Portland Winter Wedding at St. Michael's Lutheran Church | Abby + Darryl
Some weddings you photograph as a professional. And then there are the ones where you show up with your camera and your whole heart, because the people getting married are woven into your own story. Abby and Darryl's wedding was the second kind.
Abby and I go back to our college days at Concordia University in Northeast Portland — we even worked the same on-campus mailroom job together, which I think says everything you need to know about how we both spent our college years. Her dad, Joel, was the athletic director at Concordia, and the campus that shaped so much of my own life became the backdrop for one of the most meaningful weddings I've ever photographed.
The ceremony was held at St. Michael's Lutheran Church, dressed in full Christmas splendor: towering trees flanking the altar, garland draping the pews, and the deep blue Pacific Northwest sky framed behind the arched windows. The flower girl practically owned that aisle. And when Abby walked in on her father's arm, the whole room held its breath.
Darryl and Abby honored both tradition and joy throughout the day. They jumped the broom as they recessed back down the aisle, laughing the whole way through — one of those moments I will never forget photographing. Outside afterward, their bridal party filled the glass facade of the campus building with light, and the two of them leaned into each other like they'd been doing it forever.
The reception moved into the Concordia gym, which had been transformed into something magical. Abby carried a stunning paper flower bouquet, and the couple had custom Funko Pop figures made in their likeness — a detail their guests absolutely loved. The dance floor never emptied. A little girl in a gold dress brought the house completely down.
I also have to give a nod to the bridesmaids in black, including Kayla, whose own beautiful wedding I had the joy of photographing years later — see Kayla and Chris's Seattle wedding here.
Abby and Darryl, thank you for letting me be part of your day. Photographing you in the place where so much of my own story happened made this one truly rare.
