Portland, Oregon
A Portland wedding photographer who's still learning the city.
I'm moving here early next year. Fifteen years photographing weddings, queer-owned, and genuinely excited to spend the next stretch figuring out which corner of which park has the good light at four in the afternoon.
Why Portland
My family is moving here. I'd rather learn it with you than alone.
I've spent real time in Portland and photographed here already. What I love is how many distinct neighborhoods there are, and how each one blends urban and suburban in its own way — you can go from a coffee shop to old-growth trees in about eleven minutes.
I was genuinely blown away by the urban parks. I did not expect a city to have that many places where you'd actually want to stand still.
What I don't have yet is the full local vendor bench — the planners, florists and officiants I can recommend without hesitating. In San Diego that took years. Here I'm building it now, and I'll tell you plainly when I don't know someone yet.
Where I'd take you
Start with your stretch. Then we'll wander.
My favorite version of a Portland session is your neighborhood — the coffee shop you actually go to, the park you actually walk in. Places you already have a reason to love photograph better than places that just look good. That said, here are the ones I keep coming back to.
Hoyt Arboretum
A classic for good reason. It's enormous and gives you completely different backgrounds within a short walk — open meadow, boardwalk, dense conifer, the redwood section. Parking is $2/hour or $8/day, enforced 9:30am to 8pm every day including holidays, and you can't reserve a spot. Build in time to circle the lot.
Laurelhurst Park & Hawthorne
Laurelhurst has real charm on its own, and it's close enough to the Hawthorne area that you can do half park and half city in one session without rushing. That mix — trees, then storefronts, then a drink somewhere — is my favorite way to shoot a couple here.
Sellwood Riverfront
Paths, the Willamette, a boat dock, open lawn and an off-leash area, so there's a lot of variety in one park. Oaks Pioneer Church sits just up the hill — a small 1851 church that hosts a few hundred weddings a year — which makes this a natural pairing if you're getting married there.
Your own block
Genuinely. Tell me the stretch you'd walk on a Saturday and we'll build the session around it. Your apartment, your bakery, your dog's park. I'll scout it beforehand either way.
I hold the annual Portland Parks photo pass, so city park sessions are covered. If your spot needs something extra, I handle that research and application too.
Multnomah County
Getting married at the courthouse? Here's the actual paperwork.
Portland calls this a courthouse elopement rather than a courthouse wedding, which took me a minute to get used to. Either way, it's one of my favorite kinds of day to photograph and the logistics are more involved than most couples expect.
- Marriage license: $60, or $65 if you want to waive the three-day waiting period. Both of you apply in person with photo ID.
- Three-day wait between the license and the ceremony, unless you pay the $5 waiver.
- A separate $117 fee to the Circuit Court for a ceremony performed by a judge.
- Two witnesses, both 18 or over. This is the one that surprises people coming from California, which only requires one. I'm happy to be one of them — but you'll need a second, and I'd rather flag that months early than the morning of.
- By appointment only, and the good dates fill. Call as soon as you have a target date.
Courthouse coverage starts at $1,000 and includes the planning, the timeline and somewhere good to go afterward. See the packages.
What it costs
One price list, wherever you are.
I don't charge differently by city. What changes with geography is how far the travel included in a package reaches — measured from Portland, from early 2027.
Courthouse & Civil Ceremony
From $1,000
Multnomah County and somewhere good afterward. Planning, timeline and paperwork guidance included. See the packages →
Elopements & Small Weddings
From $2,100
Two to seven hours, one photographer. Covers small weddings with guests, not just couples on their own. See all five →
Weddings
From $3,600
Four to ten hours, second photographer from six hours up. Everything edited by me. See all four →
"We were intentionally looking for queer friendly vendors — Beth was the best find."
Fiona L. · Google Review
49 five-star reviews on Google →
Portland weddings & elopements
Tell me about your day.
Whether it's the courthouse, your block, or somewhere an hour outside town, I'd love to hear what you're picturing. I reply within 48 hours.