I’ve wanted to shoot a Winn Homestead Wedding for years! I went over to Weston, Oregon a few years ago and met with the owners of the venue, and instantly fell in love with it. I was so excited when Sam reached out to me and told me all about their wedding. Some traditions, some things a little different, and whole bunch of line dancing! I love every minute of it. 

I had only had the chance to meet Sam via Skype because these two were living down in Arizona for work/school. I was so happy when I got to meet them in real life, and spend the day with them and their friends and family. 

When I had asked Sam about how these two met initially, she gave me the story, but i’m going to let the two of them tell you because it made me chuckle and you can see a bit of their personalities. 

RJ

I was out with a bunch of my friends. We really like to go country dancing and I just happened to see this stunning blonde little firecracker leanin’ up against a wall, looking very unapproachable, and I overheard her friends telling her that they were going into the club next door because the bars were connected but she said she wanted to stay there. I just happened to be very confident that night so I just went up to her, cracked a sideways grin and asked her to dance. She must’ve seen how good of a dancer I was cause she didn’t hesitate when she said yes. 😉

Sam

I was at my favorite country bar with my friends. I wasn’t really drinking that night and my friends were beyond trashed, they were like puke and rally level. Well, they wanted to walk through the door to another bar that’s connected to the country bar and drink more. I was tired of babysitting them so I said “go ahead I’ll just stay here” It was so crowded and there weren’t any seats, so the only place I could stand was up against this wall. Drunk, fratty guys kept asking me to dance or bumping into me. Needless to say, I was grumpy. Out of nowhere-I mean it, nowhere, this guy comes up to me. This is going to sound ridiculous but I SWEAR time stopped. When he asked me to dance I saw the most beautiful and kind blue eyes I had seen. He was wearing his hat backward and gave me this cute sideways grin. Something felt different about him, like I could trust him and that he wasn’t drunk. He seemed like a gentleman. We spent the rest of the night dancing and talking. I had never done this, but I really liked him so I asked HIM for his number, I couldn’t let him get away. The next day we talked and he wanted to see me again. So that night we went back to the bar and danced all night again. After 5 days of talking to him, I just knew he was the one. I was sitting on the couch with my roommate at the time, and I told her, “Jess, I’m calling it. he’s the one. I’m going to marry him someday” And sure enough, here we are.

So, yeah. They’re adorable. 

I wasn’t the least bit surprised to see how much these two adore each other on their wedding day. One thing they did a little differently, and something I absolutely loved, was when we did their first look, they shared their vows to each other then. It was a special intimate moment with just the two of them (and me creepin’), and I loved that. 

Things went perfectly during their ceremony, even though they struggled a bit to light their unity candle (wind never makes that easy), but they said I do, kissed, and then LITERALLY danced the night away.

I’ve never seen such awesome dancers, but these guys can dance! RJ’s dad came up to me and said “you can tell these kids are from the south! They can dance!” Line dance after line dance, they kept crushing it. It was SO. MUCH. FUN. 

RJ and Sam, Congrats again! I’m excited to see where life takes you guys, and what you accomplish on the ride. Thank you again for entrusting me with your beautiful day!

See more of their wedding day over on Apple Brides here!

Winn Homestead Wedding Vendors

Photographer: Misty C. Photography

Second Shooter: Kaila Homes

Venue: Winn Homestead

Bride’s Dress: Azteca Bridal

Bridesmaid’s Dresses: Laura’s Bridal Boutique

Florist: Holly’s Flower Boutique

DJ: Walla Walla Mobile DJ Service

Cake: Sweet Delights

Invitations: Basic Invite