Matthew + Hanalyn | Sweet Home, Oregon Wedding
Matthew & Hanalyn got married on a property with a lot of meaning to them, where Hanalyn has spent summer vacations every year.
There are definitely pros and cons to hosting your wedding at a private residence. The main con is that it can be a lot more work since you have to bring everything in and either hire out for services or set it up yourself with the help of friends and family. However, this actually highlights one of the pros I’ve found while photographing at private residences. Often, the community comes together to bless the bride and groom. This has two effects: first, everyone is much more excited to celebrate with them, and second, they are more appreciative of the end result and less critical which many guests can be at weddings. They become participants, not just spectators.
Other pros of hosting a wedding at a private residence:
No exit signs or other red tape that venues requiring insurance might impose.
Fewer rules about what you can and can’t do.
The venue itself holds meaning and adds a personal story aspect to your event.
For Matthew and Hanalyn’s wedding, many guests were able to stay on-site before and after the wedding date. This always adds a relaxed, party vibe, which every event can benefit from. I also loved working with these two because, even though things were running behind, they were easygoing enough to adjust the schedule and trust me with my vision. My main goal with every event I shoot is to create photos that allow complete strangers to get a true sense of what the day was like, capturing not just the moments but also the emotions and story behind them.
Getting married on a friend’s property is best because you can have very chill mornings and enjoy the river, if you’re lucky.
A lot of guests were able to stay right on the property the day before and night of the wedding.
Guys getting ready. Dad getting the tie all set.
The ladies getting ready.
Also always fun to have everything on one location—especially for flexing with schedule changes.
The grandmothers were the flower girls and were brought in on a decorated golf cart.
They were planning on doing a first look, but getting ready ran behind, so we decided to just do the first look at the altar.
Mathew, freshly married, getting a feel for the metal around his finger.
A lot of Mathew’s friend’s were fellow photographers, so there were lots of friends snapping photos with all different kinds of cameras.
A perfect summer evening for a wedding by a river.
After the couple changed, Matthew pokes his head back into the lodge and asks “are you guys coming back out?” Another benefit of a private property wedding: the party never has to end!
