Once again we are back on the road to Bend! It is always a good time for us when we are in Central Oregon, especially when the venue is only a few blocks away from my oldest daughter and we get to meet up for dinner afterwards! This adorable venue in one of the Bend City Parks has several unique spots for photos, including the beautifully restored barn, several out buildings, and the surrounding park grounds. The ceremony site was under the flowing canopy of an old willow tree, decorated with white heart streamers, lanterns on pedestals next to baskets of gorgeous flowers, and the aisle way was made of candles in cups sitting on wood cookies. They had a dear friend  that worked diligently to light each one of those votive candles just before the wedding party started to walk down the aisle, but unfortunately the lovely afternoon breeze had other plans and by the time the bride made her way down the path, they were no longer lit. Fortunately that was a very minor detail, and it appeared to be the only hitch in an otherwise relaxed and fun day.

Alison was wearing an absolutely gorgeous antique white dress, with layers of short ruffles that made her truly look like a princess on the dance floor as it flowed out into a full flowing skirt. She was simply glowing when she saw herself in the mirror as she put the dress on. When she added the coral shoes that matched the sandals her three little adorable flower girls were wearing, well it just looked too cute. The color she chose for the bridesmaids to wear was a beautiful shade of turquoise, which went together very nicely with the bright bouquets of coral, orange, cream, yellow and green. The overall country barn wedding vibe was evident in the decor as well, with burlap and lace covered tables decorated with jars full of flowers, to the cutely decorated mason jar "thank you" glasses for all the guests to use and take with them as mementos.

This adorable couple included their 1st child in the ceremony too, their cute black dog, he was actually the ring bearer and carried both of the wedding rings in a little backpack tied to his collar. He stood faithfully by both his masters as they exchanged their vows and became a family together.  I must say that many couples nowadays are including their dogs in their wedding party and it is just so adorable! After all they are part of the family too.

We met Katie and Alex through a referral from one of our other brides, Rebecca, who is a friend of theirs. We hadn't even shot Rebecca and Ben's wedding at the time she had recommended us to her friends for their upcoming wedding. It really made us feel special that she thought so highly of us before even working with us.

Their venue was very unique building used by the Crag Rats to stage mountain rescues from, nestled in the Hood River Valley of orchards and vineyards with an incredible view of Mt. Hood from the ceremony site on the back patio. We had a blast running around the area taking some fantastic bride and groom shots in the orchard fields, along the train tracks, next to some old buildings, and we really loved the look we got at the tower of packing crates. These two were such a fun couple to hang out with, they felt like longtime friends just enjoying the day.

Among the guests were our previous bride, Rebecca, along with the minister that married her and Ben, he also happened to be a mutual friend of both couples. It was fun to see familiar faces from another wedding. The views were amazing, and the sun broke through the clouds just in time to have the majestic mountain in the background of the family photos, it really made for a picturesque spot for wonderful memories.

We always love the weddings that have a fun theme, or stray a little from the traditional styles. Well our evening at Edgefield with Kayla and Parker was anything but traditional, from the bride dressed in black, gold and purple with blue and green hair, to the Batman logo on the cake, we knew we were in for a great evening with one fun group of people!

I must say that Kayla has some amazing friends standing up to support her big day, one bridesmaid was over 8 months pregnant and having pains, another one had a horrible broken leg with pins sticking out and she was in excruciating pain, and this was the first time we have ever had a male bridesmaid wearing a tutu.  Dedicated friends indeed, which was very apparent as the lovely couple were receiving wonderful heartfelt messages with each speech that was given, and each toast that was made.  They are truly loved by their friends and family, and we were very happy to capture that in their photos.

The venue provided a great dinner menu of delicious food, and of course the guests enjoyed the famous McMenamins brews Hammerhead and Ruby, along with a selection of Edgefield wines.  The deserts that were served along with the wedding cake were these absolutely amazing little petit for's in a variety of flavors, they were very rich and delicious. The entire evening was a fun celebration with a great group of people.