I just spent the most fabulous weekend with the most wonderful group of family + friends in town to celebrate with Livia + Don.  Yes, I know every photographer says that about every family they photograph when they blog about them, but I really, truly, deeply mean it. Guests hailed from Germany, Italy, UK, and other exotic places such as The Dalles, Hillsboro, Beaverton, Tualatin, Portland, etc. And they brought with them a collection of traditions + games I hadn’t seen at a wedding before, so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to document + share in.

A shower of roses during the first dance. A log sawing exercise meant to further bond their love. A newlywed game meant to challenge their knowledge of said love.

The following are just a few from Friday’s wedding ceremony because the installation of a new OSX (that’s a fancy new word I became very familiar with this weekend) slowed me down a little + prevented me from getting through much of Saturday’s polterabend celebration.  And if you have to ask what a polterabend is, well you just hold onto your britches.  Because, once you’re in the know, you too will want to throw one down at your next wedding celebration.

So in the meantime, enjoy! I’ll be back with more… and thank you so very much to Livia + Don + their guests!

Location: Leach Botanical Gardens Catering: Food In Bloom Cake:  Portland Style Cheesecake Flowers:  Bouquets and Balloons

For the record, every guest received this beautiful glass creation Livia made herself.  Puts my whatever-I-did-for-my-guests-but-can’t-remember to complete shame.They met on a Lufthansa flight coming back to the States so the “groom’s cake” featured  United + Lufthansa airplanes + pastry replicas of their actual boarding passes!