Intimate Cherry Blossom Micro Wedding, Portland Oregon | Anna + Carl

When 2020 began none of us truly knew what was in store for that year and quickly our daily lives would come to a halt, how many plans, dreams and goals would be put on the shelf, and how much would ultimately change. Weddings were one of the many things that came to a stop during the pandemic. Almost every single wedding we had booked that year rescheduled into 2021 in hopes that things would get better.
Anna and Carl were one of those couples who had decided to postpone into the next year in hopes they could have their dream wedding then, but even with the postponement more things changed. Anna & Carl were suppose to have their wedding in St. Louis in a beautiful chapel, but by the end of 2020 only 6months away from their new wedding date their venue completely canceled on them, leaving them venue-less and back at square one; finding a place to get married at. With no venue for their wedding Anna & Carl quirky decided to come to Oregon and elope here in Anna’s family home.
With all these set backs you would think there would be be a feeling of disappointment looming over the day, yet with all the changes it turned into one of the most special weddings we’ve shot. With the sky full of rain we went to plan b to get married inside instead of the outdoor deck, with everything gathered in the living room under a beautiful spring floral arch, Carls father officiated the wedding, everyones eyes brimming with tears and lips curling into smiles as Anna & Carl were getting married. They were married in a small room filled with love laughter and the people they love.
I realized how high our expectation of perfection is on wedding days, how often we look to weddings to fulfill this dream of perfection we have; the perfect venues, perfect flowers, perfect weather, everything perfectly on time, perfect photos, yet I was shooting a wedding that had everything go wrong and in my eyes it was the most perfectly imperfect wedding I’ve shot, and I was in love. Mom making dinner, aunts and cousins making delicious drinks, friends setting up, grandpa taking photos on his little camera, bridesmaids blow dying the brides dress cause it rained during photos, everyone coming together to sit on the sofa and enjoy each others company, it was just so relaxed, so effortless, so happy. Its easy to lose sight of whats important on a wedding day, we are constantly fed perfection on social media, but when it comes down to the human experience, the memories we remember, the moments that are our own, the things we will recall all throughout life have nothing to do with perfection and everything to do with existing with the people we love within the beautiful chaos of life.