How does the song go? "Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful..." Well, that as my life this February with the snowstorm. Let's just say it took some serious travel shenanigans to get to this wedding in downtown Portland at Events at Hunt & Gather Catering. Driving in from Beaverton, I used my snow socks on my Jeep to slowly maneuver around all the stranded cars along highway ramps and shoulders and white knuckled it into downtown.
I didn't know how long it would take for me to drive downtown, so I left Beaverton almost 3 hours early to make the 30 minute drive. It took slightly over an hour due to having to maneuver around tow trucks, plows, accidents, and piled up cars, so I got to Hunt & Gather pretty early. I got to see the food being made, ovens warming up, and staff prepping for the dinner.
Hunt & Gather typically sets up their space to have several long tables along a long set of floor-to-ceiling windows. It's a pretty neat, modern space. My two favorite things about the space are:
1) You can see all the food being made in the back, and the oven fires going
2) The bar and the wall of alcohol is really cool
The flowers and rings had already been delivered to the venue, so I spent a few minutes with the bouquets and rings at the bar.
At 5:30 PM, guests started arriving. I heard some epic stories of folks getting to Portland in the previous 24 hours. Their stories showed how dedicated and committed they were to see Rachael and Jamie get married that evening.
Rachael arrived before Jamie, and I was able to get some photos of her wedding suit.
When Jamie arrived, I quickly hid Rachael in the bridal space behind the bar. I staged Jamie in front of the kitchen with her eyes closed to make sure she didn't see Rachael in the reflection in the glass. I walked Rachael out partially blindfolded and positioned her close to Jamie so they could turn around and do a co-reveal at the same time.
After they saw each other, they instructed everyone to get another drink at the bar, and then head over to the ceremony space so they could get married!
Rachael and her mom walked out first from behind the bar.
Jamie exited shortly after, looking absolutely radiant.
One of their closest friends performed the ceremony.
How many times in your life will you be able to sit on a couch to watch a wedding ceremony? You can at the Hunt & Gather!
Once they tied the knot, dinner was served and the party began! They had paella!
They also had parents be their witnesses for their certificate after dinner.
While their guests were eating, Rachael and Jamie shared their first dance as wives.
