Iconoclasts need wedding location.

August 17, 2008 12:00 PM

I need to find an outdoor, semi-secluded, kind of non-traditional venue for a summer wedding in Portland. Preferably cheap and public, but private is ok.

I've been to the Hoyt Arboretum and their wedding meadow was too meadowy, not garden-like enough. I've considered the Rose Test Gardens, but I was wondering if there are other venues that would fit our desires that I've never considered.

I'm open to places in WA County as well, so it doesn't have to be exclusively Metro. Heck, even someplace down in the Valley would be fine as long as it's not too:
Conventional - no gazebos, arches or other accoutrements associated with the usual wedding.
Difficult to navigate for the disabled - we have elderly relatives that can't handle long distances well, especially over uneven ground.
Expensive - no $1000 a day places, please.

It's can't really explain just how much we really don't want the usual wedding. Needless to say, you'd have to try real hard to convince me to get married in at a vineyard, a B&B or a hotel. I'd like something vaguely park-like or along the line of a managed forest area

posted by fiercekitten to home & garden (10 comments total)

Rose Garden at Peninsula Park
Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden
The caldera stage and picnic shelter at Mt. Tabor
The Bishop's Close (not sure they rent this for weddings, but it's lovely)
posted by ottereroticist at 12:43 PM on August 17, 2008

I'm a bit confused by your requirements, in that you first say the wedding meadow isn't gardeny enough, and that you're considering the Rose Test Gardens (have you been to the old rose garden in Peninsula Park, by the way? It does have a gazebo, though), but later provide very un-gardeny images that are far more foresty-gladey. For the latter, I think of Kelley Point Park.
posted by mumkin at 12:49 PM on August 17, 2008

Not sure I understand -- you want something that isn't "too meadowy" and more "garden-like", but the two pictures look pretty much like meadow to me.

I got married at the Leach Botanical Garden, which is definitely more on the garden side of the spectrum. The main house area might be too conventional for you, but it's 20 feet away from some pretty rustic trails through the woods. Might not be what you want, but maybe I can save you a trip.
posted by xil at 12:53 PM on August 17, 2008

Does Pittock Mansion allow weddings?
posted by Class Goat at 1:10 PM on August 17, 2008

Mt. Tabor?
posted by hollisimo at 5:46 PM on August 17, 2008

The Grotto? They have an elevator to the top, too.
posted by Acacia at 5:54 PM on August 17, 2008

The Shakesperian Garden up at Washington Park. (Theres a plaque of Shakespere on the west wall down below the Rose Garden and to the south of the ampetheatre.) The way that the cement paths are set up makes it ideal for the bride to walk up without spoiling the groom's eyes beforehand. Don't know your capacity requirements, but it is a medium sized area.
posted by captainsohler at 6:02 PM on August 17, 2008

Want something really memorable and cool? :)

Not sure if that's too far from Portland for you though.
posted by Kickstart70 at 7:20 PM on August 17, 2008

hmm, we got married in the Chinese Garden, and it was pretty cool. I don't know if it's too typically white stone and gazebo-ish for you, though. not secluded at all, either.

the suggestions of Mt. Tabor or Crystal Springs are good from the secluded angle. It may be a bit noisier and hilly for the wheelchairs, but i have a soft spot also for Cathedral Park.
posted by acid freaking on the kitty at 8:23 AM on August 18, 2008

Take a drive around Sauvie Island, maybe, and scout locations . I haven't got a particular location in mind, but some friends got married on an island somewhere within Sauvie Island, and the backdrop to their wedding picture looks like your "managed forest" link, so other areas may work for you as well.

I also had some friends get married in Milo McIver State Park, which isn't too far out, and there's the river and all that. I think it did have sort of a covered picnic area which is genericish, but sort of mandatory for Oregon weather.

Although the Leach Botanical Gardens look really awesome, and I have just added them to my quiet little mental list of wedding places.
posted by redsparkler at 11:47 AM on August 18, 2008