From day one, Ashley + Nick were the sweetest couple to work with, but because of the distance, we didn’t meet until their wedding day.  So it was no surprise that they were even more wonderful in person.  And between the two of them, their incredibly supportive friends + extended family, I think I had about as much fun as they did.   All the forces of Northwest nature came together to deliver spectacular weather for their wedding, which took place at the Cedar Cove Inn, located up in Port Orchard, Washington…a beautiful + historic home carefully remodeled and converted into a B + B that overlooks the bay + the Olympic Mountains.  It was the ideal backdrop for their celebration.

So the thoughtfulness and personal connection to all the details were the icing on the cake.  Ashley’s friend and insanely talented stylist Yessie came over from Seattle to help get the girls ready.  They were married by a friend.  And yet another friend Chef Ryan, who has traveled + worked the world over, delivered on some amazing pulled pork + other summer picnic-style eats.  They handed out beautiful hand stamped programs for the day.  Featured a collection of photographs pinned to a clothesline surrounding the dance floor.  And served up local brews in bell jars, complete with name tags and game teasers.

Ashley + Nick, I hope your future together is equally beautiful + playful + full of love as your wedding day.

It was a dark + stormy…afternoon.  But in true Oregon style, Kristen + Will shared their vows + love + celebration as planned in their own backyard.  As they exchanged rings with one another, they also gave rings to each of their kids, a very touching and all encompassing embrace of their new family unit.  And extended family + friends had a hand in providing everything from food to flowers to music to chicken chasers.  It was a true “barn raising” of a wedding…and it was an incredible honor to be a part of their day.

I wish you both a lifetime of love through the rain.

My cheeks hurt at the end of the day.  Because you can’t help but smile when you’re taking pictures of two of the sweetest, most sincere people who could not be more in love and more excited to be married to one another.  The ear-to-ear grins they both had all day were proof of that.

Thank you so much JR + Sasha for sharing with me your day, your friends + family, and your honest to goodness love.  You are two very unique and wonderful people and I wish you a lifetime of very unique and wonderful things.

Happy one week anniversary…

Who needs a studio, when you have this.  I don’t want to be giving away my sweet locations, because then everyone photographer in town will want to shoot there.  Let’s just say it rhymes with ‘trailer park’.

JR had spent the previous 10+ hours scanning country music stations on his drive up from the Bay Area.  And still they were game for any number of antics.  I’m so much looking forward to their May wedding.

Once upon a time on a Friday in April when the sun was so beautiful + bright + dearly missed that it brings a tear to your eye, Melissa + Lon flew in from Colorado to scope out Timberline Lodge and go over details for their September wedding.   In fact, the sun was so bright and the snow so, well, white, it was difficult to spend much time in the actual out of doors without serious eye protection.  {tho said eye protection does provide for some fun reflective images}.

Thank you so much to the both of you, and your most endearing and wonderful chauffers, for sharing some of your time with me.  I can’t wait for September.

It was truly a magical morning.  The incessant northwest rain stopped, the clouds parted, and someone flipped the switch on the sun as if we were on the set of a movie in a make believe Portland.  Seriously.  It could not have been any more perfect and Amy + Eric could not have been any sweeter.  It is not easy to suddenly “turn it on” for the camera, in front of complete strangers jogging along the Eastbank Esplanade, and especially if you don’t get paid a bajillion bucks an hour.  But these two were absolute troopers and you wouldn’t know they don’t do this sort of thing for a living.

Thank you both so very much.  I can’t wait for your Edgefield wedding in September!!

Under a blazing late September sun, five years to the day I did the same, Ben and Emily said ‘I do’ under a canopy of trees on the family farm.  It was a uniquely beautiful wedding that drew on the many talents of family + friends.  Emily’s mom designed the flowers.  Her sister Amanda put together an incredible collection of mini bundt cakes, all displayed on a fabulous desert candelabra built by Ben’s brother.  Ben’s sister Kathryn cooked up a host of fabulous appetizers. And friends pitched in with their music talents, roasting skills, as well as some tasty home brew dedicated to the bride + groom.

What a wonderful way to begin the rest of your life.  What an honor to share an anniversary with two incredible people.

Catering: Cook With What You Have + Loustic Catering Cakes: Robots Love Cupcakes