-old oaks do something no built structure can — they break hard Florida sun into moving, dappled light. That is beautiful and it is difficult, because dappled light moves across faces as the branches move. It wants either full shade or full sun, and the edge between them is where footage goes wrong.
The two buildings gave the property two temperatures: the Carriage House warm and wooden, the Oak Hall cooler and cleaner. A film moving between them needs that difference held in the grade or it reads as an error.
What to protect in the timeline
- Full shade under the canopy, not the edge of it.
- Portraits when the sun is low enough that the oaks backlight rather than dapple.
Mackenzie + Joseph
Filmed at Cross Creek Ranch in Dover in February 2022. Their film is below.
Filmed at Cross Creek Ranch. See more of our Tampa wedding films.