Such a beautiful and warm day to photograph this lovely couple! Sue and Victor had a Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden engagement session. This unique 9.5-acre garden containing an outstanding collection of rare species and hybrid rhododendrons, azaleas, and other lesser-known ericaceous plants, as well as many companion plants and unusual trees. If you haven’t been, you should check it out.
Sue and Victor was so much fun to photograph in this beautiful landscaped background. Here is just a few great things about them:
What do you like to do for fun?
“Sue and Vic love to hike and take bike rides together. They also like to cook together, but mostly, she cooks and Vic is consider Sue’s “Sue chef”. They love weekend getaways and exploring new places.”
How did you two meet?
“Vic was friends with all of my friends, but we somehow hadn’t met each other. I kept hearing about this ‘Vic guy’ and then finally we met. I promptly forgot who he was and once right before a river float, he waved to me in the grocery store, but I just thought he was a stranger trying to get to the sandwiches and looked at him without waving back and walked off. When we got to our mutual friends’ house, I realized my faux pas and he called me out on it- “You didn’t recognize me at the store just now did you?” I felt a connection to him after that float for some reason, but it took some months of Vic dropping minor and not-so-minor hints that he had a crush on me, for us to go on our first date.” -Sue
The Spark
“It’s hard to pinpoint a specific moment when we knew. I think it was on one of our trips to Bend, where we both just realized how much we enjoyed each others’ company that it started to feel like “ok, this is the real deal”. We said we loved each other for the first time over ‘manmosas’ while waiting for brunch outside the Victorian. I knew Vic was going to say it, but I didn’t want it to be there in front of all those strangers, so I tried to get him to stop, but he said it anyway and then of course I said it back.” – Sue
The proposal
“It was Labor Day weekend and the weather was perfect, so we decided to go on a long bike ride. Stopped at the Saturday Market and then Vic was leading the way to an unknown location, which just happened to be the site of one of our first dates- Poet’s Beach on the waterfront. We stopped for a beer and sat on a log watching the water and a face-tattooed man collecting trash. I guess Vic didn’t want any observers, so we went a little bit away from the log, but then we were by this weird pipe. The face tattoo guy left, so then we went back to the log. I was confused. But then Vic read me this poem that he wrote for me the night before and when I turned around he was down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I said yes! I also made him read me the poem again because it was so sweet.” – Sue
Don’t forget to keep checking back for their actual wedding day blog at The Troutdale House in Troutdale, Oregon! It’s going to be stunning just like this Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden engagement session!
If you are getting married or eloping in Oregon, let’s talk and connect! Contact me today before the wedding season books! I only take a limited number of weddings and limited number of elopements a year.
