Real Weddings, Advice, & Inspiration

Catalyst Wedding Company highlights weddings by and for game-changers. We seek to amplify and empower voices and viewpoints that are usually missing from the Wedding Industrial Complex. We're a community of badass wedding professionals who love all things funky, fresh, diverse, unique, and personality-driven; we convene twice yearly for (un)convention, a collaborative workshop, styled shoot, and dinner party. We're also the publishers of Catalyst Wedding Mag, a resource for couples looking for inspiration and affirmation that doing things differently in wedding-world is not only ok, it's wonderful!

Portland was just recently named one of the best cities to be single in. While Portlanders are split on whether to agree or disagree — the truth is that it’s one of the best cities to get married in, too! The average wedding spend here is lower, at just $26,473. Living here, I might be biased. But what other city has its own wedding llamas?!

1. Industrial Meets Modern Style Venues

2. Laid Back Wedding Vibes

3. The Wedding Llamas

Photo by Kim Smith-Miller Photography with Classy Camelids

4. Any Weird Idea Isn’t Weird Enough

5. The Mountains and Forests Are The Best Backdrops

6. Easy Access to Progressive and Feminist Vendors

7. Amazing Food and Cake Scene

JAMIE CARLE

Jamie is the owner of Jamie Carle Photography and resides in Vancouver, WA. Their background was always in videography. They were an AV nerd in high school and president of their school video club. When college came, Jamie decided to major in graphic design and put video second. They became pregnant — and knowing they’d be a single parent — they made the choice to put off school while they worked, scraped, and saved. One way Jamie was able to stay creative and sane was photography. Through thousands of photos of their baby, Jamie was able to keep doing something really special.

Jamie found a new passion and moved from their own child to other children, which then expanded into all kinds of family portraiture. Jamie was asked if they offered wedding services, and at the time was floored. Jamie became a second shooter for another photographer and learned some ins and outs of the wedding business. This has since become their favorite thing to do — capture love and tell your story.