This Northwest wedding is pure magic. Set in the forest a short distance from Portland, OR, the event feels intimate and relaxed, and even a little bit fairy-tale. Kevin and Emily were definitely planning with ethereal in mind, though, aiming to have an event that was " Pride and Prejudice meets The Hobbit". I have always loved the idea of having a weekend-long wedding, especially for couples who have moved away from nearby hometowns and want to reconnect with friends and family. This wedding had so many stunning moments, I admit that it was hard to select my very favorites. One thing we didn't have room to show? All.Of.The.Dancing. There was some serious boogie down time at this two day celebration! But I had to include pictures of the most adorable flower girls and ring bearers in all of wedding history. Seriously, one of the little girls is pure blonde cherub, while the other is a dead ringer for Suri Cruise. Thank you to Powers Photography for sharing this lovely event with us!

Vendors: What was the most meaningful part of your day? What was your vision for your wedding? What were the most meaningful moments? What other events happened over the wedding weekend? Any advice you'd give new brides who are just getting started?

Photographer: Powers Photography Studio

Venue: Camp Colton, Colton, OR

Flowers: Forest & Field

Catering: Willaby's Catering

Dress: Sally New (my mom)

Shoes: Birkenstocks & Modcloth

Accessories: Etsy

Men's Attire: Men's Wearhouse

DJ: Alexander Froehlich, DJ Gonzo

Band: Ben Rice & the Illamatics

Since we don't live close to any of our friends, it's always quite a task to see everyone we want to see when we visit, and still have time with family. The best part about our wedding was having all of the people we love in one place and them all contributing their loving energy into our wedding and our marriage. It was just amazing. I couldn't stop hugging people.

Kevin and I had talked a lot about what we wanted for our wedding before he even asked me to marry him, so we were ahead of the game in the regard. Our vision for the wedding was a fusion of Pride and Prejudice and The Hobbit; elegant and endearing; woodsy and whimsical; tea and beer. We talked about a multi-day event, instead of just a few hours, where our closest friends and family members would gather for a relaxed weekend of good food, good beer, and even better company. I had talked to multiple camp-like settings and none were the right fit, so I was about to give up on the dream of an over-night wedding, but after rearranging the words for the twelfth time in the google search bar, Camp Colton popped up. We visited the next week and absolutely fell in love with the serenity of the place.

We are lucky to have such great people in our lives and we wanted to give them a mini-vacation. However, they gave us an even bigger gift. It was not our intention to have our friends and family work so hard for us, both in planning and prep, but it was truly amazing that they volunteered to help out. We had our DJ friend blasting tunes while everyone moved furniture, placed the table settings, tied silverware together, and whatever else was needed. We have a lot of friends who provided their services to our event, which we are so thankful for because it helped cultivate this extremely intimate environment that we had wanted. My college roommate designed the invitations, my sister did my hair, an old friend from high school did the amazing floral arrangements, my RA from freshman year of college and his band played live music all night, followed by our DJ friend, my dad's college buddy performed the ceremony; desserts were made by my sisters, a good friend, and I. My mother sewed a handful of items such as the reception space curtains, the tea towels, the flower girl dresses, and my wedding dress (that I designed, not thinking about how hard it would be to make a dress without a pattern). But she did it and it was perfect, nonetheless!

Our ceremony was very meaningful to us, as we had readings by our parents and siblings, some original, and we also had a "unit-tea" where we steeped two of our favorite loose-leafs together as we read our hand-written vows. We then poured the tea and exited the ceremony, tea mugs in hand, toasting our guests on the way out, which was unplanned, but lovely.

We also had a karaoke machine for the after-party. Expecting most people to be hungover and/or sleep deprived the next morning, we planned a "farewell breakfast" at the local cafe, where they made us biscuits & gravy, pancakes, eggs, coffee and cinnamon rolls to die for.

Don't be a bridezilla. I wasn't (for the most part) and it turned out amazing. Things will probably happen that you didn't exactly plan for, but I can guarantee that adapting to the changes will serve you and yours much better than being stubborn. And the changes oftentimes turn out to be best.