wedding planning insight | Jessica Hill Photography

– The Love Story-

It was a warm August night and I was excited to see my dear friend, Kirstie and meet up at an industry event at the Elysian Ballroom. With a black pencil skirt and a peplum top and heels, I felt happy and excited to have a night out in the middle of a busy wedding season. We had a great dinner and a blast at the Elysian Ballroom open house. Kirstie and I felt (and looked) like we were on a set of Mad Men at the stunning venue!

Kirstie was texting a friend of hers that night who was already at Ron Toms. I was just going to head home, but she convinced me to hop across the bridge to one of my favorite bars. I was thinking I would just stop by for one drink and be on my way. She was grabbing a spot in line at the bar, as I made a dash to the bathroom line, which was particularly long for a Thursday night. Waiting and realizing my heels were killing me, I hear a friendly, yet confident question lean my way; “Hi, how has your night been?”

I turned around to look in the direction of his voice, and then our eyes met and I felt an immediate sense of connection, like a bolt of lightening and a beautiful smile came across both of our faces. I was staring into the eyes of an intelligent, creative, kind and gorgeous man and the butterflies were on. We started chatting and when my turn came, I scrambled into the bathroom and screamed a little. I was glowing and beaming and I had to remind myself to breathe! I had never experienced “love at first sight” before and even questioned if it existed, but after meeting Evan in line for the bathroom of all places, I know it does.

Our wedding will be at Mt. Hood Organic Farms on Sunday, September 28, 2014 and I am still screaming a little through every step in the process of this incredible journey of being a bride. Sometimes screaming out of stress and frustration and sometimes it’s pure happiness and excitement. I truly had no idea how layered and complex the wedding planning process was before now.

I want to share it all with you; the ups, the downs, the little details, my dress woes, DIY invites and more. I realize I have a lot of knowledge to share in the wedding world, as I’ve documented over 400 unique couples at this point. I’ve seen perfect brides have a complete meltdown, I’ve seen a missing groom, (yeah, he never showed…) I’ve seen huge families tear up with complete joy together and I’ve been a witness to a few elopements. One thing remains though; it’s just one day.

I want to welcome you to my world of wedding planning from a bride’s lens. Stay tuned, this is sure to be an interesting few months!