Valentine Elopement at Opal 28 | Portland Wedding

In the Pacific Northwest, a winter wedding–even an elopement is typically indoors. With this wedding inspiration shoot, I wanted to work with other Portland wedding vendors to create a visual explosion of romance, vibrant color, and sweet, endearing love indoors. The theme of this creative endeavor was “Modern Valentine-inspired Elopement.” I wanted modern furniture in a modern feeling venue. Opal 28 created the perfect backdrop for our elopement inspiration. The concrete back wall, stone floors, and open feel really set the stage.

Originally, I didn’t find furniture with any of the local specialty rental companies and looked at relatively inexpensive ways I could create modern event furniture on a budget. I started with a plain IKEA table. Yep, IKEA. This particular table had a white powder coated frame and legs which I spray painted gold. That alone completely changed the look of the table for the better and was an easy adjustment. I found the modern, windsor chairs from Overstock and loved the pairing of the two together. Because a modern romantic feel was the aesthetic I wanted, I needed to soften the hard lines a little and chose a long, silvery, habotai silk fabric as a table runner. Instead of placing candle lighting on the table, as usual, we placed all the candles on the floor on either side of the table. This lighting also sat on the sides of the copper pipe ceremony alter and made a great before and after transition. LOVED the lighting on the floor!!

Wildflower Portland took the red and pink floral inspiration beyond my expectations and I was smitten with what a gorgeous centerpiece and bouquet she created with David Austin garden roses, deep red peonies, tulips, foraged camellia, sweet peas, willow branches, and cherry blossoms.

Rosycakes in Vancouver crafted the most elegant cake for our shoot that had beautiful edible gold painted ribbons adorning the sides and Wildflower Portland added further floral touches with poppies, red amaranth, anemones, and other late winter blooms.  It created the perfect centerpiece of the most beautiful dessert table. Pomegranate, cherries, and strawberries paired perfectly with artisanal cheeses and mini desserts from Whole Foods.

Our bride and groom, Emily and Quincy looked exquisite in their wedding attire. Emily’s stunning dress from Claire La Faye had a full tulle skirt and and elegant floral lace bodice and could not have been more romantic. Quincy’s European suit, shirt and tie were graciously provided by Collier Portland.

The invitation suite by Papela mixed the classic black and white colors with striking reds and purples. Often times inspirations shoots will have elaborate paper suites by calligraphers and I love them, but it was important to me to choose something that felt bespoke, but in a more accessible manner.

All these details came together so well and I hope they can provide great inspiration for how even the smallest details can really set the mood of a wedding.

This shoot was previously published on The Ruffled Blog but without the Valentine elements. Feel free to see it here for even more pictures that didn’t make it to this post: http://ruffledblog.com/urban-modern-elopement/

Venue | Opal 28

Photography + Styling | Simply Splendid

Floral Design | Wildflower Portland

Bakery | Rosycakes

Paper Suite | Papela

Hair + Makeup | Kylie Sallee

Bride’s Gown | Claire La Faye

Bride’s Necklace | Simply Splendid

Bride’s Earrings | Haunt

Bride’s Shoes | Sam Edelman

Groom’s Wardrobe | Collier

Dinnerware | West Elm

Flatware | Vintage Dirilyte

Dessert extras | Whole Foods
Bride + Groom (Emily + Quincy) | Option Model and Media

All images capture on film with Contax 645 and Pentax 645nii cameras using Kodak Portra 400 and Ilford Delta 3200 film. Film processing by The FIND Lab.

***