Oregon Trip | Amy & LUke Got Married

Amy & Luke got married on Friday, October 17th in Oregon at Aunt Diane’s house on the McKenzie River.  And yes, the photo above is the most epic wedding photo ever.  Amy had seen a similar photo online and wanted to re-created it.  So Todd, Luke, and all of Luke’s brothers played the roles.  Epic.

In the morning the ladies had appointments at Bello Salon for manicures, hair styling, and makeup.  My hair isn’t really this red.  It’s actually medium golden brown, according to L’Oreal, ha ha.  But in some lighting it looks really red, like here.  I had gotten my nails done and my hair done, and was sitting in the makeup chair.

It was noon by the time we got out of the salon.  The wedding was supposed to start at 1:30 but everyone was running late, so we delayed it to 2:00.  The perks of having a small wedding!

Aunt Diane’s upstairs bathroom served as the bridal room for getting ready.

Linda and I took a selfie.  Linda is Amy’s best friend since high school, and the maid-of-honor.

One of the wedding photographers took this photo of me and Todd with our camera.

When your family used to play in a band together, your brother and your dad are handy with the sound equipment, LOL!

The wedding day was the only day it rained while we were in Oregon!  But despite the rain, Aunt Diane’s deck looked absolutely lovely. 

A selfie on the river.

The wedding about to start.  Luke’s family sitting on the groom’s side.

Todd in charge of the music.

The cake on display.

The groom, Luke, and his brother Sam, the best man, waiting to walk to the front of the ceremony.

The moms walking down the aisle and dispersing flower pedals.

The maid-of-honor Linda walking down the aisle.

I caught this moment of Amy and dad, right before dad walks her down the aisle.  Uncle Les (Aunt Diane’s husband) holding the umbrella for them.

Amy walking down the aisle.  This is one of my favorite photos that I captured during the wedding.  Todd’s dad Tim smiling behind Amy.  Amy’s radiant smile and happiness as she sees Luke.  Precious.

The pastor gave a lovely sermon.  Then there was exchange of vows and rings.

And finally the Kiss.

After the wedding there was a lot of photo-taking with the professional photographers.  We stood around waiting for our turn to be in pictures.  Everyone relaxed.  It was so great to have the wedding at Aunt Diane’s house, because we all just sat around, ate snacks, and relaxed afterwards! 

Todd’s dad Tim prepared a lovely slide show featuring childhood photos of Amy & Luke, and got the parents and family involved in telling the stories.  It was paired with music and it was really great.  I didn’t catch a photo of it, but the slideshow was in the living room and everyone gathered around the couches and chairs and it was quite fun.  Tim really put a lot of time and loving energy into it.

Pretty soon, around 5pm, it was time to make the one-hour drive to Pfeiffer Vineyards in south Willamette Valley for the wedding dinner!  We had a joke amongst ourselves that everything is one-hour drive away from Aunt Diane’s house.  You’ll see in my next post what we mean. 

The winery was beautiful.  Everyone gathered around the fireplace with the owner of the vineyards, Robin Pfeiffer.

Our party occupied a big long table.

We had either steak or shrimp for dinner.  I somehow forgot to take photos of the food.  Pfeiffer Vineyards are known for their Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris.  I had a Pinot Gris with my shrimp dinner.

After dinner there was cake-cutting.

And cake-eating.

Amy & Luke prepared gifts for family. 

Amy & her best friend Linda, the maid-of-honor.  They couldn’t talk about each other without crying.

Todd gave an impromptu speech/toast.

Family merriment.

Amy telling dad Tim how much he meant to her and giving him a gift.  No dry eyes in the house.

Amy giving mom Sylvia her gift.

There happened to be a gypsy jazz band playing there that night.  They were quite good and we enjoyed the music a lot!

Amy & Luke asked them to play the Etta James song, “At Last” for their wedding dance.

It was beautiful.

The splendid wedding day ended and we were all so happy but tired.  We drove back to the hotel and crashed.  Stay tuned for Oregon Day 3!