Things I learned at my brother’s wedding: 1) It’s incredibly difficult to photograph when you have tears streaming down your face and you cannot see through your viewfinder. 2) It’s incredibly difficult to edit said photos when you have tears streaming down your face and you cannot see your computer screen. And 3) It is incredibly difficult to write a blog post about said wedding when you have tears streaming down your face as you are attempting to type coherent sentences. Suffice it to say, the emotions were REAL and raw and beautiful at Kirk and Erinne’s Trask River wedding in Tillamook Oregon. And it was an awesome weekend for the two of them and their friends and family.

Their wedding weekend all started on the Friday before their wedding day when a group of Kirk and Erinne’s friends joined them on the North Trask Route to bike all the way from Portland, Oregon where they live, to a little spot out in the Tillamook State Forest on the Trask River. Which was a 52, yes FIFTY-TWO, mile trip with 4,200 feet in elevation gain on gravel roads. This was no small feat, even for dedicated bicyclists like the ones in this group. (Kirk and Erinne, for one, go everywhere by bike – they don’t own a car!) They rolled into camp that evening, dirty, sweaty, and tired, but with smiles on their faces, happy they made it, and ready to enjoy the festivities.

The next day couldn’t have treated everyone to a prettier afternoon. Because it’s Oregon, we got rained on here and there, but nothing torrential and nothing that put a damper on any of the celebration. Kirk walked barefoot down the aisle alongside our parents (which nearly opened my teary floodgates right then and there) and was soon joined by Erinne, barefoot and on her parents’ arms as well. But it wouldn’t have been Kirk and Erinne’s wedding without the addition of Cordi, their corgi, who played the part of flower dog and leaped into the air upon reuniting with Kirk and Erinne, orange flowers and petals flying everywhere.

As their ceremony moved along, friends and family were treated to tons of laughs, and holy moly, buckets of tears. Erinne’s vows to Kirk were so sweet. And Kirk’s vows to Erinne (which he said as he choked up with tears in his eyes) had me absolutely bawling they were so perfect (thank goodness for that giant camera in front of my face!). He quoted from a favorite tune of theirs from Neutral Milk Hotel (with a few adjustments):

[Verse 1]
What a beautiful face
I have found in this place
That is circling all round the sun
What a beautiful dream
That could flash on the screen
In a blink of an eye and be gone from me
Soft and sweet ;)
I vow to hold it close and keep it here with me, me

[Verse 2]
And one day we will die
And our ashes will fly from the bicycles under the sky
But for now we are young
Let us lay in the sun
And count every beautiful thing we can see
I vow to be
In the arms of all I’m keeping here with me, me

[Verse 3]
What a curious life we have found here tonight
There is music that sounds from the trees
There are lights in the clouds
Our friends’ voices all around
Your voice as it’s rolling and ringing through me
Soft and sweet
How the notes all bend and reach above the trees

[Verse 4]
What a beautiful face
I have found in this place
That is circling all ’round the sun
I vow to hold it close and keep it here with me, me

Thankfully I wasn’t the only one with tears in my eyes – I was in good company as I’m pretttttty darn sure there wasn’t a dry eye in the forest. (I heard afterwards from one of Kirk and Erinne’s friends that even though she doesn’t like weddings AT ALL, she was still touched by this one. Another friend of hers piped up and pointed out to her, “I saw YOU crying TOO!”)

But the tears were happy ones, and soon Kirk and Erinne had tied the knot, sealed it all with a high five and a kiss and were walking down the aisle, hand in hand, barefoot together, and beaming and ready to give hugs to everyone in attendance.

Not long after their I Do’s, we took some time to make some family photos (thanks again to Kirk’s friend, PJ, who was kind enough to take control of my camera for a few shots so I could exist in some photos with my family!), and then zipped on down to the river to make some fun images in that beautiful spot.

The rest of the evening was filled with barbecued vegetarian goodies, cake, champagne, (shots of Malort – have you ever had that stuff? Yikes! It’s some kind of special! But it’s a wedding tradition among Kirk and Erinne’s friends, so Malort shots were essential in their celebration), camaraderie around the fire, frisbee-tossing, cornhole-throwing, copious amounts of laughter, and plenty of dancing under the stars.

Kirk and Erinne. Gosh. Where do I even start? (Oh dang, here I go again – the tears are creeping up on me as I write! Ok, who am I kidding – they’re a small waterfall.) What an honor to be able to document and capture such a beautiful, heartfelt, amazing day in your lives. It means the world to me that I was able to do this for you, and that you insisted that I do so! I loved seeing you both filled with so much joy and happiness, and surrounded by so many people who clearly think the world of you. We should all aspire to live as meaningfully and intentionally as you both do. Thank you so much for being exactly who you are, always. Congratulations, little brother and new sister. I love you – from the very bottom of my heart.

And, click below to watch a little video I made from their wedding site:

Vendors for Kirk and Erinne’s Trask River Wedding in Tillamook Oregon:

Harpist: Kate Petak
Officiant: Ken Southerland

On the Docket:

Weddings, elopements and portraits! Stay posted!

Cheers,

-Kristine