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!

We met through a mutual friend getting married in southern California. Our friend asked me to host Moreno during the time he would be visiting the US and serving as best man for the ceremony; I was the maid of honor. One day, and completely unexpectedly, we were standing in my kitchen and he slowly placed his lips on mine. This moment was the beginning of the end.

I was spending a summer in Portland and Moreno flew out on one of his visits so that we could explore the city together and he could see parts of Oregon for the first time. When we later decided to marry in the United States, we decided a Portland elopement was the perfect place. Portland City Hall’s architecture and location downtown served as a wonderful venue that captured part of the city’s history and allowed is to incorporate a mix of both traditional and modern elements to our wedding day.

Incorporating the element of books was important to our wedding day given the amount of time we had spent at Powell’s Bookstore (my time there included preparing syllabi, and our time there as a couple included hours of sifting through our individual and combined interests of war, psychology, paleontology and archeology, to name a few). So, of course, part of our wedding day photo shoot was inside of Powell’s Bookstore.

The ceremony took place inside of Portland’s City Hall with the backdrop of a spiral staircase, historic vault, and city employees who peeked from around the corners of their office doors to catch a glance as we strolled the marbled interior halls and staircase before and after the ceremony.

Words by Linda, the bride, as told by Amber Marlow. Photos by Maddie Maschger.

portland rainy elopement maddie maschger photography Linda putting ring on moreno’s finger

portland rainy elopement maddie maschger photography couple holding hands leaving city hall

portland rainy elopement maddie maschger photography linda and moreno outside city hall

portland rainy elopement maddie maschger photography couple smiling at one another at coffee shop window bar

portland rainy elopement maddie maschger photography coffee cups on bar

portland rainy elopement maddie maschger photography couple standing on checkered marble floor

portland rainy elopement maddie maschger photography couple in booth

portland rainy elopement maddie maschger photography glasses of white wine on metal table

portland rainy elopement maddie maschger photography bride and guests in photo booth

portland rainy elopement maddie maschger photography linda and moreno crossing rainy street with umbrella

portland rainy elopement maddie maschger photography moreno kissing linda’s forehead outside window with neon sign

portland rainy elopement maddie maschger photography couple on couch in front of metal letters reading “hotel”

portland rainy elopement maddie maschger photography embrace among stacks of powell’s bookstore

portland rainy elopement maddie maschger photography ceremony on spiral staircase

portland rainy elopement maddie maschger photography linda putting ring on moreno’s finger while reciting vows

portland rainy elopement maddie maschger photography small ceremony

portland rainy elopement maddie maschger photography linda wiping tears during ceremony

portland rainy elopement maddie maschger photography ceremony kiss

portland rainy elopement maddie maschger photography linda and moreno hug

VENDORS:

Photography | Maddie Maschger Photography

Wedding Venue | Portland City Hall

Florals | Old Town Florist

Photo Venues | Stumptown Coffee Roasters | Ace Hotel | Powell’s Books

MADDIE MASCHGER

Maddie Maschger is a Portland photographer in love with the real/raw/honest/messy. She photographs weddings, elopements, and love stories in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.