October Wedding at the Oregon Coast

Kaitlin and Garrett got married in Waldport, Oregon on the beach. Their entire day was lovely and magical. When I got to their Air BnB, my day started in tears. Even thinking through that moment again, my eyes fill with tears. We should all be so lucky to have such compassionate and considerate people in our lives.

Garrett's mom, Kay, gave Kaitlin a locket with a picture of Kaitlin's mom, Beth, inside. The locket went around Kaitlin's bouquet so she could hold her mom as she walked down the aisle.

Beth passed away in 2016 but Kaitlin goes out of her way to make sure she includes her mom in things. If you ever see Kaitlin enjoying a burger with what appears to be a can of coffee, ask her she is dining with and make sure she tells you about her mom's love of food and nail polish.

The couple threw a lot of wedding traditions out the window and stuck with the pieces of the day that will fill them with the most joy. They didn’t hide from one another all morning - instead Kaitlin was the one to pin her soon-to-be husband’s boutonniere on him.

She did her own hair and makeup and then did a tarot reading with a small circle of the women who mean the most to her. They spent a little time talking about the reasons they want Kaitlin to be happy - all the reasons Garrett and her deserve a good life together. I cry at everything, so of course I cried at this too. We don’t tell our friends often enough how much we want them to have good things in their lives.

Kaitlin and Garrett got married outside. They had a small group surrounding them - close friends and family only.

Garrett cried through the ceremony - but so did everyone.

The pair decided to create their own cocktail together and they served it to guests in glasses they could keep. Their cocktail was 2 ounces of tequila, 1 oz lime juice, 1 oz ginger balsamic simple syrup, topped with champagne. It was delicious and also lovely because it was made by people in love. Kaitlin and Garrett plan to make it on their anniversaries.

I edited people out of the background - so don’t let this fool you.
I can’t say this enough - this was a private moment on a public beach and the beach-goers went out of their way to be considerate. It wasn’t necessary and no one asked anything of them, but there were no loud strangers moseying up to us, so random people popping in for a drink, no weirdness at all.

Everyone was kind and they let us take bridal portraits in peace.