Waste-Free Weddings

Mount Pisgah is a local leader in sustainable wedding practices

The oak grove double tree is one of four ceremony sites at Mount Pisgah

Despite the cold and rain that enrobes Eugene for many months of the year, outdoor weddings are growing in popularity here. And there’s one venue that is more popular than nearly all others — Mount Pisgah Arboretum. Peg Douthit-Jackson, the arboretum’s education and special events coordinator, says they have been “swamped” with interest in recent years and that it consistently fills its wedding schedule. Part of that growing interest is the arboretum’s response to the desire for more sustainable weddings.  Continue reading 

Homegrown Gowns

Local designer Renne Phillips makes couture wedding dresses accessible

Renne Phillips sits perched on a stool in the Redoux Parlour’s workspace surrounded by scissors, paper patterns and sketches. Behind her, a dress form is mocked up with lace — the beginning of a gown she’ll complete for a summer wedding. She pulls out the garment’s sketch; sweeping lines resembling rose petals flow together creating a voluminous skirt, which is sprinkled with dots representing intricate beadwork. Continue reading 

For Every Couple, A Story

High-end production meets traditional storytelling at Moetic Wedding Films

“Everywhere we travel we tell people there’s no better place to get married than Oregon,” says Ryan Welch, co-founder of Moetic Wedding Films, a high-end wedding film production company with offices in Eugene and McMinnville, Ore. “The problem is,” Welch continues, to take advantage of Oregon’s natural beauty “you’ve only got three months. We’re not going to film a wedding here in the Northwest until June.” Continue reading 

A Hoot of a Ceremony

Local author Melissa Hart remembers her wedding at Cascades Raptor Center

Author Melissa Hart and husband Jonathan release a red-tailed hawk at their nuptials.

“Jonathan? Melissa? Meet us on the lawn and close your eyes.” Grinning staff members at the Cascades Raptor Center led us past our lopsided wedding cake to the grass outside the visitors’ center. “We have a gift for you … don’t peek.” For years, we’d volunteered to clean mews, feed orphaned owls and medicate injured hawks at the nature center and wildlife hospital in Eugene. After Jonathan proposed, we asked to marry at the center.  Continue reading 

Turn That Gown Upside Down

Upcycling bridesmaids dresses

A good friend calls late at night, breathless with exciting news: “He proposed!” she exclaims. And whether you whoop with joy or nervously gulp chardonnay like Kristen Wiig’s character in the wildly funny movie Bridesmaids, one thing’s for certain: You’ll soon be making room in the closet for a dress you most likely have no control over picking out. In addition to letting it gather dust or letting it gather dust at Goodwill, there’s another option: the upcycle. Continue reading