Just a Question

Chrissy - Choosing a site was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be.

I originally wanted to get married outside with a typical Oregonian backdrop. It was also important to us that there be an indoor area for back-up. It had to be somewhat affordable with preferred caterers with decent prices, not be a typical hotel ballroom and have enough hours included in their site fees that we not be rushed through the day.
We toured a lot of vineyards and a ton of B&B’s in Portland and in the Gorge. I was surprised that a lot of these places could not really accommodate our party size (125 people) inside in case of inclement weather, which put them out of the running.

We also toured a lot of the larger venues. Our favorites were Gorge Crest Vineyards, which just can’t be beat for beauty, and Timberline Lodge, though both were a little out of budget since we wanted a Saturday wedding. Jenkins Estate was a front runner for a long time as they have a beautiful field where you can get married and interesting reception areas. But, the hours they give you for an evening wedding would have pushed the wedding back very late.

We finally decided on the World Forestry Center, which was my husband’s favorite all along. Miller Hall is a beautiful space with gorgeous beam ceilings and it was more than big enough to hold our guests and had a separate patio and lounge area for cocktail hour. Also, their events manager and preferred vendors were awesome. When we first booked it I wished that they had a better outdoor ceremony site. But, we ended up having a beautiful indoor ceremony. Paul did a great job of getting beautiful shots of the ceremony and reception.

So, for us it ended up being about practicality. No, I didn’t book the first place that made my heart sing. I’d be broke if I had done that. I didn’t book the second place that made me gasp. My guests would have been very cold and possibly rained on had I done that. I booked the place my husband loved and the one that I grew to love where we had a beautiful wedding within the budget we set. Doesn’t sound very romantic when I say it that way. But, our wedding truly was beautiful and lovely and romantic and… exactly what I didn’t know I had wanted.