Peter and I started/continued falling in love in this exact backyard. Our friends Colin (Amber’s older brother) & Sara got married 6 years ago at his parents’ beautiful home, and it was our second wedding we ever photographed together. At the end of the night he asked me to slow dance and I got super nervous and awkward, finished a vodka shot, and went for it.
Six years later, we just celebrated our fifth anniversary, we’ve become big-time couple friends with Colin & Sara, lived in walking distance the entire time, have had four babies between us (check out their factually delicious chubby new one below), and still get to play wicked-competition card games sometimes while our toddlers play with megblocks.
We both grew up going to parties in the Fukudas’ incredible backyard, and still get to stop in for their wide-open-doors family dinner sometimes. Amber and Colin’s dad is an incredible landscaper, and their home is gorgeously mid-century modern with the most effortlessly perfect-for-parties outdoor area.
Amber & Greg live in Las Vegas (Amber even tour-guided Peter and Colin on a trip they took down there—she knows all the best food & drinks in the city!) , and got married up here in the Oregon City area.
I’m a total sucker for brides getting ready in their childhood homes, and this one was even better than usual because—um, gorgeous home (we die and go to heaven in the evening light that comes through these trees), and knowing this close-knit big family. Six (let’s be honest, freakishly gorgeous) kids (plus a passel of offspring) who still love each other and still gather around a long dinner table to talk loudly over each other, and parents with an awe-inspiring marriage who welcome them in and out with the exact kind of life-giving love that Peter and I hope to give to our grown children. To put it more succinctly: GOALS.
It’s rare to see many photos from our parents’ generation’s weddings, but Amber’s parents have beautiful, classic prints in their room where Amber got ready. Also their newly remodeled bathroom--beauty from ashes (water damage) is the crown jewel--I’ve never been so excited to photograph people in a bathroom.
And another fun fact—their emcee, Dave (see above with two fists full of wine), was the same friend we had for our wedding! His miked jokes brought back allll the memories.
Even without all the history and the great family and the perfectly Japanese-designed pines, this was just a straight-up rad wedding. Amber and Greg, up-and-down-all-around-in-love, stylish as all get-out, and a truly great party. The drinks were plentiful, with a long finale of scotch & cigars, the dancing was solid, and the food was incredible. As great and as plentiful as the food trucks are in Portland, we’ve only done one wedding that incorporated one for ice cream (shout-out to Vanessa & Andrew’s glorious Bend wedding!). Probably some of the most out-of-the-box food we’ve ever had a wedding, and good grief, it was good.