Cara & Joe’s Friday Eve Wedding at Troutdale House

Published August 6, 2011 | By Rich Ellis

Weddings held outdoors in the summertime are normally quiet affairs and Cara & Joe’s ceremony held at Depot Park in Troutdale, Oregon on August 5th was no exception. Well, except for the occasional train passing by… really close by. The track was about 30 feet from where I was set-up (see picture below). As a train whizzed by before the ceremony, the photographer took pictures of the bride and groom, standing extremely close to the moving train, but it made for a great shot.

Upon arrival, I had learned from the officiant (Joe’s father Jerry) that Cara and Joe had actually gotten married at City Hall that morning, so this ceremony was a formality and it began a little after 5:30pm. The wedding attendants consisted of a ring bearer and several flower girls and they entered to Pachelbel ‘Canon In D’. Cara then made her entrance to ‘Beautiful In My Eyes’ from Joshua Kadison. A train passed by right before we began, but fortunately, not during the ceremony. Everything went smoothly and Cara & Joe were introduced and made their exit to Ray LaMontagne’s ‘You Are The Best Thing.’

Guests then walked up to the Troutdale House for the reception. I had a second sound system set-up inside and per the request of the bride and groom, played a mix of Grateful Dead music until dinner was ready. Without a natural place for a dance floor, I had set-up on one end of the bar and the main walkway became the dance floor later on. This worked out great and guests didn’t have to go far to get a drink 🙂

After the toast and cutting of the cake, Cara and Joe danced their First Dance to ‘You’re Still the One’ from Shania Twain. Joe then danced with his mom to ‘The Man You’ve Become’ from Molly Pasutti. The newlyweds chose to have a ‘Money Dance’ and their guests were excited to participate and contribute $$ for a chance to dance with them.

Shortly after 8pm, I opened the dance floor to everyone. We got off to a great start and I spun a variety of popular dance hits, including Michael Jackson’s ‘Billie Jean’, Van Morrison’s ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ and bride favorites ‘We Are Family’ from Sister Sledge and ‘Just Dance’ by Lady Gaga. Almost three hours later, we were still going strong and the evening ended with the bride and groom’s choice of ‘Ripple’ from the Grateful Dead.

Cara and Joe, it was a pleasure. Congratulations and thank you for the opportunity. -Rich

Post Event Satisfaction Survey:

“Rich did not try to be the center of attention. He was a great emcee and really kept the energy up the whole time.” -Cara Hackenbruck

Event Date: Friday, August 5, 2011
Event Type: Wedding
Event Location: The Troutdale House/Troutdale, Oregon
Event Staff: Rich Ellis
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Posted in Events, Wedding