Help! Wedding in Portland, OR...

mermaidkate

Hi there! I am new to the knot (and newly engaged) and need to see if anybody out there has any recommendations. We are moving to Portland early next year and thinking about having our wedding there. I am looking for any venues/accomodations... any help really! I would like to have an outdoor ceremony, something low-key (we aren't having many guests), we both love the ocean and would love to incorporate that into our wedding. Also we are looking for campgrounds around Portland for family to stay. Any advise is appreciated! )

mayflymanitou

Welcome!

Check out the Bravo Wedding Guide: http://bravowedding.com/

McMenamins properties are quite popular as they are budget friendly, quintessientially northwest, have indoor/outdoor options, and some are hotels which is convenient if you're having a lot of out of town guests: www.mcmenamins.com

There are plenty of campgrounds in the gorge or out towards the coast.

mermaidkate

Thank you for the info!

jess9802

I love living in Oregon and think it's absolutely beautiful. But, the weather makes outdoor weddings sort of dicey. It can be hit or miss rain-wise until around the 4th of July. Then it's really nice, often until about mid-September. (This year summer started late and ended early, however. I'm so glad my original plans for a 4th of July weekend wedding this year ended up being pushed off until 2011. The weather that weekend sucked.)

So if you are thinking of an outdoor wedding in early June, I'd strongly recommend having a venue where you can take shelter from the rain. Also as an FYI (just in case you didn't know), Portland is about 1.5-2 hours from the North Coast (Seaside, Tillamook, etc.). I'm not as familiar with campgrounds, but there are tons of them around the state. Some may book up earlier than others.

Congratulations, and welcome to Oregon.

kizat

On top of everything that Jess and mayfly said...
you might want to check out some of the parks/national forests.

I've been on a huge "big uppin" on Champoeg State Park... and they offer a camp ground as well..

Good luck!

heidirobbins

I agree on outdoor weddings although would be a dream, I personally don't trust "Oregon" weather! I know Portland has a thousand beautiful locations. Maybe you would like a vinyard that can offer outdoor options and a "plan b" in case it rains. Lots have beautiful indoor areas too. I am getting married in Corvallis about 70 miles south of Portland at a modern swanky venue that has balconies to give me a somewhat outdoor cermony but the security of indoors...Good Luck!

southpaw97209

Sounds like you might be a prime candidate for a wedding planner.

ehsdiva12

My aunt lives in Pacific City, OR. I'm not sure exactly how far that is from Portland, but it's by Tillamook and there's several camp grounds in the area. If you're looking to get married on the beach Pacific City is a really small and neat town, so less tourists than most beaches. You could even have your reception at Pelican Pub, right on the beach with an ocean view! Just an idea. Hope this helps!!

southpaw97209

Pelican Pub doesn't allow weddings during the summer months nor do they close off the rental space for any private groups in the summer.  I just contacted them a couple of months ago for a friend.

mermaidkate

OK, so plans have changed a bit. My dream has always been to get married on the beach, and I really couldn't picture my wedding any other way! Soo that being said... I have this plan of driving to the coast (with our family and close friends), having our ceremony on the beach, then having a nice low-key reception close by, spending the weekend visiting and hanging out with everybody. My top two choices are Cannon Beach, or Cape Meares....

mermaidkate

BTW, ehsdiva12 thank you for the suggestion, I looked up Pacific City and it might be a bit far for everybody to drive to, but I'm still going to think about it... it sounds like a really nice town! 

mayflymanitou

One option for the beach (especially if you're going low key) is to rent out a house (or a couple of them).

Check out Starfish Point in Newport, or the community of Olivia Beach in Lincoln City for some reasonable rentals. Central Oregon coast pricing tends to be less expensive than the north coast.  The Cannon Beach area is probably the spendiest due to its proximity to Portland.  Oceanside and Rockaway Beach are also really nice.  If it were me, I'd want to be out there ahead of time- I wouldn't recommend trying to drive out to the beach the day of your wedding.  If traffic's bad or there's an accident, you're stuck for awhile.

http://www.starfishpoint.com/index.php
http://www.oliviabeachcottagerentals.com/

mermaidkate

Thanks for the tips... I will check those out! Ideally, I would like everybody to drive out on Friday, then have the wedding on Saturday, that way everybody has time to check in and relax for a day.

caronsc

I love cannon beach nice and quaint, Manzanita is also great my second favorite beach on the coast because it's not as crazy busy as the big ones.  If you guys are staying at the beach there's tons of beach houses  and cottages for rent at good prices that would give your family the option to stay with eachother and split the costs and for a fun get together. :-)