Congratulations and welcome to our site! We are very excited about all the recent engagements, and we are looking forward to a busy year of weddings! 2017 was a little different for us, although our summer was filled with weddings, we were attending them with friends and family, instead of being the photographers. We were unable to commit our time in advance, as we faced a hard year of losing my mother to Alzheimer's. We didn't want to take the chance of having our family situation impact the plans for someone's wedding, so we focused our photography attention on other projects throughout the year instead.

It's a bright new year, and we are ready to book up the 2018/2019 calendar with your special day!!  We were lucky enough to ring in the new year with a magical wedding on December 29th with Lisa and Brandon, at the Abernethy Chapel in Oregon City. Lisa is the sister of one of our previous grooms, Bret and Jessica's wedding in 2016, and it was so great to see so many of the family members that we had spent such a wonderful day with. The wedding was very special, in so many ways, and everything was so beautiful. It was the perfect start to the new year, and we can't wait to meet you and start planning your 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.

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.

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.

The maroon color the wedding party wore really popped against the greenery of the venue, and the girls all carried a simple bundle of wheat as their bouquets.  This wedding party was so much fun to photograph

.

This intimate setting was a private beach house that the entire family was staying at together, and the ceremony was held out on the front lawn in front of their closest friends and family. I was nervous about messing up, speaking in public is always a little difficult for me, but this family was so welcoming to both of us, and they were all very warm and inviting.

These two have traveled a harder road than some others may have, and their little family is truly special and very loved. We were so happy to help them capture some difficult shots, and to be part of their amazing day.

The stage for this lovely couple to exchange their vows before an intimate group of family and friends, was the top of Rocky Butte Park with incredible views of the Columbia River Gorge, Mount Hood, and downtown Portland. The old brick structure at the top is like a castle tower with a grand sweeping staircase that was the perfect backdrop for photos. The ceremony site was a beautifully decorated white wooden arch with huge bundles of gardenias and begonia flowers tied to it, and it was a really beautiful Saturday evening at the end of July and the views were wonderful.

After the ceremony we all traveled to a  restaurant in the Pearl District where they had reserved a private party room with an opening to an outside patio with tables and chairs. The guests were served a lovely gourmet meal  around one big table for everyone to enjoy conversations and reminiscing together. Before dinner was served we were able to sneak the bride and groom away into the streets of downtown Portland for some fun night time street shots.

Knoll Crest Gardens is an amazing wedding venue nestled in the valley near the Sandy River, in Boring. The spacious grounds are perfectly manicured with an adorable pond and a dock, two different gazebos, an adorable red barn, a little creek with a bridge to a stone bench, lush greenery surrounding beautiful landscaping everywhere, and the elegant touches of outdoor chandeliers hanging from the tree branches made it feel truly sophisticated for an outdoor wedding. The bar was adorable, and very popular, and the dance floor was beautifully decorated with tulle and lights, and well used by the guests.

The entire day was so happy and peaceful and very well organized, it was truly magical and very special. The friends and family that helped make all the wonderful food for such a large group, not to mention all the behind the scene work that went into this beautiful event, they all did an amazing job!  This was by far our largest wedding to date with over 350 guests, and also the largest wedding party we have ever had at 19! It was so much fun to be part of this wonderful wedding with great friends!

The venue was simply adorable and nicely decorated, with a beautiful big indoor fireplace that was the backdrop for the ceremony and most of our family shots. The park grounds outside were wonderful, complete with a fishing pond and the perfect bridge for reflection photos. 

This was a large welcoming family and we had a wonderful time with all of them, they really made us feel like part of the group. Lauren was a really beautiful young bride with a very tearful loving father at her side, and even though she had recently lost her mother to cancer, we could all feel her presence through Lauren eyes.  We are sure that she was a very proud mother looking down on her beautiful little girl that day.

The setting was really pretty, and the ceremony site was nicely set up on the driving range with a beautiful archway flowing with flowers in the breeze. It was an extremely hot day for early June, actually a record heat breaking kind of day, but everyone was great about it and they even had a cooler of water bottles for their guests.

We really enjoyed getting to use the golf carts to ride around the course for photos. There was a lovely pond that we were able to use as a backdrop for the bride and groom shots, and the entire setting was just gorgeous.

We had a wonderful time with another great family, and truly hope that they all enjoyed their trip to Oregon!

Charlie has won the honor of being our 1st groom to get married in full Scottish attire, (well we think is Scottish attire) including the kilt.  He looked great and really knew how to pull off the look, I have never met such a manly man in a skirt, lol.  They said their vows outside under a giant oak tree in typical Oregon fashion, with a few rain drops and a chilly breeze.  A little unexpected for the out of town wedding party and guests, but our bride and groom didn't seem to notice at all. It was a beautiful setting along the majestic Columbia River and they are a truly adorable couple.

The second "1st" we got to experience was seeing these cute little alien guys on top of the wedding cake.  I wish we had asked the significance of them, as I am sure they have a special meaning to Kate and Charlie.  But I must say, they are the cutest cake toppers we have ever seen, and the first aliens.

Finally, this wedding has the distinction of being our first wedding where the couples dog was part of the wedding party. She was really a fun addition, and looked beautiful in her wings, and even became quite the honorable guest at the reception. You can see how much she love her humans becoming family.

This young couple had a very creative setting completely centered around their favorite things from Harry Potter and Dr. Who. You could see the love in all the details, from the table centerpieces made of stacked books that they had painstakingly recovered with craft paper and titled with fun magical names, to the delicious candy bar, complete with witchy names for the treats. The references and saying were everywhere you looked and the decorations were over the top!

Even the wedding party wore the different colors of Hogwarts, with the bridesmaids carrying magic wands instead of bouquets, and the decorated cupcakes even represented the houses of Hogwarts.

It was truly a day filled with fun for everyone, and we really enjoyed being a part of their magical day.

Most wedding photographers consist of 1 “shooter” and maybe 1 assistant, unless you are willing to pay for a second shooter.  Even then there is a very good chance you may end up with two male photographers (not that there is anything wrong with that).  When working with us you will always have 2 photographers at no extra charge, and they will always be the two of us.  We have had several brides choose us just because Sherry is the second photographer, and they were not sure how they would feel having a male photographer in their bridal suite as they were dressing and getting ready.  At most weddings I will briefly assist Sherry in the bridal suite, off and on, as I also cover the groom getting ready, ring shots, dress photos, guests arriving and other details.  However Sherry is normally with you the entire time, so you don't have to worry about who is in the room when it’s time to get into your dress.  Sometimes that is when she gets some really beautiful shots of you with your bridal party and of course family and friends that will pop in to see you as you are getting ready.  Sherry's primary goal is to make sure your day goes just the way you envisioned it.

Having a husband and wife team you also gain two different perspectives on the day.  We both have complementing shooting styles, however we do differ slightly in the way we might photograph some details or parts of the day.  The way a guy sees a wedding is different from a women’s perspective, what one thinks is important might be different than the other.  So we both capture the same moments and details, but usually slightly different, which gives our couples even greater variety in their final images.  Speaking of variety, we also cover each part of the day from different vantage points with different focal length lenses, honestly there’s nothing better than being able to see your cake smash happen from several angles.

In addition to all of that,  Sherry loves to help with wedding planning, we understand a lot of brides in our price range may not have dedicated wedding planners, so Sherry will often help fill that void on the wedding day.  We have attended enough weddings to understand the flow, we know how long things should take, the order to do them in, and how to keep the day moving.  We are also more than happy to help put together a timeline for your entire day to keep everything running smoothly, so you can actually relax and enjoy the day.

By far, we believe the biggest advantage you get when choosing Littlejohn Photography, is our pricing.  Every package comes with both of us as photographers, if you’re going to spend $800 on a single photographer, why not spend the same $800 and have both of us covering your special day.  We also deliver all edited photos within 3 weeks, not many others can say that.

​

They had been planning an outdoor wedding since the venue has several beautiful settings among the grounds to choose from, but the wonderful Pacific Northwest had other plans.  Fortunately Gray Gables is one of those venues that has you covered no matter what mother nature tosses your way. 

After a lovely indoor ceremony we whisked the new couple away to witness the official documentation of the wedding, and spend a little time doing the bridal party photos.   We were even able to sneak in some outdoor photos with the immediate families before the rain returned.

The reception was a simply elegant and relaxing affair full of dancing, eating, more dancing, cake cutting and an all around wonderful afternoon. They are a truly amazing couple with extremely nice family and friends, it was a pleasure to be included in their special day.

​

We wish Bret and Jessica a lifetime of love and happiness.

For more images please take a couple minutes and enjoy a sneak peek slideshow

     Also like most women, when that day finally arrived I was faced with a tight budget. By the time we took care of the beautiful gown , and venue, and dresses, and tuxes, and flowers, and cake, and food, and beverages.....well you see where the problem leads. There is nothing left for a professional high end photographer to capture it all!  

     Now some of you may not see this as important, or maybe you just never really thought about it because at least half the people you know probably have some sort of digital camera, or maybe even a really great cell phone.  Trust me ladies, it is not the same!

     My husband and I were faced with a dilemma, we wanted amazing pictures but the budget was spent. Since I was marrying a photographer with photo editing capabilities we decided to try and find a photography student to take the pictures to help build their portfolio, and we would do all the post processing ourselves.  It seemed like a much better choice than Scott trying to take all the photos while being the one getting married!

     Our photographer seemed to have all the right equipment, and was actually taking college courses on photography, was planning to be a wedding photographer upon graduation and we thought it was the perfect solution. We thought wrong! We had a horrible experience. This person did not have the people skills needed to interact with others, and our day was filled with frustration and embarrassment as my family members were spoken to rudely. It really ruined the perfect day of my dreams.

     Then the nightmare continued for months as we tried and failed to get communication from this person that held all my photos in their possession. It was a long drawn out ordeal, that had me in tears over and over again. When we finally got the digital files we were devastated to realize that the settings used were all wrong for the environment we were in, and the post processing was a nightmare. 

     I do have that nice portrait shot hanging on the wall, and I do have a book to look through all the memories, but the pictures are not as amazing as my dreams, and the feelings I get while looking at them are not what they should be.

     This is why we expanded our business into weddings. I wanted to help struggling couples that wanted to have those fabulous shots without having to pay several thousand dollars to get them. We wanted to be the budget friendly, great to work with, happy to be referred to your friends kind of business.  We want to be the ones that give you that awesome wall hanging shot that you are proud to tell your friends about us, and send them our way. 

Christina wanted to do a first look and formals before the ceremony.

After formals the girls retreated back into the house for makeup touch ups. 

Before we knew it, it was time for the ceremony to start.

The ceremony was beautiful but after everyone was ready to cut loose and enjoy the rest of the evening.

​

​

Leslie arrived right on time looking stunning. 

 Now it was time for the ceremony.  We always enjoy a wedding with young children, they have a tendency to make things interesting and fun. 

​

Following the ceremony we snagged the family for a few minutes before sending the kids back to their Grandmas so we could get some newlywed photos.

​

Returning to the reception it was time for everyone to let loose and enjoy the afternoon.

​

We would like to congratulate Linda and Nick.  We had the honor of joining them on June 9th in Tillamook, Oregon to photograph their amazing wedding.  We arrived a couple hours before the ceremony and were able to capture the little details along with the bride and groom getting ready. 

​

We then drove up to the boat launch area of the lake and took some beautiful pictures of them with Mt. Hood and Trillium Lake in the background.

We are looking forward to doing a few more shots with a country theme this week as we get to check out the wedding venue. Tune in soon for more of their engagement photos.....