When Mariah + Chris told me that they want ME to capture their Wedding day at Hoyt Arboretum, my heart skipped a beat. Never did I ever imagine that one day beautiful couples would take me on their adventures to capture their love stories, but here I am so grateful for every opportunity. I knew how special and sentimental this meant their day would be. They waited in person at the arboretum in January when the reservations went live to reserve the redwood deck at the arboretum, and although I had never experienced it IRL, I knew from all of the research that I did that it would be a small deck surrounded by tall redwood trees would be filled with all of their most precious souls. Aka my favorite kind of wedding; intimate and intentional.
I had arrived at the arboretum with so much excitement. Just driving through was so magical. Forests just have a way of feeling so cozy and homey. I knew it was going to be the best day ever for these two. When I arrived, Chris and their cousin were setting up the deck for the ceremony. Shortly thereafter, Mariah arrived to see how everything was looking and to do Chris’s hair. Their hair was put into a beautiful braid laced with wildflowers. It was so perfect in every way. Slowly all of their family members started to trickle in. Eventually M+C headed back up to their cars to get in the clothes they chose months before to finally say “I Do.” We had some help from google to tie Chris’s tie and then when they went to go wait for their bride at the altar, Mariah slipped into her dress, put her shoes on and her veil and then headed down for the big reveal.
We first met in the late afternoon at Cape Lookout State Park in Oceanside, Oregon. There is a trail in the park called Cape Trail. It is a long hike, but we only walked about a half a mile into the forest to get some of the *hoa hoa* twilight vibe photos. We just strolled through the forest and I made them stop when the spots felt right and the light was peaking perfectly. There weren’t many people out on a sunday evening, but everyone that we did pass stopped to congratulate them and admire their beauty in the forest. If you came from the other blog post, you can also see that both Chris and Mariah have a new hair style. They both chopped their hair after their wedding and I am obsessed with their new hair styles.
I always try to make sure my clients are having as much fun as I am. Being in new places can be both exciting and overwhelming so I am always mindful and will switch things up when moments get dull.
After we walked around the trail, we went to an overlook where we could see the beach and ocean collide. We captured some sweet intimate moments running through the road and people watching.
We raced down to the beach to capture that evening glow on the ocean as they ran through the sand. I had them running around like they were children again and it was so fun to experience that with them. We climbed on ginormous beach rocks with our bare feet and stood on some epic meadow cliffs.
A big inspiration for this adventure session was ‘Pride and Prejudice.’ Full transparency… I have never seen the movie, but I watched enough youtube clips of the movie to see the vision. Each scene feels more cinematic than the next. The landscape just tells their love story as if it was made just for this moment. The skies were perfectly clear and the ocean breeze was just the right amount of wild to make it feel dramatic but in control. The theme was a cinematic and organic love story. I wanted their loved ones that weren’t there for these moments to know how they were feeling in that moment. I gave them prompts based on the way they interact with each other so nothing felt stiff and unnatural.
I believe in love stories to their core. Love is what keeps this world spinning and each story is unique and deserves to be preserved in a way that is special and unique to its own.
If you are planning your own special “I Do” on the Oregon Coast or somewhere even more special, I would love to learn more about it and have the honor of documenting it.
Reach out to me below and we can start planning your own special day!
