Would you love to get married at a zoo? Mary and Sarah did! And Emily G Photography was there to capture lions and the wedding; submitting the wedding via Two Bright Lights.
When planning our wedding, our most important consideration was to make sure that both of our families were able to attend. We live in Oregon, Sara’s family lives in Ohio, and my family lives in New Mexico, so this was no small task! We eventually decided to have a small(ish) wedding in our hometown of Portland, and set to planning the details. We settled on having our ceremony at a local garden — the perfect ceremony location for two girls who love the outdoors! Sara loves penguins, and to her delight, we held our reception at the Oregon Zoo. We took care of many of the details (flowers, music, etc.) ourselves with the help of family and friends to keep our budget in check.
We had a picnic the day before the wedding for all of our out of town guests, so that we could catch up and spend some time together outside of the craziness of our wedding day itself. This was a lot of fun, and it was great to spend time with both of our families and many of our friends in one place. When our wedding day arrived, it was truly wonderful to be surrounded by our family and friends as we solidified our lifetime commitment to each other.
We decided from the beginning that we wanted each part of our wedding ceremony to be meaningful to us and to our relationship. We didn’t have a religious ceremony, and we chose to have my dad officiate, so we felt free to write a ceremony that was completely reflective of our past, present, and future together. We wrote the wording together using bits and pieces of ceremonies we found online, and added readings that resonated with both of us. Probably the most meaningful moment in our ceremony came when Sara sang a song that she had composed for me years earlier, when we lived in Iowa. She had been (sneakily!) working for months to rework her original composition for piano/voice so she could play it with her guitar at our outdoor ceremony. This was by far one of my favorite moments from our wedding, and I will always treasure that memory.
- Your wedding day will fly by, so make an effort to find time on your wedding day to really take it all in with your partner — that is what it’s all about, after all!
- Ask for help when you need it. Your family and friends will help you if you ask them.
- Don’t forget to eat!
Photographer: Emily G Photography
Venue: Ceremony: Shakespeare Garden, International Rose Test Garden (Portland Parks & Recreation)Reception: Oregon Zoo
Florist: Sara picked out and purchased dahlias from a Swan Island Dahlias and calla lillies/hydrangeas from Pacific Callas. Sara, Sara’s mom and Mary’s step mom arranged the flowers prior to the wedding.
Caterer: Oregon Zoo Catering
Dress/Suit/Accessories:
Sara’s dress: Mod Cloth
Sara’s shoes: Nordstrom Rack / Marshall’s
Sara’s purple accessories: Borrowed from cousin
Mary’s outfit: pieced together from White House Black Market Outlet, Express, & Kohl’s
Mary’s Shoes: Converse online
Invitations/Programs: Oblation Papers & Press
Cake: Sweetpea Baking Company– Specializes in vegan and allergy-friendly cakes
Very sweet! Also, I’m in love with Sara’s shoes! :)
Beautiful work Emily.
Love these!! The first pic is amazing…and those lions! love the venue! Looks like a great wedding!!
BEAUTIFUL dress!