We're Peter & Susannah.
Real moments and happy people are what we're all about.
We believe in honoring the past, celebrating the present, and being intentional about the future. A wedding is the beginning of a legacy for your family for generations to come—it’s a big freakin’ deal, but maybe not in the ways the * cough cough * wedding industry wants you to think. When we get to photograph a wedding, we increasingly are drawn to the quiet (or crazy) moments that will compound in value with each year. When we meet a couple, we start nudging each other and falling in love when we start hearing things like "we're less about the perfect day and more about the real moments" and "we’re just so excited to get married".
photo by our 4-year-old
photo by Louis, chaos by us.
OUR game plan
We take weddings very seriously. Which means we do everything we can to make sure our couples have the most relaxed, present, meaningful day as possible. We work with you in advance to make sure we have everything planned out, so come wedding day, you don't have to worry about a thing, and we’re poised to get all the unstaged moments that unfold. We’ve been handling wild wedding days, altered timelines, and (our personal favorite) unexpected weather for 13 years now. And let’s be honest: we had four boys under four for awhile there, so we’re used to some requisite insanity. We want to tell your whole story, come what may, and give you photos that will make you laugh, cry, and maybe have some blackmail photos on your friends.
THIS IS US
Susannah and I were both nerds (still are) about photography and both unknowingly stalked each other's blogs some 11 years ago. When I decided to move back to my hometown of Oregon City from Florida, I decided to pursue photography full time. That was 2011 and I only had one wedding lined up. In 2012 I asked Susannah if she would second shoot a wedding with me, strictly professional, and she said yes. Somehow during the reception, there was a whole 1.5-hour break where we had our own private table and the waiter brought garlic bread, Caesar salad, and spaghetti. Not the best 1st date food but lucky for us, this was not a date? It was just two professionals talking shop, what you thought about God, kids, and you know other basic professional things. We talked a ton and I ended up really liking her, so I asked her if she would ever be down to shoot another wedding and she said yes! Well, in May of 2013 I asked her to marry me (at the beach which is her soul and has slowly become mine) and just 3.5 months later, we got married!
Our friends and family drowned us in love and hard work and helped us throw a huge party with homemade comfort food, donuts, an ice-cream truck, and our whole community. It was magic. Our first home together was a duplex in Oregon City. It was 500 square feet of cozy vibes— a top floor of a historic house close to downtown. It was our little tree house and we still miss it! We love to entertain and we would often cram 10-14 people in the tiniest space and have the best times.
We had our first son Samson and after about 9 months we felt like it was time to move. We moved to Gladstone to an old 1920’s bungalow house that had gross carpet, cracked ceiling, the poop-color kitchen, and peeling wallpaper. In just one month, our friends and us ripped out the carpet, sheet-rocked the walls, fixed electrical, painted EVERYTHING, and resurfaced the crazy-beautiful hardwood floors under the carpet. We love it and it’s ours. Since we moved, we’ve stocked the house with a few more: three more boys, born in our kitchen, and a whole basement full of bearded dragons. Nine years in, marriage has gotten crazier, harder, and sweeter. Getting to feel the momentum on this thing we’ve been building has been a lot thrilling and a little intimidating.
Running a business out of our home together has been a blast-and-a-half. Talk about team-building exercises in real time! And now that we have our four boys, we also get to be all up in each others’ lives, all day every day.
We truly love what we do and consider ourselves incredibly blessed. We take our marriage and family very seriously and think getting married is a big deal. If our work makes you feel something, you care about your marriage even more than your wedding, and you believe in building something amazing—we would love to buy you a drink or have you over to our home and get to know your story!
Peter Mahar Photography | Portland Oregon Wedding Photographer | 360-771-4693 | peterezekiel@gmail.com