An acre-large herb garden, a bonfire surrounded by hay bales for chairs, plates of food decorated with flower petals shaped like dragonflies and butterflies, all within the setting of the green forested hills of the Oregon Coast Range — there’s nothing quite like a wedding at The Thyme Garden. Heidi and Stephen said their vows on a dais of rustic wood, surrounded by friends and family. The pastor, Gretchen Woods of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Corvallis, literally sang a blessing upon them.

Click here for a really cool slide show of the wedding day, from start to finish. (High speed internet required.)

Click here for a gallery of nearly all the shots from the wedding day, where you can view your heart away. (Or purchase prints, too — if you want.)

Finally, I invite you to add a comment to the blog post. And for each comment added, I’ll donate one canned item to the local food bank to go toward hunger relief.

Pam and Bryan had their reception on Saturday, mostly for family. On Sunday they held a reception for a larger group of friends at Portland’s Wonder Ballroom. The warm tone was set by barbecue and homemade pies in lieu of cake, rollicking kids, happy friends…

Click here for a really cool slide show of the wedding day, from start to finish. (High speed internet required.)

Click here for a gallery of nearly all the shots from the wedding day and the reception, where you can view your heart away. (Or purchase prints, too — if you want.)

I invite you to add a comment to the blog post. And for each comment added, I’ll donate one canned item to the local food bank to go toward hunger relief.

Tracy and Justin got married in The Old Church . Built in 1883, it’s a strikingly beautiful wooden Gothic building in downtown Portland. And Tracy and Justin’s wedding, mixing elegance and warmth, did it justice. From there they went a couple blocks away to Crystal Ballroom at the Tiffany Center for their reception.

Click here for a really cool slide show of the wedding day, from start to finish. (High speed internet required.) While you’re there, try clicking the red “full screen” icon in the upper right corner, for the IMAX experience. (Well, sort of….)

Click here for a gallery of nearly all the shots from the wedding day and the reception, where you can view your heart away. (And purchase prints, too — if you want.)

Right after the wedding, we made a quick stop at the Park Blocks, to get some truly autumnal shots — yellow leaves on the ground, amber street lights, handsome newlyweds….

In the foyer of the Tiffany Center, we did this classy shot with the Venetian tableau painted on the arched ceiling above them.

Annette and Dan and I did this session for their engagement photos on the worst rainy day of the season to date — and it was simply beautiful. Outside the dark and dramatic clouds lowered above the bright green fields, while inside the fireplace crackled. Irmi at The Mansion at the Bayou, where Annette and Dan will host their reception on December 19th, was kind enough not only to let us use the mansion for these shots, but she also lit the fire, placed candles, brought bolsters and pillows for the “lying on the floor” shots, and generally made sure we had everything we needed.

And then there was Phoebe! Poor little Phoebe, who trembled like a leaf in the presence of strangers, who couldn’t look a stranger in the face, much less one pointing a camera at her. I had Annette and Dan lie on the floor and slide Phoebe toward me, and shot after shot what I got was a dog looking wide-eyed and terrified and dashing back to the safety of Dan’s arms first chance she got. Until, finally, with this shot, we got what we needed: she paused just long enough to yawn. But to my lights, the yawn looks like a clear and joyful endorsement of the coming marriage of Annette and Dan.