Tropical Abernethy Center Wedding

January 30, 2021

This tropical Abernethy Center wedding shows off one of the best Oregon wedding venues!

The Backstory

Ugh I adored this tropical Abernethy Center wedding!! Bri and Justice were originally going to celebrate their October wedding in the tropics of Hawaii. Butttt as we all know, 2020 had different plans. Instead of letting this ruin their day, though, they changed their venue so they could stay in Oregon and planned a gathering with their closest friends and family!

My boyfriend Eamon and I partnered together to provide them with both photography and videography coverage, and I loved getting to work alongside him.

The Venue: Abernethy Center

Abernethy Center, one of the best wedding venues in Oregon City in my opinion, has so much to offer! With multiple ceremony site options, including the Chapel, Veiled Garden, and Ballroom, there is seriously something perfect for every couple.

Bri and Justice decided to tie the knot at Abigail’s Garden, a gorgeous outdoor ceremony and tented reception venue!

Some of the garden’s features:

Guest capacity: 280
Lawn games
Fully ADA accessible
Wooden dance floor
Ceremony & reception chairs

Abernethy Center has also been doing such a good job being responsive to COVID for their couples! They’re requiring guests to seat different family parties 6 feet apart, are serving dinner plated or family-style instead of buffet style, and they’ve got hand sanitizer everywhere! You’ll feel totally safe if you get married here during COVID!

Bri & Justice’s Wedding at Abigail’s Garden

The wedding day began with rain, rain, and moooore rain. They originally were going to get married outdoors, but the rain continued and forced them to tie the knot under their reception tent! More changed plans – but they were such troopers about it all!

Once they had made this decision, they weren’t phased. They got ready for the day, and then did their first look in private, under the gazebo at the garden. It was seriously one of the sweetest first looks I’ve seen. After seeing each other for the first time, Bri and Justice decided to read their vows to each other. Once they’d finished and the tears were comin’, Justice brought out a damn GUITAR!! He played a song for her – and apparently he doesn’t typically play guitar for anyone. Talk about suchhhh an adorable gesture.

After that, we took couples portraits of them! The rain had lightened up a little bit at that point, so we were able to do them in the property’s driveway and around the garden! These two were seriously so sleek and elegant the entireee day, even in the rain.

Next, the wedding party met up with us and started celebrating with Bri and Justice! We took photos with the bridal party and groomsmen, and let me tell you: those bridesmaids were POPPING OFF in their bright orange dresses!! It totally made me realize that bright orange is underrated for weddings, especially weddings with a tropical theme! And the groomsmen all looked like they belonged on the cover of GQ.

Once the ceremony started, everybody was crying right off the bat. The celebration was huge when Bri and Justice finally shared their first kiss as a married couple!

The End of the Night

And thennn the PARTY STARTED!! The families & guests did the traditional money dance with both the bride and the groom, which was super fun. If you don’t know what this is, it’s when the family members & friends pin cash onto the bride and groom, and share a dance with them! Then the drinks started flowing and the dancing got GOING fast! We all danced for hours and I swearrrr this family had the best dance moves ever. Almost EVERY guest was on the dance floor, and we ended the night with a gorgeous sendoff. Bri and Justice ran to their car in the rain, and suddenly, the day was done!

The whole wedding was such a blast to be a part of and I’m so glad Bri and Justice got to celebrate despite COVID changing their plans. Love these two!!