Josilyn + Andy’s Portland nuptials were grand, ornate and traditional with a super fun celebration filled with choreographed dancing and musical whimsy. Such a wedding was destined to be beautiful and full of meaning as Josilyn and Andy are a multi-talented couple: ministers of their own church; a singer and musician; equipped with killer dance moves; and the added bonus for this bride – she has previous experience working at a high-end bridal boutique! It’s safe to say that not only is Josilyn’s Jim Hjelm gown a perfect choice (all that silk layering is out of this world…), this dress also has some magic making vibes. Enjoy!
Josilyn + Andy | July 9, 2010 | Portland, Oregon
The Ceremony
The ceremony took place in Portland’s historic First Baptist Church on a balmy Friday night. The beautiful stained glass windows and vaulted ceiling of the church were too breathtaking to pass up. Also, being that we are both ministers for our own church (which was too small for our wedding), it was important to us that we find a church that felt like home… and this one absolutely did. We had about 150 guests in attendance. The ceremony gave us the formality and tradition that we wanted to incorporate into our wedding. We lit up the altar with lots of candles in different shapes and sizes in our wedding colors of black, white and shades of gray, but kept ceremony decorations to a minimum as to not distract from the true, unfeigned beauty of the sanctuary itself. Our photographer, Rebecca Dryer Photography, did an absolutely amazing job capturing our day. She made me want to get married all over again just so she could take more pictures!
The Reception
The reception took place at McMenamin’s Crystal Ballroom, another historic Portland building. Andy is a musician and I am a singer, so celebrating our wedding day in one of Portland’s biggest musical hot spots was absolute perfection! We wanted our reception to be laid back and fun. For centerpieces, we decided to pay homage to our historic venue by honoring 16 different singers and groups from past and present who have played at the Crystal. We made collages of photos for each artist and used rotating photo cubes to display them. For our wedding favors we made a CD compilation with a song from each artist as well as our ceremony music – I still get compliments on these and hear about people listening to them in their cars! For our guestbook, we used an old black guitar and had people autograph it with a silver pen (yet another addition to our “music” theme). It’s now hanging on the wall in our office. We had an evening wedding (ceremony at 7pm), so for food, we served a variety of appetizers instead of a full dinner. We also included a dessert table with black and white confections… however, being in a non-air conditioned building on the hottest day of the year caused most of them to melt before they could be eaten! Being the jokester that Andy is, we nixed the traditional first dance and choreographed a most awesomely hilarious routine (an ode to Josilyn’s dance team days). Altogether, it was a wonderful evening of laughs and love had by all!
How Josilyn Felt in Her in Wedding Dress
Blissful, comfortable, like-myself
Why Josilyn Decided to Sell Her Wedding Dress
I used to work for a high-end bridal shop and in doing so, became very “spoiled” as far as wedding gowns are concerned. There was no way I would feel comfortable wearing polyester down the aisle (though there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that!) after I had a taste of what silk felt like. Not that I wanted to spend a huge chunk of change on a dress I was going to wear once, but this was absolutely MY dress and nothing else made me feel as complete and real as this one did. I was blessed to have the opportunity to purchase a high-end gown, why shouldn’t someone else be as well? This gown is too incredible to not be worn as much as it possibly can be (I even got to wear it for a photo shoot after my wedding)!
