Joseph & Sami | Love, a Giant Bridal Party, and a Dramatic Sky at Wonser Woods
There's something that happens when you photograph a wedding for a family you already love.
I first met the Scarpellis when I photographed Joseph's sister Rachel's wedding (blog post coming soon). So when Joseph and Sami asked me to be their photographer, it felt less like a booking and more like a reunion. I already knew this family showed up fully, loudly, and with their whole hearts.
Wonser Woods has lived a few lives. At the time of this wedding, it was one of the most beautiful outdoor venues in Clark County, Washington — rolling grounds, towering evergreens, open sky as far as you could see. Since then, it's returned to its roots as a working Christmas tree farm, which makes these photos feel even more like a moment in time.
The morning started with Sami's dress hanging in the window light — that lace, those layers, the soft glow coming through the glass. Sami herself, sitting by the window in her gown, looking out — she had this ease about her. Like she knew exactly where she was headed and couldn't wait to get there.
When Joseph turned around for the first look, the whole forest seemed to hold its breath. Foreheads together, laughing, arms wrapped around each other under the pines. His blush rose boutonniere against a light gray suit and green tie. Her lush bouquet of blush garden roses, white ranunculus, and dusty miller. These two were ready.
Then came the bridal party — and I say this with complete sincerity — the largest and most enthusiastically loud I have ever photographed. Groomsmen in gray suits, bridesmaids in rich emerald gowns, Joseph and Sami grinning in the middle of it all. A big bridal party tells you something about a couple. It means a lot of people have shown up for them, over and over. It means they are people worth showing up for.
The ceremony was everything the Pacific Northwest at its best can offer — open sky, a beautiful wooden arbor dressed in florals, wine barrels at the aisle entrance (one marked "unplugged ceremony" — a detail I always love). Up close: Joseph and Sami holding hands at the altar, smiling so wide it looked involuntary. The tented reception followed — white linens, eucalyptus, hand-lettered table numbers in script — and then a full-on dance party that needed zero coaxing. This crowd was already on the floor.
And then we snuck away. Out into the fields of Wonser Woods as the sky did something extraordinary. Dramatic clouds, soft light, Christmas trees stretching across the hillside below a big moody Pacific Northwest sky. Joseph carrying her bouquet, both of them walking hand in hand through the wildflowers, turning back to laugh at each other, completely in their own world. These are the photographs I think about.
Joseph and Sami — I'm so glad I got to be part of your day, and even more glad this family keeps finding their way back to my camera. (And Sami — photographing you again for that family session in Bend was such a gift. This family, I tell you.)
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