There is something about a Melissa Sweet gown that just takes a wedding and makes it perfect. It’s like the Melissa Sweet brides are one part creative, one part romantic, and one part chic. This Oregon wedding, captured by Holland Studios, is the ideal, sweet wedding. Filled to the brim with amazing florals from Blüm, Design in Flowers, this wedding, planned magnificently by Bridal Bliss, simply glows with the love this couple shares. It’s beautiful, to put it simply. Click here for the full image gallery!
Rentals from The Party Place.
Sometimes, romance starts with a kiss, sometimes with an intimate gaze, and in some cases with few questions. In our case, it was all of the above. Our relationship commenced one evening at an outdoor café in Portland with two mutual friends. Over an evening of drinks, dinner, and a little interrogation, Mike and I quickly sensed the immediate attraction but wanted to understand the each other’s interests, perspectives, and long term goals. What proceeded was an unabridged question and answer session similar to the game 20 questions. We both passed with flying colors and were engaged 11 months later after a romantic trip to Greece.
The next step was to plan the wedding which held a variety of possibilities for us. Since neither of us are Portland natives we explored everything from a destination wedding in Victoria, B.C to clam bake in Nantucket to an intimate ceremony in the French countryside. All options had meaning for us however, in the end we decided to marry in the place where our journey (and questions) began: Oregon.
When we walked through the threshold of The View Point Inn, we both knew that we found our venue. Built in 1924 and nestled on a bluff in the Columbia River Gorge, the inn has housed celebrated presidents, Hollywood Motion Picture stars and European royalty. More recently at the inn, Bella Swan and Edward Cullen spoke these words to each other while filming the screenplay version of the book Twilight, “I love you more than anything else in the world combined. Isn’t it enough?’ “Yes, it’s enough,” he answered smiling. “Enough for forever.” We knew we found our forever too.
As we progressed with the planning process we decided to embrace our love of understated elegance. We opted for neutral tones that would highlight the venue’s historic features while allowing for the natural beauty of the Columbia River Gorge to shine. After reviewing a plethora of color options, we repeatedly returned to green, white, and brown tones.
For the bridesmaids, I found a beautiful Jenny Yoo dress in bottle green while Mike chose black classic tuxedos for the men. We carried this same theme through as we chose our flowers, invitations, and favors. Thanks to Nora Sheils of Bridal Bliss, were connected with amazing vendors to help realize our vision.
Some of the more meaningful details of the wedding were the handmade chocolates by Cristina Yen, one of my bridesmaids, and the “advice tree” created by Blüm, Design in Flowers. At our rehearsal dinner, the night prior to our wedding, guests received cream and green circular cards and were asked to give a piece of advice. The following day, the cards were hung from a beautiful arrangement of twigs and flowers. Mike and I have since made an album of the words of wisdom offered by our loved ones and friends. Our wedding concluded with guests being sent home with homemade ice cream sandwiches from a local creamery that sported a sticker with our names on it. We escaped, ice cream in tow, to our private suite with all of our questions answered.
Photography: Holland Studios / Flowers: Blüm, Design in Flowers / Event Planning: Bridal Bliss / Ceremony Location: The Viewpoint Inn / Reception Location: The Viewpoint Inn / Dress: Melissa Sweet from Anna’s Bridal Boutique / Hair: Fada Salon / Makeup: Event Cosmetics / Bagpipes: Bagpipes NW / String Group: Duo Con Brio / Cake: La Jaconde / Band: Design / Ice Cream Sandwiches: Ruby Jewel / Rentals: The Party Place / Chocolates: A Yen for Chocolate / Ice Cream Sandwiches: Ruby Jewel / Calligraphy: Lori Raines Calligraphy Studio