Wondering Where Weirdos Should Wed: Portland Edition
February 4, 2022 2:38 PM Subscribe
Two middle-aged orchestra nerds in the Portland metro area need help finding weird/unconventional location for their late Summer wedding. Halp?
My partner (M, 57) and I (F, 47) are planning to marry later this year. We're thinking mid to late August with 75 to 100 of our friends and family. Due to the likelihood that Covid will still be with us and distancing still necessary, we'd like to be outside.
About us: he's a conductor and I'm a cellist. Our large extended friend group consists of a bunch of music nerds and we'd like to incorporate some kind of wedding orchestra because we love playing together and of course we want to include music in our day. This is his second marriage and my first. We recognize our unconventionality makes finding the right place to get married a bit challenging. We also got together in an unusual way: we both left previous relationships to be together. Both of his parents are dead as is my dad, leaving my octogenarian mom as the only parent who will be present. We plan to each be escorted by the people closest to us (me: my half brother and the internet's bondcliff, him: his closest friend and his sister) to our officiant, rather than him waiting for me to walk down an aisle.
Things we love: orchestral music (minus opera), LEGO, toys, Nerf guns, our friends and family, air/space museums, cats, travel, progressive politics, speaking German, books.
What we don't love: conventional wedding traditions (engraved invitations, wedding registries, extensive decorations, wedding organizers)
What we envision: outside somewhere beautiful, the two of us meeting at our officiant while surrounded by our friends and family for a brief ceremony, followed by the best party ever. Food, drink, rounds of cornhole, music, plus other things we have months to come up with.
What we've so far considered: Oregon Garden Resort (boring!), Evergreen Air & Space Museum (cool idea, but the accommodations for catering seem lacking, plus where would we put a large orchestra?), The Nordia House in SW Portland (we've given concerts there and love the place and people), The Abernethy House in Oregon City (nice, but not quite "us").
Budget: Let's say less than $10k for venue and catering.
Looking for ideas, anecdotes, suggestions.
READY, GO!
My partner (M, 57) and I (F, 47) are planning to marry later this year. We're thinking mid to late August with 75 to 100 of our friends and family. Due to the likelihood that Covid will still be with us and distancing still necessary, we'd like to be outside.
About us: he's a conductor and I'm a cellist. Our large extended friend group consists of a bunch of music nerds and we'd like to incorporate some kind of wedding orchestra because we love playing together and of course we want to include music in our day. This is his second marriage and my first. We recognize our unconventionality makes finding the right place to get married a bit challenging. We also got together in an unusual way: we both left previous relationships to be together. Both of his parents are dead as is my dad, leaving my octogenarian mom as the only parent who will be present. We plan to each be escorted by the people closest to us (me: my half brother and the internet's bondcliff, him: his closest friend and his sister) to our officiant, rather than him waiting for me to walk down an aisle.
Things we love: orchestral music (minus opera), LEGO, toys, Nerf guns, our friends and family, air/space museums, cats, travel, progressive politics, speaking German, books.
What we don't love: conventional wedding traditions (engraved invitations, wedding registries, extensive decorations, wedding organizers)
What we envision: outside somewhere beautiful, the two of us meeting at our officiant while surrounded by our friends and family for a brief ceremony, followed by the best party ever. Food, drink, rounds of cornhole, music, plus other things we have months to come up with.
What we've so far considered: Oregon Garden Resort (boring!), Evergreen Air & Space Museum (cool idea, but the accommodations for catering seem lacking, plus where would we put a large orchestra?), The Nordia House in SW Portland (we've given concerts there and love the place and people), The Abernethy House in Oregon City (nice, but not quite "us").
Budget: Let's say less than $10k for venue and catering.
Looking for ideas, anecdotes, suggestions.
READY, GO!
The Lan Su Chinese Garden in downtown Portland is an absolutely beautiful venue! It's not especially tied to any of your interests, but I think it would accommodate what you want really nicely (although that may be on the high side for the number of guests), and it's an absolutely beautiful place. I had my nerdy and nontraditional wedding there in 2013 and it was everything I could have hoped for. We rented the garden without the teahouse for a ceremony and reception with about 40 people. The layout is great for mingling, with a variety of large and small areas. We had our ceremony in the Philosopher's Courtyard, which has both a pleasing name, and a layout that worked well. We set up a few different food stations and bars scattered around, which encouraged people to wander around the space. There's as large patio facing the lake that I think would work really nicely for music (we used it for board games). It's good-sized, and visible from lots of different paths and pavilions around the garden. The garden has a few unusual rules (no red wine or coffee, no glass) but I know they do allow live music -- their event coordinator told us about a previous wedding with a mariachi band. There's only one caterer that works there, but Vibrant Table has great food, and they're familiar with the space and how to use it effectively, and can accommodate lots of dietary restrictions. It's downtown, so there's lots of hotel options. I don't have any photos online, but I'd be happy to share some or to answer questions if it looks like something you're interested in.
posted by duien at 3:18 PM on February 4, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by duien at 3:18 PM on February 4, 2022 [3 favorites]
Similar to cortex's suggestion, there's a nice gazebo (photo here) in the Rose Garden at Peninsula Park in North Portland. Originally a bandstand, too, apparently.
Just a note that if you reserve a spot with Portland Parks, they'll ask you if it's for a wedding. I cynically thought that it was because they wanted to raise the rate, but they said that if it's for a wedding, they'll take extra steps to ensure there aren't conflicting events (noise, etc.) scheduled at the same park. (that was >10 years ago, so ymmv.)
posted by hydra77 at 3:22 PM on February 4, 2022 [3 favorites]
Just a note that if you reserve a spot with Portland Parks, they'll ask you if it's for a wedding. I cynically thought that it was because they wanted to raise the rate, but they said that if it's for a wedding, they'll take extra steps to ensure there aren't conflicting events (noise, etc.) scheduled at the same park. (that was >10 years ago, so ymmv.)
posted by hydra77 at 3:22 PM on February 4, 2022 [3 favorites]
The larger McMenamins properties might work, but I'm not sure about their music policy. A friend had a wedding at Edgefield and at the time you just had to commit to a certain amount of food and bev in order to use their facilities. They provided a DJ but that could have been the B&G choice. It may have changed since this was about 6 years ago but they're also flexible enough that if you wanted some cornhole and whisky with your wedding they wouldn't mind.
posted by fiercekitten at 4:13 PM on February 4, 2022
posted by fiercekitten at 4:13 PM on February 4, 2022
It’s not all that unconventional*, but the Joel Palmer House down in Dayton might be worth a look.
*although, to be honest, your whole plan doesn’t sound all that “unconventional” for a Portland wedding.
posted by a box and a stick and a string and a bear at 4:31 PM on February 4, 2022
*although, to be honest, your whole plan doesn’t sound all that “unconventional” for a Portland wedding.
posted by a box and a stick and a string and a bear at 4:31 PM on February 4, 2022
Response by poster: Thanks for all the suggestions so far!
NB: I've lived in Portland since 1992; not super interested in whether I meet the Portland definition of unconventional. More interested in where two very silly middle-aged people can get married who want a non-traditional setting. Also the one time I ate at the Joel Palmer house I came away with terrible food poisoning.
posted by hollisimo at 4:45 PM on February 4, 2022 [2 favorites]
NB: I've lived in Portland since 1992; not super interested in whether I meet the Portland definition of unconventional. More interested in where two very silly middle-aged people can get married who want a non-traditional setting. Also the one time I ate at the Joel Palmer house I came away with terrible food poisoning.
posted by hollisimo at 4:45 PM on February 4, 2022 [2 favorites]
I’ll second Under The St Johns Bridge. I have helped with wedding logistics for a friend there (dog transportation). It’s distinctive, but definitely weddings happen there.
posted by janell at 5:19 PM on February 4, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by janell at 5:19 PM on February 4, 2022 [2 favorites]
We did Laurelhurst Park (Picnic Area A), walked everyone over to the food carts at Pod 28 at 28th and Ankeny where we ran a tab with all the carts and had a special order on hand for the beer cart, then did a cake reception at Jupiter Next. Champagne toast at sunset.
It was wild and batshit but perfectly Portland.
At no point did I have to deal with (1) who can't eat what (2) who has to sit next to what and (3) but what about the..
The key? A Thursday in mid-July. If you do that, you can probably set up cornhole at the food carts and completely forgo the cake reception.
The downside: Laurelhurst has annoyingly nothing parking, so you may want to make arrangements for those who can't walk.
If you want to see what it looked like, our wedding hashtag was #ohgodwhathaveIdone on Twitter. It continually delights.
posted by msamye at 5:57 PM on February 4, 2022
It was wild and batshit but perfectly Portland.
At no point did I have to deal with (1) who can't eat what (2) who has to sit next to what and (3) but what about the..
The key? A Thursday in mid-July. If you do that, you can probably set up cornhole at the food carts and completely forgo the cake reception.
The downside: Laurelhurst has annoyingly nothing parking, so you may want to make arrangements for those who can't walk.
If you want to see what it looked like, our wedding hashtag was #ohgodwhathaveIdone on Twitter. It continually delights.
posted by msamye at 5:57 PM on February 4, 2022
The Art Museum hosts weddings. I was married there. It's surprisingly affordable; I think we paid something like $5000 base for the venue, and then another $500 to rent the entire Impressionist and Modern wing.
Each wing is about $500 to rent, so you can rent the whole entire Museum for something like $7000. That includes museum workers! And the base venue can either be the Sunken Ballroom, or the crazy upstairs one, or they also have an outdoors venue.
It was shocking to us that this celebrated institution was cheaper than many "normal" venues, and our weddings pictures were in front of some of our favorite painters. It truly felt special.
posted by chuntered inelegantly from a sedentary position at 8:21 PM on February 4, 2022 [2 favorites]
Each wing is about $500 to rent, so you can rent the whole entire Museum for something like $7000. That includes museum workers! And the base venue can either be the Sunken Ballroom, or the crazy upstairs one, or they also have an outdoors venue.
It was shocking to us that this celebrated institution was cheaper than many "normal" venues, and our weddings pictures were in front of some of our favorite painters. It truly felt special.
posted by chuntered inelegantly from a sedentary position at 8:21 PM on February 4, 2022 [2 favorites]
We got married at the Leach Botanical Garden and it went fantastically well. It's a wonderful old house deep in the woods, just a great outdoors setting. Haven't been back there in a while, but definitely check it out.
posted by xil at 8:43 PM on February 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by xil at 8:43 PM on February 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
There are many wineries in the Willamette Valley to consider.
posted by yclipse at 12:48 PM on February 5, 2022
posted by yclipse at 12:48 PM on February 5, 2022
I got married at Oxbow Park, at one of the very shady group picnic sites. We had a friend play the cello, but I'm not sure how convenient it would be for a "large orchestra". I've been to someone else's wedding there, which was at a very sunny picnic site. After the ceremony at Oxbow, we had our reception at Edgefield, which was relatively affordable. (This was over a decade ago.)
I've also had friends hold weddings at Hoyt Arboretum, Penninsula Park, Laurelhurst Park (they had ceremony in the park and then for reception rented a house on the north edge of the park -- not sure if that's owned by the city or not), and Ft Vancouver. I think the Ft Vancouver wedding was specifically at the Marshall House, and I was at a funeral at the exact same house last August. They kept the big front door open, but I seem to remember thinking they could have opened more windows (?). You could ask about that. I chose to avoid COVID by spending most of my time on the spacious porch. I believe there is plenty of lawn for whatever you want to do in the open air.
I've also been to a wedding at Anderson Lodge near Cougar. It has lodging for everyone, but it's also kind of isolated.
I'm pretty sure some of those U-pick places on Sauvie Island accommodate weddings, as will Howell Territorial Park.
posted by polecat at 2:54 PM on February 5, 2022
I've also had friends hold weddings at Hoyt Arboretum, Penninsula Park, Laurelhurst Park (they had ceremony in the park and then for reception rented a house on the north edge of the park -- not sure if that's owned by the city or not), and Ft Vancouver. I think the Ft Vancouver wedding was specifically at the Marshall House, and I was at a funeral at the exact same house last August. They kept the big front door open, but I seem to remember thinking they could have opened more windows (?). You could ask about that. I chose to avoid COVID by spending most of my time on the spacious porch. I believe there is plenty of lawn for whatever you want to do in the open air.
I've also been to a wedding at Anderson Lodge near Cougar. It has lodging for everyone, but it's also kind of isolated.
I'm pretty sure some of those U-pick places on Sauvie Island accommodate weddings, as will Howell Territorial Park.
posted by polecat at 2:54 PM on February 5, 2022
Seconding the Chinese Gardens, I've catered desserts for weddings there and it's a beautiful space, let me know if you need a croquembouche!
posted by nenequesadilla at 8:05 PM on February 7, 2022
posted by nenequesadilla at 8:05 PM on February 7, 2022
Hi, I got married in Portland in my mid-20's in 2011 with a shoestring budget. This may not all apply, but here's what we did:
- The ceremony was at Oaks Pioneer Church, a city owned, all wooden pioneer era church that was originally in St. John's and floated down Willamette River and placed in Sellwood. As an Orchestra bonus they have a giant functional organ. It sits in a park and with COVID, you may be able to get the city park's dept to grant you a permit for the adjoining park for the reception? But the church is really only used for weddings, so you get 3hrs(?) before the next wedding. One nice totally unexpected token from it is they gave us an ornate Christmas tree ornament with the day of our marriage engraved on it.
- For our reception we rented a nearby Masonic Hall's ballroom, it was only ~$500, came with tables/chairs.
- The catering was done by a local mexican restaurant in Hillsboro. We had Birria and the veg/vegan option of Tamales. I believe it was around $2k for 100 people + two kegs of beer. We got a Tres Leches wedding cake from a local panderia nearby which they picked up and delivered too.
- For invitations, programs, and save the date we asked artist friends to draw something and paid them $50. Printed them on some rando printing website and got 300 postcards.
What I would recommend not doing or changing:
- "A Donut Tower", we got maybe 4-5 dozen donuts from Tonalli's and arranged them next to the coffee station. By the time of the reception they were all stale from sitting out.
- Gotten more Tamales, more people opted for them than we had checked "veg" on the invite. Likewise we had some midwestern old folks who think Cinnamon is spicy so they went with the tamales instead of Birria.
posted by wcfields at 10:15 AM on February 8, 2022
- The ceremony was at Oaks Pioneer Church, a city owned, all wooden pioneer era church that was originally in St. John's and floated down Willamette River and placed in Sellwood. As an Orchestra bonus they have a giant functional organ. It sits in a park and with COVID, you may be able to get the city park's dept to grant you a permit for the adjoining park for the reception? But the church is really only used for weddings, so you get 3hrs(?) before the next wedding. One nice totally unexpected token from it is they gave us an ornate Christmas tree ornament with the day of our marriage engraved on it.
- For our reception we rented a nearby Masonic Hall's ballroom, it was only ~$500, came with tables/chairs.
- The catering was done by a local mexican restaurant in Hillsboro. We had Birria and the veg/vegan option of Tamales. I believe it was around $2k for 100 people + two kegs of beer. We got a Tres Leches wedding cake from a local panderia nearby which they picked up and delivered too.
- For invitations, programs, and save the date we asked artist friends to draw something and paid them $50. Printed them on some rando printing website and got 300 postcards.
What I would recommend not doing or changing:
- "A Donut Tower", we got maybe 4-5 dozen donuts from Tonalli's and arranged them next to the coffee station. By the time of the reception they were all stale from sitting out.
- Gotten more Tamales, more people opted for them than we had checked "veg" on the invite. Likewise we had some midwestern old folks who think Cinnamon is spicy so they went with the tamales instead of Birria.
posted by wcfields at 10:15 AM on February 8, 2022
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posted by cortex at 3:12 PM on February 4, 2022 [3 favorites]