Peter and Jonathan's Wedding in Portland, Oregon

One of the challenges we encountered after finding the perfect venue, was hiring all of the vendors to bring our vision to life. Jonathan took lead to start vetting photographers, videographers, caterers, ceremony musicians, MCs, full bands, photo booth operators, portable restroom companies, and wedding cake shops. Doing this all remotely from Los Angeles required a few planning trips up to Portland to meet with potential vendors. One easy decision was asking Jonathan’s mom to oversee the flowers – she is a very talented florist.

Next, we had to think about what to wear. After much consideration, we selected a heather gray vested suit for the groomsmen and a spectrum of gold/champagne/rose gold dresses for the women in the wedding party (groomsladies?). The men had ivory white ties or bowties with a light floral pattern. Both mother-of-the-grooms found the perfect dresses, and Jonathan was happy to have picked out the dress for his mom and bought it for her as a thank you for all her help. After the ceremony and cocktail hour, the grooms had a full costume change into a formal black tux for the evening dinner and dancing portion of the wedding.

We decided to have our wedding fall on a holiday weekend since 80% of our guests would be traveling from out of town, and could make a 3-day weekend. This also gave Jonathan’s sister the opportunity to host a 4th of July BBQ at her lake house for friends and family who traveled early to Portland on Thursday night. Our hearts were full of gratitude knowing guests had made arrangements from London, Manchester, Paris, Auckland, Melbourne and many from the Midwest and SoCal regions to join us on our special day.

The week of the wedding was incredible! Truly a tale of two families coming together, working long days and nights, to ensure every detail was perfect. Stringing lights, hanging lanterns, painting fences, preparing favors, planting flowers…. All of the planning and hard work was worth it when the big day finally came.

Upon entering the garden estate, guests were greeted with a glass of sparkling rosé from the LVE collection and directed to the wood-carved guestbook and photo booth area while waiting for the ceremony to commence. A golden chandelier hung from two Oregon pine trees creating a whimsical entry point to the bistro cocktail tables while life-sized gold letters spelled out “P + J” on the front lawn.

To personalize the ceremony, under the oak tree where Jonathan grew up, his father gave an emotional welcome message and blessing for the grooms. This was the first gay wedding for most family and many friends, and the overwhelming love and support was palpable. Jonathan’s lifelong best friend, Angela, proceeded to officiate the marriage and vows we had written for each other. Pete, as a special effects coordinator, orchestrated a spectacular flower petal drop from the oak tree, which beautifully filled the sky at the moment we kissed.

The evening proceeded with the cocktail hour, toasts, cake cutting and a first dance sequence starting with “Save the Last Dance for Me”, and ending with a wedding party flash-mob to Carly Rae Jepson’s “Cut to the Feeling”. The band played “big band” style during dinner and then started playing dance hits that kept guests on their feet until the very end of the night.

On our way to the after-party, a tunnel of family and friends holding sparklers surrounded us with good wishes. We returned to our guests for a late-night meal of specialty local pizza and a craft signature cocktail under the twinkling lights and golden disco balls in the tent. We slowly said goodbye to our guests and were actually the last ones to leave the party. We didn't want the night to end.

After a Sunday brunch with lawn games for family and friends, and a Monday teardown party for anyone still in town… we discovered some unsettling news; we hadn’t actually been signed the marriage license!! Since our officiant had already flown out of town, and only our immediate families left, we decided to ask Jonathan’s dad (an ordained pastor) to officiate our vows again in the driveway, without any of the pomp or circumstance of the first ceremony. Surrounded by parents and siblings, with dirt and sweat on our faces, we declared our vows and made our marriage official. It was an unexpected highlight of a beautiful wedding week.

Photos by @studio1208