FROM THE BEGINNING
For those who don't know us, Chris and I met in high school our sophomore year. I had seen him around, but we never crossed paths. One day a mutual friend introduced us during passing period. There was a trip to Six Flags scheduled for the next day. I wasn't planning on attending because I don't like roller coasters. Within those 5 minutes of meeting me, Chris asked " Why don't you come with me?"
The bell rang as he finished that sentence. We looked at each other without saying a word, I turned around and just went inside the class.
Our relationship didn't start until 6 months later. It felt like a natural progression, no pressure, we started off as strangers then acquaintances and finally feelings came and we started dating.
When Chris asked me to be his Girlfriend, he said something I will never forget. He said
" Let me change your life ". I looked at him and thought to myself, yeah right... but he sure did.
9 years later, he proposed to me at Zion on that exact date.
HOW DID WE END UP IN OREGON
Since I was little, I always knew I wanted my dream wedding to be in a forest-like setting. We saw different venues in California but they were either out of budget or not delivering the vision. I was going to visit Oregon with my family in November for a church event. I mentioned to Chris, "Why don't we go see if we can find a venue over there?" I quickly started making calls and I was able to book three tours for that weekend.
Three Strands Farm
All three venues that we went to see were beautiful, but it was the last one that won us over.
It checked off every box on our list. Ceremony location, reception, and it included set up and tear down the day of the wedding. It also included a wedding coordinator for the day of. The venue was already perfect for our vision board. Three Strands Farm is located in Lebanon Oregon. It is around 40 minutes from Eugene. The venue has a mystical feel, think Twilight. It was immersed in pine trees which made it feel intimate. There were plants everywhere and white flowers with twinkle lights that turned on at night. It was simply perfect. I had never planned a wedding or party like this, so I wasn't sure what to look for but...it felt right.
Summer Wedding
Summers in Oregon are amazing for photography. The daylight seems endless. The weather is perfect. The trees are green and provide natural shade. There's a light breeze that keeps us cool during the day but not too cold at night. There is nothing like a summer wedding in Oregon.
Sheer Veil
I knew exactly what kind of veil I wanted. The first one I saw was around $600 but thankfully I was able to find one on Etsy for much less. I was reading reviews and looking at prices when I stumbled upon this shop. The style was the Sheer Drop Bridal Veil with Waist length blusher, No Comb Cathedral Veil 120 inches. Exactly what I was looking for.
SHOES
My shoes were from Badgley Mischka. I was struggling to find the right ones. I wanted closed toed but not too high so I can wear them throughout the day. I added some soles to the bottom for more comfort and they worked well throughout the day.
Hair Pins
For my hair I did a ponytail and accessorized it with 2 pins called Casdre Pearl Bridal Hair Piece. I found them on Amazon.
The Groom
Chris' suit was custom made by Suitsupply. The suit was made out of pure wool 4ply with custom dark brown horn buttons to match the chocolate brown fabric. His watch was a silver bezel with black face Seiko with a custom chocolate brown leather band.
His shoes were brown double monk strap also from Suitsupply.
The Details
For our wedding day I wore my Tiffany & Co. watch that Chris gave me on our engagement. It was my "something blue" as the face of the watch was an ice blue color with little diamonds inside. I love the band on the watch since it was something clean and unique.
For our invitations we wanted them to be clean and simple. My best friend crafted our invitations to perfection. Everything that was used to create the invites, we saved for our photographer to take detail shots. I bought the ribbon from Amazon specifically for the details shots and my photographer Dana Delivered!
Bridesmaids
For my Bridesmaids I wanted them to wear something they felt comfortable in. We decided on black to match the groomsmen but since the wedding was going to be during the summer, I thought it would be best if the dresses were linen instead of silk. They all selected their own styles from DISSH. I absolutely loved all their dresses and they all looked so beautiful.
They all had a small bouquet to match my champaign colored roses.
Our florist @sweetgatheringsfloral did a beautiful job!
Family Colors
For our families, we asked them to wear a sage green for the ladies and black for the gentlemen/groomsmen. For our dads, We chose a creamy color suit with a black tie and white button up. We wanted them to stand out from the rest of our guest but still compliment the sage green.
The Ceremony
Traditionally, weddings in our church are done like a Sunday service. After the preaching then comes the blessing of our marriage. Throughout our relationship we always spoke about how we envisioned the service for our wedding. We saw Chris' brother leading the worship along with his wife. When the service was going on, I could only thank God for allowing our dream to come true and having the service of our dreams. We can never thank them enough for the beautiful service they did along with the other musicians. We are thankful to our church members which are our family in Christ, that took the time to go out to Oregon to be part of this day with us.
Reception
Catering
Finally! The food!
For our wedding, we had RJ Skillets cater Mexican food. We selected two dishes to be part of the menu which were Chicken Enchiladas and Carnitas. We loved their food and our guest couldn't have enough of it. It was flavorful, beautiful presentation, attentive service from the waiters and overall a wonderful experience. I would recommend 100%.
The Coffee Bar
When Chris and I locked in the date and venue, the next thing we booked was our coffee bar vendor. Chris and I don't drink alcohol and so drinks were not going to be part of the wedding. Instead we thought of sharing coffee with our guest. Intentional Espresso was everything we had hoped for. I loved that they provided alternative milk options for our guest and provided a menu that had a variety of options that included hot coco for the kiddos. I was nervous at first because I wasn't able to try their drinks prior to the wedding but I trusted the reviews and hoped for the best. When Chris and I finally got our coffee we absolutely loved it. I got my Vanilla latte and Chris a Hazelnut Latte which was actually a guest favorite. My only regret was that I didn't get to sit down and really enjoy it like I would normally do but it was still a special memory for us.
A LITTLE PIECE OF US
We didn't really know what to give for our party favors. We looked around for a couple of months and finally decided to do coffee bean bags since we were having a coffee bar. We got the bags from Etsy and we filled them up ourselves the day before. At the very last minute, we decided to give a second party favor. Chris and I always collect pins from the places we visit, so we decided to look for a pin shop that could make custom pins for us as party favors. We decided to go with pine tree pins to represent the venue and the state of Oregon. On the back of the pins, it had our date engraved. It was one of those personal touches that really captured Chris and I.
CAFE CON PAN
One thing I didn't want to spend too much money on was desserts. Since we were having a coffee bar, we thought cafe con pan would be the perfect combo. We had different types of Mexican sweet bread, cookies, macaroons and croissants.
We went with a simple white cake because I loved the idea of having a floral arrangement around it. Our florist gave us this arrangement that had all the same flowers as my bouquet. The cake was from Sweet Life Patisserie. We had red velvet, guava passionfruit and berries & custard. They were all delicious!
Our Vows
The Oregon coast is something you just have to experience. Nothing like California beaches. We originally wanted to elope at the coast, but in the end, we decided to have a traditional wedding. We mentioned that to our photographer and she suggested doing a " day after" session. I instantly fell in love with the idea and we decided to do our vows in private as part of the beach session. I wanted to do a natural look for myself. We wore our wedding outfits in a casual way. I let me hair down in its natural wavy frizzy form and I couldn't be happier with how the day turned out.
Overall, Dana really captured our vision and gave us pictures that will last us a lifetime. These are pictures we would feel proud to show our kids and family to come. We are grateful to have been able to live out our dreams and really feel the love around us.
For those who are reading this and are planning their wedding, my #1 advice would be to remember this is for you and your spouse. The love and commitment that you two are willing to put in should be celebrated and cherished. Everything else should come second.
