Blog | Jessica Hill Photography

Features

Redd on Salmon
Featured Wedding Inspiration

The Redd on Salmon St. in Portland Oregon is one of my new favorite wedding venues with urban elegance and industrial elements, tall ceilings, natural light and an ideal location in SE Portland. I hope to photograph here a lot more in the coming year! This styled inspirational wedding shoot was for the Art of Weddings Venue Crawl. Bringing luxe texture, clean modern lines and unique colors (gotta love a blue wedding dress!) to this styled shoot we took a newly renovated industrial space and turned it into an elegant wedding with elevated design and edgy romance. Honored to have it recently featured on the Tacari wedding blog. Credit to the talented vendors that helped make this event & shoot happen: Venue – The Redd on Salmon Street | Styling & Event Planner – Gather Events | Floral Design – Swoon Floral Design | Gown Designer – Elizabeth Dye | Makeup Artist – Kirstie Wight Makeup | Rentals – The Party Plac e & Vintage Meets Modern | Cake Designer – Dream Cakes | Rings – Chinchar Maloney | Cocktails – Silver Julep | Lighting – Greenlight Creative | Paper Goods – Paper Jam Press | Photo Booth – Snap Bar

Wedding

Liz and Richard
An Old Schoolhouse Wedding

Liz and Richard’s wedding was a poetic and philosophical day filled with music, poetry and a deep love at a gorgeous vintage old school house in Oregon’s wine country. As soon as I met Richard and Liz, we became fast friends and it felt like we had known each other for years. They have that way about them- that easy going kindness. They now live in Japan as Richard is an internationally known beer brewer and Liz has her own therapy practice. (Yes- they are that cool – Just check out their Japanese Garden Engagements!) Considering Richard’s philosophy professor ordained the wedding, the depth and meaning of their 10+ year love was characterized beautifully in their ceremony and with their vows. The bride wore her grandmothers 1940’s Juliet cap veil and she had a sweet moment with her grandpa remembering her grandma’s life and I was honored to capture it. The team at CK Events were the great team behind the magic of the day. The gorgeous heirloom florals were created by Foraged Blooms, with timeless hair and makeup by Kirstie Wight Makeup team. Honoring Richard’s French heritage, the couple opted for the Croquembouche wedding cake from St. Honore. The entire day was a relaxed and surreal. Happiest one year anniversary to this sacred couple!

Engagement

Lei & Alfonso
A Forest Park Engagement

While attending UofP Lei passed out a study-group sign-up sheet for a particularly difficult poly-sci class and Alfonso wrote his name down. Little she know that he would become her future husband! He kept messaging her after the class was over and she was wondering why? Well, Alfonso knew she was something extraordinary and as soon as Lei got the hint she saw how special Alfonso was as well. This kind and intelligent couple and I first met at Jenna & Greg’s elegant and fun wedding last year and had a blast. Lei and Alfonso love nature walks and the PNW and thought Forest Park would be the perfect place to photograph their engagement. We found a grove of palms, caught the perfect light (magic hour yesss!!) hiked on the trails and watched the clouds while laying in the grass. I loved this session and this couple and I’m so looking forward to their winter wedding next weekend at the Portland Golf Club!

Engagement

Julie & Joe
A Downtown Portland Engagement

Destination Portland! Julie and Joe decided on Portland for their winter wedding planned for this month at the iconic Benson Hotel. After meeting at their church they knew they had finally found “the one” and decided to create a fun adventure for their friends and family in Portland! They are so sweet and kind and oh so in love! We really wanted to celebrate the city of roses in all of its glory for their engagement session so we decided on Coava coffee in downtown, the Park Blocks Rose Garden and of course, the Arlene Schnitzer Portland Sign on Broadway! We had a blast walking around the city and finding the golden nooks and crannies that this fair city has to offer! Julie and Joe laughed the entire time and I can’t wait to celebrate these two and their amazing love later this month!

Wedding

Grace and Jack
A Black Butte Ranch Wedding

Grace and Jack’s perfect summer’s wedding at Black Butte had a few of my very favorite things; horses, canoes, and s’mores! Black Butte Ranch is one of my very favorite resorts located near Sisters, Oregon with stunning views of the Three Sisters Mountains and Mt. Washington (the one with the pointy top) The staff, food, views and grounds are top notch and I loved the connection the couple have with the location as they have celebrated several holidays there. Grace and Jack met in dental school and knew there was something really special between them. I originally met Jack because I photographed his Dad’s second weddin g wayyy back in 2013! (side note: I’m celebrating 11 years of full-time weddings this year!) I absolutely loved Grace’s dress which was her mom’s wedding dress redesigned just for Grace. The flowers were simple and elegant from Jordan at Blum Design and the party was non-stop! With a sweet first look with her Dad, an emotional ceremony complete with tears and Grace’s veil lightly blowing in the summer breeze, and an elegant open-air dinner on the lawn, this was truly a perfect day on the ranch!

Engagement

McKenzie & Paul
A Wilsonville, Oregon engagement

When McKenzie and Paul first met, they shook hands and felt it… You know that thing you feel when you instantly connect with someone? Well as soon as they told me their story I knew I wanted to focus on their hands and the connections they make. I had the absolute pleasure of meeting McKenzie and Paul and they feel like old friends, the ones you can go ages without seeing, but then as soon as you see each other you’re right back to where you were all those years ago and it feels like not a day has passed. They are wise, kind, talented, generous and not to mention total babes! They invited me to document their home for a day in their life while they cooked breakfast together in their beautiful Wilsonville home and drank coffee. I love how intimate and cozy at-home photos are, as the couple could just be themselves. Paul then played piano (*and oh my goodness he is talented as he was a professional piano player for years!) on his antique grand piano that was recently restored after a fire. We then took their Harley to the local park for some photos at dusk and wondered to an ancient oak tree. Paul picked flowers for McKenzie (unprompted!) and we had a blast running around in the fields making art and finding light. The dusk light was this gorgeous shade of pink and I love this engagement session and this couple. Needless to say I am oh-so excited and inspired for their elegant wedding this weekend at the historic Sentinel hotel!

Engagement

Hannah & Jason
A NW Portland Engagement

Tater tots, billiards and beer? Yes please! Hannah and Jason are a fun-loving, creative and musical couple who met in NW Portland at Blue Moon over their love of tots, pool and craft beer. This incredible couple both share the love of music in their professions, Hannah a professional violinist and Jason, a long-time music blogger at chorus.fm. I love infusing a couple’s love story into their engagement photos; so we met at their original meeting location and shared tots and then explored the SE Portland waterfront for some moody sunset photos with the Portland skyline backdrop. I loved Hannah’s flowy gown, of which she has many considering her profession, which I think is a definite perk to her job! We had a total blast and I’m so looking forward to their wedding this month at the historic Sentinel hotel.

Engagement

Jennylyn & Daniel
A Chinese Garden and Waterfront Engagement

I met sweet and playful couple, Jennylyn and Daniel, at the magical Lan Su Chinese Gardens in Portland’s Chinatown. The gardens don’t allow professional photography within its walls but the outside made for quite the impressive scene! The simplicity of the wall’s architecture detailed with lively green plants really let the couple’s fun personalities shine.

Jennylyn and Daniel brought some hip jackets to switch up their looks and I’m confident we snapped some cool shots for their mixtape that may or may not drop! As the sun set lower into the sky we captured lots of laughs and playful poses at the SE waterfront. This stylish couple from California is planning an intimate destination Portland wedding this month! Thank you for choosing me to convey the special love you share together.

Engagement

Evan & Aaron
A Tilikum Crossing Engagement

Evan and Aaron are the type of couple that make you smile as soon as you meet them. They perfectly complement each other and I was honored to photograph their engagement session at the gorgeous Tilikum Crossing bridge which is the newest bridge on the Portland skyline. This cable-stayed bridge across the Willamette River is quite striking in its architecture and it was fun to photograph this environmentally conscience couple along the cables and sky of this public-transit only bridge. We finished the session with lovely tea from the Tao of Tea on Belmont, which is one of the couples favorite date spots. I am so looking forward to documenting their wedding this weekend!