A cop, a firefighter and a border patrol agent walk into a bar….HA! I couldn’t help myself since we had all three in the wedding party, and I can’t think of a better way to have shot my first EVER winter wedding than with this Five Pine Lodge Wedding in Sisters, Oregon. I know what you’re thinking. “You’re first winter wedding!?” And yes, it’s true. I haven’t shot a winter wedding. I haven’t shot a destination wedding either, but this one took the cake on both, and it was absolutely AMAZING.

I didn’t get a chance to meet Joe and Shanna in real life before the wedding, but we had skyped, and emailed frivolously back and forth for the past year. It was kind of a funny story how they found me though.

If you’ve been following along for a while then you know that I completed a program with the International Academy of Wedding Photographers. I’ve met so many amazing photographers from that, and one of them was the one and only, Randy and Ashley! They’re amazing wedding photographers from California (soon to be Colorado again). They had shot Shanna’s sister’s wedding about a year ago, but Randy and Ashley weren’t able to come up to Oregon this time around. Randy and Ashley posted in our Academy group if anybody was around the area that would be able to shoot the wedding, and I responded that I could. They sent over the information to Shanna and Joe and the rest is history!

I got into Sisters on Friday night, and I was able to meet up with Shanna and Joe to search for locations for our portraits the next day.  We snuck out before the rehearsal dinner with the best man, John, and were able to scope out some awesomes spot.

They had their rehearsal dinner, and I made my way back over to my hotel room so I could rest up for the next day. After what felt like hours of not sleeping because I was so excited, the wedding day was here!

The weather was amazing, but a little chilly in the morning. I knew that it would warm up, so we weren’t too stressed about it. It was a little more cloudy that morning than it is the day before, but we were still able to get some beautiful shots with the mountains in the background. There’s a TON of them out there, and they’re majestic!!!

Our morning went pretty well, and we were able to do their first look at Five Pine, and then we grabbed Joe’s best man and headed off to go do bride and groom portraits.  It was a little tough with all the snow that Sisters had gotten, and I almost ended up falling in the snow about 1800 times, but I never ACTUALLY fell, and either did they.

At one point while we were taking bride and groom portraits, I told them to hug like they hadn’t seen each other for a year, and it was pretty apparent that they knew how that felt. These two love each other so much, and their wedding day really revolved around that. They’re such sweet people, an awesome couple, and their friends and family are so supportive.  As I was on my way home the next day, I was almost overwhelmed just thinking back on how amazing their wedding day was. From the touching ceremony that almost choked me up, to the toasts at the end of the night, the love that surrounds these two is unreal.

It still amazes me is that I get to do this for a living, and I get to document the start of someone’s life and the start of their families, because that’s really what it’s all about. I love these two, and I can’t wait to see what their love accomplishes.

Congrats Joe and Shanna!! And thanks again for letting me be a part of your AMAZING day!

Vendors

Photography: Misty C. Photography
Venue and Caterer: FivePine Lodge
Bride’s Dress Designer: Allure Bridal
Bride’s Dress Store: Gesinee’s Bridal
HMUA: Edge Hair and Makeup
Groom and Groomsmen Attire: Men’s Wearhouse
Floral: Travis Norman Floral
Dj: Star Productions
Cake: Ida’s Cupcake Cafe
Invitations: Sofia Draco with Little Yellow House
Bench Rentals: Incredible Events
Rings: JCVT Jeweler Jose Carlos
Favors made by Bride’s Mother

Annnnnd apparently, I’m pretty gangster. HA!!!

You can see their wedding featured on Artfully Wed here!!!