Jupiter Hotel Wedding in Portland

Shaina and Jason are from from ordinary. It only makes sense to have an extraordinary wedding day. Starting at the iconic Jupiter Hotel the wedding day of everyone's dreams began.

After Shaina finished getting ready she was ready for the big reveal to her mom and grandmother. This was truly such a special moment to see. Three generations of strong, beautiful women all here to celebrate under the same roof. This is the kind of moment that led me to this career and drove such a strong passion for it even after all of these years. Witnessing pure joy and excitement is one of those raw emotions that reminds us all we are alive. As expected, the family was elated and the happiest of tears were shed.

Arriving At The Jupiter Hotel Wedding Venue

I could tell from the energy in the room that this was going to be a fun day. Hearing of their travels, festivals and world shenanigans geared me up for the excitement to come at the venue. If you aren't familiar, Coopers Hall is one of those venues every vendor knows and dreams of working in. It is profoundly aesthetic, the lighting is incredible and the people who run it are equally beautiful. So, I was indeed overjoyed to be at this venue on such a beautiful summer day. It's urban, it's glam, it is every ounce of what makes Portland weddings so grand.

We arrived to the venue and readied Jason + Shaina for their first look with each other. First looks are SO sweet and I honestly can't get enough of them. The giggles, the pure expression, the tears, the realization that all of your hard work and planning is fairly here - it's beautiful. It also helps to relieve so much of the pent of anxiety that comes along with wedding days. One thing that isn't talked about much regarding first looks is the fact it will be (most likely) the only moment the two of you have to yourselves for the whole day. It is so nice to just have that and be present in the moment with each other before the main feature.

These two were beyond ready to see each other and those sweet moments were captured perfectly. nerves and all!

As any fun couple does, these two had a drink, a shot of caffeine and said "ok let's do this!"

We went down the stairs where there was a social gathering hour pre-ceremony and did their first big reveal to close family and friends. It was shouting, whistling and a whole lot of love.

Every person in the room was buzzing, including me, with the energy that was surrounding us. We started family photos, bridal party photos and captured a few details before everyone arrived.

Did I mention yet how beautiful of a venue it is?

The Beautiful Coopers Hall Wedding Venue

Everything was flawless during the ceremony. For the first time, I saw something so unique and special at a wedding that I was actually amazed. After a decade in this business, you have seen almost everything. I was pleasantly surprised.

Two of their friends did a double officiant job together. It was very important to Shaina and Jason that they worked as a team. As a surprise, they gathered two letters from anonymous loved ones. One letter was for Jason, one was for Shaina. What these letters spoke about was the love this couple radiates out of them and it had every eye in the room wet.

Not knowing who it was speaking about them they read each of their letters out loud. It spoke about the character of not only the two of them, but everyone in their life they surrounded themselves with and who was in this room today.

There were so many belly laughs, words of wisdom and happy tears that flowed throughout the entirety of the ceremony. It was everything you could want on your big day.

The decor of this wedding was immaculate! It was the dream for every photographer. Shaina and Jason both picked one thing they wanted to splurge on with their budget. Jason picked food, Shaina picked florals. As we moved into cocktail hour both of these items really shined.

The disco balls, big florals decorated the space and the hor d'oeuvres were flowing. It was the perfect blend of Portland glam and modern disco rolled into one. The homage paid to the culinary twists in this city was such a good touch. This is the food city after all. Portland wouldn't be Portland without the food scene.

After very heartfelt speeches, one of the best vendor meals I have ever had and a improv skit from the mother of the bride, I whisked away Jason and Shaina for couples photos. They let me have full reign on the vibe and I rolled with it. I wanted Burning Man meets Urban Wedding and I think that is what we got!

After some very entertaining speeches it was time for the dance floor and that is really where the energy of the crowd came through. I hadn't ever seen such an incredibly packed dance floor at a wedding. Everyone, literally everyone, was in the middle of the floor giving it 100%.

This was a wedding I won't ever forget. I had such a blast celebrating and capturing this day. It couldn't have run more smoothly, had a better vibe or been any prettier even if we all had tried. 10/10!