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KATY + BEN | PRIVATE RESIDENCE WEDDING

Katy and Ben threw one of the most memorable parties I’ve ever attended. The food, the tents, the jumping in the pool, the helicopter getaway. Is this real life? It was this day.

I am a sucker for any shooting that involves the water. Rain, lakes, rivers, oceans, all of it.  Ending up chest deep in the pool right before the send off is my kind of jam. These two are equally my kind of jam. The sweetest, most in love couples are always my favorite brides and grooms to photograph. I definitely love artsy people, moody vibes, and things that stray towards fashion… but for wedding work, I care less and less about “cool” and more about “real.” The quirky oddness of the 200-2010’s will probably be fun to look at in 30 years, but there’s no hipster pose that can stand up to genuine emotion. This is where I want to go with my work. Couples like Katy and Ben make me all the more sure of it. They had a beautiful wedding, with so many fashionable and exciting elements, however; the emotion of the day will forever be what I remember. And the pool. But really the emotion 😉

HUGE thanks to my friend Kayla Roper for shooting with me.

Words of Advice from the Bride: 

The most important thing to remember on your wedding day is that regardless of what happens, at least in 99.99% of circumstances, at the end of the day you’ll be married. Our day was filled with inclement weather, a chauffeur who locked the keys in the car, cakes with the wrong cake toppers and I’m sure 100 other mishaps of which I’m not even aware.

Ben and I were only engaged for three months but we still felt very invested in the details we worked hard to create for our friends and family to enjoy. I’m thrilled with how it all turned out. Some of the challenges even led to eventual highlights. For instance, I was initially disappointed the wedding day forecast was full of rain. The rain forced us to put up tents, which in all honesty, ended up transforming our venue into an even greater space than I could have imagined. The 30 minutes we were forced to wait at the church for a replacement vehicle led to some our favorite bridal party photos. Speaking of photos… document, document, document.
It is impossible to catch everything that happens at a wedding with more than 20 guests. Ben and I had roughly 190 people. I felt like I missed half of my friends and half of what happened. When people tell you the day will be a bit of blur, they mean it. One piece of great advice I received was to take a few moments throughout the day and soak them into memory. I will truly never forget my Mom and best friends tying me into my dress; the things my dad told me prior to walking down the aisle; a few moments I stole with my groom, brother and teary eyed coach; basking in a glorious Eugene sunset; jumping into the pool in my wedding dress; and steeling kisses from my new husband under the dance floor. Even with all those wonderful memories, I missed things. Lots of things. Spend money on a good photographer and videographer. Lasting documentation is a saving grace. It allows you to relive in perpetuity all of the time, effort and money you put into your day.  Photos and video, in my opinion, are truly the most worthwhile investment of your wedding day.
As with most in things in life, your wedding day is what you make it. Things never go exactly as planned. Allowing yourself to roll with punches, find the good in the bad and genuinely enjoy the experience will serve you well. My hope for you is that like me, at the end of the day, your greatest joy will be realizing you were blessed to find the love of your life, marry your best friend and have a wonderful time celebrating this lifelong commitment with your family and friends.

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KAYLA + KENT | MT. PISGAH WEDDING

Time goes by so quickly. Seniors become brides. Brides become moms. Families grow. It is one of the great privileges of this job to grow with clients, and for clients to occasionally become friends. This isn’t always the case, but it’s a meaningful bond when it does, and it often lends itself to a wedding with lots of emotion on my part. Add to it a very emotionally deep couple, who are perfectly paired, equally sweet people and you get a day something like Kent and Kayla’s. That’s about all I need to do to set the stage for their wedding. You will not be able to resist her smile… don’t feel bad, no one can. 🙂

Enjoy these two kids so clearly in love.

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FYI – We didn’t write “death” on the wall… but we took the opportunity to make a visual wedding pun.

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JENELLE + RUSSELL | SHORE ACRES STATE PARK WEDDING

If you’re getting married in Oregon, rain is always in the equation. When you’re getting married on the Oregon Coast… well, let’s just say you should bring your sense of adventure. Thankfully, Russell and Jenelle handled the rain and cold with grace. That isn’t to say it wasn’t a complicating factor, or that sun wasn’t the preferred forecast. When she planned her wedding in this gorgeous state park on the Oregon Coast, I would assume Jenelle hoped for clear skies and warm breezes to go with the sweeping views of the sea, and the flowers in the pond (more on that in a moment). I would imagine, if you ask them, most brides will tell you that a wedding changes by the hour in the planning stage, and sometimes even faster the day of. Being light on your feet is a fantastic quality to have as a bride, and it certainly helps as a wedding photographer. Go with it. Roll with the punches. The details of your wedding are all important, seeing as how they all come together to create the vehicle to showcase your commitment to each other, but never forget this… saying “I Do” is the point. Not the perfect day, not the perfect weather, and the point is decidedly not to have everything go as planned. The point, to quote my talented friend, Caroline, is to look at each other and begin to “build a house within your heart.” Ultimately, Jenelle decided if it was going to rain, she could improvise. Bare feet, leg-warmers, and that pretty pond I mentioned earlier. She ditched the umbrella. Benj and I stood with our new friends in the rain and loved every single minute of it, even carrying 4 film cameras at a time. You can read Jenelle’s advice about weather and weddings in the winter/spring 2013 Portland Bride&Groom.

Life has a funny way of being unpredictable, as I’m sure most of us have experienced, and this wedding day was no exception. Just as we all made our peace with the weather… the speeches were given, the food was served, and the day was winding down, the sun broke through, even if it was only a bit. Being ready to go when the moment presents itself is half of having a sense of adventure. Closing out the day on the beach was the reward for Russell and Jenelle’s willingness to chase the sunshine. After all, life itself is a wonderful, albeit unpredictable adventure.

Russell and Jenelle, thanks for having me and Benj as a part of your adventure.

ENGAGEMENT VENUE – Shelton McMurphey Johnson House 

VENUE – SHORE ACRES STATE PARK, COOS BAY OREGON

SECOND SHOOTER – Benj Haisch

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A thousand thanks to my fellow bearded homie, Benj Haisch for shooting this wedding with me, film in the rain and all, not to mention all the creepy/great fun shooting double-exposure polaroids at the casino the night before 🙂 Your light leaks made my day.

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Go do something kind for someone who doesn't expect it.