the journal

Ah, what do I say about Tina & Steve!? Their wedding was picture perfect and Tina was ultra organized (a girl after my own heart) which made everything run so smoothly on wedding day! But Tina & Steve’s elegant Oregon wedding didn’t just happen, even though ‘Steve says [Tina] fell from the sky’ haha! Tina & Steve met at work and became close friends. As Tina puts it, ‘one of us, if not both of us needed a friend at that time. We are now best friends. We lean on one another and that’s something neither of us have had. We drive each other nuts in the best moments and cry together in the right moments. We love one another unconditionally and it’s taken what feels like almost a lifetime to know what that means’. Awh! I just love hearing how couples met and hearing how they talk about each other. Just from reading this and seeing how they were on their wedding day, I know that Tina and Steve have each other’s back. Their love is unconditional and it is so sweet to watch!

A couple weeks before their elegant Oregon wedding, Tina, Steve and their coordinator Gina and I had a video chat and they walked through Ashland Springs Hotel, which was their venue and scouted out all the spots that they wanted photos. They had a list of each photo they wanted and who they wanted in it which made things SO much faster! I had a minute after some of the portraits to sit down in the room where Tina had gotten ready and it was so sweet to just watch her. She was SO excited and anxious at the same time that she couldn’t sit down! haha! Her and Steve didn’t want to see each other before the ceremony and I just loved watching how excited they each were to get married. Because of course, I got to see them both separately before the ceremony! When I asked Steve if he was excited to get married, he immediately said ‘Yes!’ and you could just see this sense of excitement and relief on his face!

The ceremony itself was perfect. The ballroom was stunning and the officiant started out with a prayer and then Tina and Steve read vows, exchanged rings and had a candle lighting ceremony before they shared their first kiss as husband and wife! After the ceremony, we took a few more portraits and then as Tina and Steve walked into their reception, they went straight into their first dance. First dances are always one of my favorite parts of weddings for many reasons. I love music and I feel like it can create feelings that you don’t get without it. There’s also something so special to me about seeing a newly married couple focus only on each other for the whole song. It’s like no one else is there. After the dance, dinner was served and the best man and maid of honor each gave a toast and you could tell by what they said and how they said it, that Tina and Steve are truly amazing people. They are kind and generous and I felt that throughout the day as well. I am so grateful I had the opportunity to capture this wedding and I wish Tina and Steve all the best!