Portland photographer | Jessica Hill Photography

Wedding

Merrin & Jay
The Evergreen Portland

Merrin and Jay had a wedding for the books. Merrin and Jay and I first connected at Timberline Lodge for their engagements and we had a total blast in the snow at sunset and over a post-shoot beer at the Skyway, one of their favorite places to stop on the way to the Mt. Hood. This smart and kind couple love the outdoors, hiking and each other and felt like immediate friends. They chose the Hi-Lo as their hotel of choice for their getting ready (with the talented Kiss & Makeup on the job!) and first look location and I immediately fell in love with the historic architecture mixed with the hip styling of this new downtown Portland hotel. Their wedding ceremony and reception took place at one of my favorite SE Portland venues, The Evergreen. CK Events coordinated perfectly, along with Arranged for You Florals, who created the beautiful florals. I especially loved their chartreuse velvet napkins and Spring garden vibes. Event Team Entertainment always makes the party pop and kept a rocking dance floor all night. What a fun and memorable wedding and I’m so honored that I was there to document the memories!

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

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!

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!

Engagement

Patience & Egan
A Mt. Tabor Park and Waterfront Engagement

As soon as I met Patience and Egan we immediately clicked and ended up talking for hours about their world travels (Japan & Greece!) and where to find the best sushi in Portland! (Ichidai and Bamboo!) Egan fell for Patience when they met one another while at summer camp! These two are such a kind, beautiful, and empathetic couple who I had the pleasure of photographing their engagements at Mt. Tabor, a popular urban park in SE Portland known for its views and water reservoirs. With the Portland city skyline as our backdrop, we made our way to a few beautiful locations around this gorgeous urban park along with their cutie pie pup Corgie, Kevin. We headed to the waterfront for some iconic sunset photos with Portland in the distance. I’m honored to have captured the love between Patience and Egan as the sun peaked through the trees amidst mesmerizing sunset reflections on the river. I loved connecting with these two and Patience’s makeup and hair by Olivia Hawthorne. They are getting married this June at the Sentinel in downtown Portland and I just know that their day will be filled with so much love. Thank you Patience and Egan for allowing me to be a part of your story.

Engagement

Liz & Richard
A Portland Cherry Blossom Engagement

When you meet a couple that have been together for over a decade, have travelled the world, laughed and danced together, you know it’s going to be a truly incredible wedding adventure. Liz & Richard and I met up at the cherry blossoms at the Tom McCall Waterfront Park and had a blast in the blooms. Although it was scheduled to rain, we lucked out and had a great time. We then headed to the Japanese Gardens and made magic. Richard and Liz have a deep love of Japan and have travelled there. It was fun learning about the different garden features, ikebana and sensory experiences. It was a truly an amazing few hours spent with these two and I’m beyond excited for their wedding in wine country this weekend!

Features

Top 18 of 2018
Best Wedding and Engagement Photography

It’s here! The top 18 from 2018! This is the sixth annual post I’ve created from the top photos from the past year!! For six years now, I have curated a collection of favorites from each wedding & engagement season. (See 2016 & 2017 for more eye candy) This year I just couldn’t decide because I love so many moments for such very different reasons; so I included 18 engagement and 18 wedding photos for a total of 36 finals. (Yeah- more scrolling goodness!) From stunning Crater Lake National Park to the snowy top of Mt. Hood to the historic rooftops of downtown Portland, this past year has been filled with some killer weddings, elopements and engagement sessions. Thank you all so much for your continued support, kind referrals and friendships. I was very humbled and honored to win 2018 best Portland wedding photographer and candid moments with kind and courageous couples, majestic light, and graphic architecture continue to inspire me. Enjoy and I can’t wait to share what’s in store for JHP in 2019 with you soon, including some very fun adventures. I absolutely love capturing the moments that make up your life. Happy 2019 and I look forward to another successful year of making magic documenting the start of your family’s legacy & beyond!

Wedding

Vi & Alex
An Oregon Golf Club Sri Lankan Wedding

Vi and Alex are not only a stunning couple, but also kind, super laid back and hella cool. We had a blast getting to know each other during their downtown rooftop engagement session and their September wedding took place at the elegant Oregon Golf Club in West Linn, Oregon. Their wedding was so full of color, light, joy and tradition and I had a blast photographing their remarkable day. Coordination by the always talented Bridal Bliss team with stunning florals by Bella Bloom and hair and makeup from Olivia Hawthorne. Dance party was insane with DJ Zimmie along with an equally insane wedding cake created by Dream Cakes along w/ killer party food with 1927 S’mores. I loved the beautiful Sri Lankan lamp lighting ceremony where the bride and groom and their families took turns lighting an oil lamp to signify the two families becoming one family. This was truly a wedding that I’ll never forget filled with bold colors, laughter, dancing and SO MUCH LOVE and you can see it in print now in the most recent Real Weddings issue of Oregon Bride Magazine.