This past weekend was one heck of a ride. Emily and Chris had a really fun wedding on historic Cannon Beach, overlooking the Haystack rock formation, and it was epic. There were a lot of laughs, a lot of sandy feet, Goonies sightseeing, tears, several sunsets, and bonfires on the beach. It was lovely. None of us wanted the weekend to end.
Thursday, I took an afternoon flight out of Rochester and it turned out that my sister and nephew were on the same flight! That was a lot of fun, as they were returning to Austin after 2 weeks of visiting NY for my birthday. I arrived in Portland, Oregon late at night, picked up the rental car, and headed in the dark to the Surfsand Resort. Upon waking, I decided to check to see what my room’s view was of and *gasp* it was of Haystack!
Friday, everyone that was in town headed to Ecola Park to see the views and help me recreate a Goonies scene in our total nerdy fashion. After the park, we all went to Astoria to see some of the locations where the movie was filmed, including the house and the jail. Lastly, the rehearsal dinner and fire on the beach.
When the Bride and Groom told the Groomsmen that they were wearing suits to the wedding, the friends decided to poke a little fun… the group bought jumpsuits and showed up at the beach in them! GAWD, I love these people.
Saturday was a perfect wedding day and the ceremony overlooking Haystack went so smoothly. I really hope someone got photos or video of my working the ceremony, as it felt a bit like the Baywatch trailer the way I was running around in the sand! Everyone keeps asking me if I’m sore, and luckily, I am not.
Beach weddings are interesting. There are tourists everywhere, tents and coolers, and observers all over the place. A group behind us on the beach all cheered when our wedding was over and one of them ran over and handed Emily a few beers as congratulations!
Unfortunately, this also left some totally oblivious bystanders, including one who was too busy playing Candy Crush on her cell phone to realize she was in all of our wedding photos (as if the gorgeous beach, the wedding, and the news van were not enough… she just had to be playing on her phone!!). However, it was pretty cool to find out that a local reporter had tweeted out a photo of me with the bridal party!
Everyone came back to my hotel room to wash off their feet and I really wish there was a picture of me and some Bridesmaids in the jacuzzi tub hosing off our legs!
The reception was really fun and the DJ played super sweet old-school favorites, which led to an Axl-off during the Guns N Roses classic, “Sweet Child O’ Mine”. As per usual, Garrett and Ann totally killed it (they won at Amy and John’s wedding too!). Also as per usual, my light stand was commandeered for the ‘microphone’ and at the end, Chris comes into school everyone on Axl’s signature hips move! Nice!
All in all, the day was awesome. Special thanks to both families for making me feel right at home (and ignoring my crazy dancing after I was off the clock). Congratulations to the happy couple, it was an absolute honor to be your wedding photographer!! I hope I did you proud.
There is just so much to say about this fine group of people and the wonderful beach wedding, that I’ll just let the images below tell the story.
Fun Fact: the only other time I’ve ever been to Cannon Beach was EXACTLY 20 years ago this week. In 1994, some friends and I embarked on a cross-country road trip and stumbled upon this amazing beach.
Un-fun Fact: this weekend, in the building I was staying, there was a murder. Friday night, I returned to my room to see many Sheriff’s vehicles and an empty body bag. As much as I could, I ignored the entire scenario, and only after returning to Rochester did I look up the event in the news: A mother killed her toddler and greatly injured her teenage daughter.
After a fun-filled weekend, we all headed to Portland Sunday for a bit of sightseeing and our flights out. John, Amy, and I were on the same flight to Chicago, so we had a celebratory beer just before embarking and as a way to say fare the well and Tschüss!
Until the next wedding…
these are breathe taken can’t wait to see the rest
Emily you are beautiful! Just like your mom. Congrats on your wedding