We’re lucky enough to start the week with a huge treat, our very first wedding planned by someone reading A Practical Wedding! This wedding is one of the most magical weddings I’ve ever seen. From the bride:
We were married June 15th, 2008 at Camp Angelos in Corbett, Oregon.
After briefly flirting with an elopement we discussed why we’d want to host a wedding. For us a wedding was not our special day or the beginning of our life together, a wedding was the chance to make a public declaration of our love in front of our closest friends and family. We wanted to honor our heritage and ask for the love and support of our community throughout our relationship and lives together.
I wasn’t interested in the traditional “unveiling of the bride” so we got ready together in a tiny poorly lit room together giggling like school children. We then trotted outside hand-in-hand to greet guests as they arrived with lemonade and ice tea. Once everyone was assembled we, all 98 of us, paraded into a clearing in the woods for an intimate mostly standing ceremony under an antique lace chuppa Mike’s dad hung from the cedars. The ceremony was my favorite part of the wedding- being in the woods created an ethereal feeling, everything happened in slow motion, I felt like I was in an all encompassing bubble of love.
Because Mike works in events we were able to DIY most of the reception for free or at cost: the food- cooked and served by friend, Our beautiful invitations were designed and silkscreened by our good friends Lloyd and Cassie Winters, hand made organic chocolate favors (in the shape of woodland friends eeee!) were made by my pal Sarah.
I designed the decor, bouts and foliage- we skipped flowers and opted for maiden hair ferns, moss, wood cookies, terrariums, craft paper and little woodland animal toys.
Looking back on our wedding I’m so glad we had a celebration that included everyone we loved that could make it, babies, old folks, new friend, weird family, it was a total lovefest. It was also important to us to be honest about are abilities and stay within our means-we spent 8,600ish and not a dime on credit cards. We skipped all the traditional forced merriment of toasts, dances, cake cutting, bouquet toss, cheesy dj’s, etc and instead let folks eat, visit and and make merry as they saw fit.
I love hearing peoples stories of the wedding, in addition to seeing us get married everyone has their own special memories. One friend went on hike and her baby saw his first deer. Another group of friends sneaked onto a boat in the lake to cause mischief. Children and grandparents played on the swing sets together… It was a very great day…
Congratulations you two! If you can create something this full of magic and love, I know that your many years together will be full of joy, creativity, and adventure.
Photos by His and Her Photography out of Portland
