Wedding | Rachael & Catriona

Tell us a little about yourselves!

Rachael and I met in 2021 when my parents and I meandered into the cocktail bar that she was working at. Months prior we had matched and briefly messaged on Tinder, but I didn't clock that until after we left when she messaged me on the app to say "thanks for bringing your parents in to meet me tonight." We met up a week later for a date that lasted about 10 hours, everything else continued to bloom after that.

Rachael is a bartender and Catriona is a nurse practitioner. Both of us are from Oregon and are firmly planted in Portland amidst family and friends. We found quickly that we share a love of antiquing, making art/crafting, and enjoying good food and drinks.

Why did you decide to get married where you did?

One of the first things we envisioned for the day was having a camp out following the reception- we wanted to party late with wild abandon and have some down time in the morning with our guests.

Initially we started looking around in proximity to Portland that could accommodate us but nothing completely gelled for us. Rachael's family owns some property in Corbett, OR that happened to include an empty 1000 square foot greenhouse, a 70s chalet style house, and plenty of space for campers. We had to start from scratch since it wasn't a preexisting venue, which meant a considerable amount of planning on our end, and a lot of work on the grounds by Rachael's family, but it ended up feeling very unique to us and even more special that so much love and care went into the space for this event.

How many guests did you have?

Our goal was 100 or less and we ended up with almost exactly that! This was one of the most difficult parts, we were trying to balance keeping a somewhat intimate vibe and including our loved ones.

What was your budget?

Ultimately about 30k. We DIY'd what we could and enjoyed having the creative outlet. Catriona decided to design and letterpress the invitations herself, thankfully there are a lot of great printmaking resources in Portland (shout out to the Independent Publishing Resource Centre!). We also thrifted a lot design details and generally had a lot of help pulling it all together.

Tell us about your outfits.

Our overall vision was to start somewhat classic and devolve into progressively more festive garb. For the ceremony, I was eyeing a Cecilie Bahnsen dress and happened to find it used on Vestaire Collective, it was the only dress I tried on! I paired it with some silver Martiniano flats that would be comfortable enough to wear all night and on uneven terrain outside.

Rachael wasn't sure exactly which direction she wanted to go, we ended up going to Frances May in Portland just to check out some ideas, she found this Henrik Vibskov suit that fit perfectly and felt just right. Shortly after she found some Cordera loafers on sale to go with it.

For the reception, we decided to go for matching Mr. Larkin white fringe that would be more conducive to dancing.

For the afterparty, we wore two tops made out of vintage leather gloves by a Portland designer Laurs Kemp. My dear friend and seamstress extraordinaire Bridget Snow fashioned me a matching skirt of leather gloves to tie it together.

What was the most important aspect for you, in terms of planning your wedding?

We started planning our wedding with the goal of everyone having a really good time. The first thing we booked after deciding on our venue was our caterer, because we were determined to have delicious food. We envisioned a beautiful dinner that devolved into a raucous party, so in addition to stellar food, we prioritized great drinks, stocked bar, and good music. Having the space for people to camp allowed people to let loose and not worry about getting home in the dark.

Were there any elements that were important for you to incorporate?

Collectively, we have 8 nieces and nephews (lovingly referred to as our minions) that we adore and wanted them to be a central part of the ceremony. We built large scale objects out of paper and paper mache and had them start the procession down the aisle. This was one of the most memorable pieces of the day.

Catriona's mom is from Scotland and some family flew in from there for the wedding and we decided as a surprise for them to include a bagpiper (Mark from Oregon Piper). The surprise was a great success and brought many joyful tears. Additionally we asked Catriona's mom to make us a traditional Scottish fruit cake to go along with our delicious cake from Tum Tum.

For decor, we included a lot of special items that we've collected that live in our home permanently, it felt like it brought more of ourselves into the space.

Any tips for couples getting married?

You can do what you want. There is a lot of tradition and pageantry in weddings, for clarity around this we had a handful of conversations about whether or not to include certain elements, weighing if it was out of obligation or if we actually thought it would add something meaningful. Likewise early ideas that we thought would add something special, but would likely end up being too stressful, take too much time, or be too expensive to execute, fell to the cutting room floor.

Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about?

Raina Virginia our photographer could not have been a better fit for us. We felt really lucky to have her and loved that captured the day on a mixture of film and digital. We felt so comfortable with her and trusted her fully. Part of the fun was letting her run with any creative ideas she had, and that paid off.

Our caterer Euzumeh knocked our socks off! She has a following here in Portland, and people love her for her talent in beautifully showcasing fresh, seasonal ingredients. She brought in a killer team along and perfectly executed the dinner service- everyone's food having come out hot and fresh. At our request she even incorporated a wood fired oven that is located on the property, which made for some excellent roasted potatoes.

Many of our vendors were our very talented friends!

Rachael's good friend Claire, our florist Heather Fields, put in so many hours, and so much care into bringing the greenhouse and the altar to life. She really poured her heart into it, and it made all the difference.

Angie, the manager of the bar Rachael works at, along with her boyfriend Daniel, took on a job that they are incredibly overqualified for and turned a sauna on the property into a full bar. They wowed the guests with any drink they could possibly ask for and then partied hard with us through the night.

Mamie and Elijah, our good friends who have a radio show in Portland, offered to DJ the reception- which was perfect, because they already had a good grasp on what we did and didn't want to hear. Plus, their music taste is impeccable.

An old friend Erica (DJ Erica Online) put together an awesome late night DJ set that kept the party going into the wee hours of the night.

Photographer: Raina Virginia @rainavirginia | Planning & Styling: by the couple | Flora: Heather Fields 

@heatherfieldflorals | Ceremony Location: Family Property in Corbett, OR | Reception Location: Family Property in Corbett, OR | Celebrant: Mamie Morago @disco.shiksa | Hire: Arden Event Collective

@ardenevntcollective | Makeup: Stephanie Baroni @babybangshair | Hair: Stephanie Baroni 

@babybangshair | Catering & Beverages: Euzumeh @euzumeh | Cake: Tum Tum @tumtum_pdx | Entertainment: Oregon Piper @jerkytwoshakes; Elijah Morago @disco.shiksa; DJ Erica Online @dj.erica_online | Day of Coordination: Your Perfect Bridesmaid @yourperfectbridesmaid | Dresses: 

Cecilie Bahnsen @ceciliebahnsen; Mr. Larkin @mrlarkin; Laurs Kemp @laurskemp; Bridget Snow @_bridgetsnow_ | Suits: Henrik Vibskov @henrikvibskov; Mr. Larkin @mrlarkin; Laurs Kemp @laurskemp | Wedding Rings: Molly Debiak @mollydebiak | Shoes: Martiniano @martinianoshoes; Cordera 

@corderaofficial