A fabulous day out at The Ranch On Beaver Creek with Nicole and Adam and all my Sweet Home peeps.  You can also check out their slideshow!

She was an amazing bride – so completely relaxed the entire day and obviously enjoying every second of it.  Bill, her husband-to-be was just as easy to work with and they were so cute as a couple that I wanted to just fold them up and keep them in my pocket! I’m so excited for them as they get started on their new adventure and so very thankful that I got to be a part of their big day!

After almost 2 years of long distance dating, several trips from London to Oregon and Oregon to London, and many phone calls across the pond, Mark and Elizabeth finally made it official out at a beatuful ceremony at Beckenrdige Vineyards. It was a very fun day and a blast to watch Mark’s English family get to know Elizabeth’s Oregonian side. I’m absolutely thrilled for these two and can’t imagine a more perfect match.

So, first and foremost I ’ve got to thank Summer and Eric for their confidence in me and their willingness to let me waddle through their big day!  Just to be safe, I brought lots of back-up photog help, and had about 10 different contingiency plans in case my little guy decided that he wanted to share his birthday with Summer and Eric’s anniversary. Luckily, he decided to wait a while.

It was one of the most gorgeous March days in Portland that I can remember. The temperature was flirting with 70 degrees (which was a good thing because the last peice of clothing in my closet that still fit was a summer dress), the sun was beaming through the tops of the downtown buildings, and the entire city’s worth of people were out on the streets enjoying the amazing and uncharacteristic weather.

Bride, groom, wedding party, and family were all a blast to work with as we photographed our way through the Embassy Suites, the Portland Streets, and Waterfront Park. The groomsmen were all basketball finatics (coaches, players, and/or enthusiasts) and even brought a ball along. At first, I was a little worried that they’d be too distracted by March Madness scores and their impromptu “three-man-weave” drills to care about pictures, but when their turn in front of the camera came, the fell into line quickly.

The day was a hit! The ceremony and reception were a blast, the food was amazing, and Summer was stunning! Thanks to my hubs for carrying my bag all day and making sure I was hydrated. Thanks to my amazing photographer friend Sara Gray for second shooting. Thanks to Amy my new sister who spent the whole day learning to second shoot. Thanks to the long list of photographers who agreed to be on call in case my baby came. But most of all, thanks again to Summer and Eric for being so gracious, kind, and easy to work with!

I’ve posted a few fun shots from the day below, and if you’re intereseted in seeing more, Here’s a link to their slideshow

Kailee did an amazing job on all the wedding details, accomplishing a perfect blend simplicity and elegence. After shooting downtown we headed across the river to Sellwood for a perfect and intimate ceremony at the Oaks Pioneer Church a beautifully restored 160 year old church from Oregon’s pioneer days.

The reception was just down the road at the Oaks Park Dance Pavillion and was absolutely awesome. The ring bearer wins two awards for the night: 1) best dancer, and 2) worst cup-cake thief  (see below). Rex with 1st Choice DJ Entertainment did an amazing job (as he has every time I’ve worked with him) of keeping the dance floor hoppin. It didn’t take long for the ladies to ditch their shoes, which made for one of my favorite reception shots of the night, even though it was not an easy one to get crawling with my big ‘ol pregnant belly. 

It was a great day – so very full of love, laughter, and fun. Kailee and Joey, thank you from the bottom of my heart for the priviledge of being a part of such a beautiful milestone in your lives.

The reception was held at the Grand Ballroom downtown, and was as gorgeous as I’ve seen it. They have one of my most favorite dance floors of any venue I’ve worked and it didn’t dissapoint. The paper laterns and twinkle lights created incredible lighting scheme and a great ambiance – I even brought one of my big studio strobes along for some extra dramatic lighting during the dancing. I love taking dance pictures with the strobe, it really gives a ’spot-light’ type of feel to the pictures and it offers some extra creative flexibility.

Another one of my favorite parts of the night was when I got the chance to take Erica and Mike outside the Ballroom to get some low light stuff under Salem’s cool downtown street lighting. There’s something about shooting in the dark without a flash that makes for an extra romantic, movie-like quality to a picture. Ever since the low-light workshop with Art, I can’t get enough of it.

It was a great day and a blast of a wedding.  A couple months back I was a little worried about how my pregnant body was going to hold up during all my winter weddings but so far, apart from some extra sore feet, I think I’ve handled it like a champ!  :)   Thanks Erica and Mike, for trusting me with your big day – your pictures turned out amazingly and I can’t wait for you to see the rest.