Wedding Belles in the City of Roses

From Sasha

I am just back from the most amazing holiday weekend ever, which I spent up in Portland, Oregon. It wasn't just a regular vacation-- one of my best friends in the whole wide world got married, to an actual Prince Charming. Such joy! I am still tearing up about it. I wanted to share with all of you some pictures from the fun, though I am short on proper pics from the wedding cause I was in the bridal party and didn't want to carry a camera. Still, there is something to be said for my random snapshots of Portland and the wedding prep. If you have never been to this amazing, young, vibrant city, you should get there now. And if you like vintage clothes....well, duh!.... it's a Wonderland. Officially.

We spent an entire day inside Powell's City of Books. Occupying a full city block, it is one of the biggest independent book stores in the entire world.

On this trip we discovered Voodoo Donuts, a veritable temple to Sugar and Weirdness. In the window:

And inside:

They make every kind of donut, including donuts covered in breakfast cereal, a huge variety of vegan donuts, and assorted Wacky Characters. They were blasting Bikini Kill at an ear splitting volume when we were there... my first time hearing Riot Grrrl rock in a donut store, a moment never to be forgotten. In fact, it seems like every business in Portland, even the corner store, blasts their music of choice, no matter what it is. Portlanders believe strongly in freedom of personal expression!

In the parking lot:

It seems like some genius painted every blank wall or garage door in the city:

An someone has also set up a food cart in every vacant lot!:

I was back at my favorite stomping ground, The House of Vintage on Hawthorne. A Wonderland, indeed, complete with the initial sensation of falling down a rabbit hole made entirely of clothes.

Me and my friend Tammy pretending to be fighting over a purple Gunne. No dresses were harmed in the making of this picture. (In fact, this dress will be for sale this week!)

I think I mentioned this after my last visit to Portland- what is up with the bathroom art? No surface goes undecorated in this town. The collages walls of the ladies room at Olde Towne Pizza really took the cake. I have a big weakness for collages:

The bride's band, Fever, played a show the night before her wedding. Yes, they are hardcore! The almost-married Automne is on the left, in gold, playing the keyboards, and that's her singer and flower girl Natalie in front:

So Automne got this incredible, Blair-from-Gossip-Girl hotel room for all the Bridesmaids and Flower Girls to get ready in. She even had macaroons and champagne! Seriously, I could get used to this kind of living. Here we are sprucing up:

Chris and Vanessa. (Yes, Chris was one of the Bridesmaids, since he is one of Automne's closest friends.) We loved how this pillow matched his shirt:

Getting closer to leaving for the ceremony! Can you see the bride under the tulle?

Here she is, with her dress in all its glory. This dress came with a few flowers on it, but most of the work is hers. Yes, your jaw just dropped. 

So far this is the only pic I have from the wedding itself. We are all singing and waiting for the bride and groom to come up the aisle. That's me in green!

Now this was one seriously rock n' roll wedding, peoples... right down to the cupcake toppers. And yes, they are on a tiered stand made out of real records! 

While the bride and groom stayed at their posh hotel, we all had a big sleepover at their house... with Susie Prue! Remember our interview with her? Well, this Etsy/blog friend clicked with Automne (who also blogs, of course!) and we all got to meet in person for the wedding. How cool is that?

Okay, enough normal pictures, time to cradle our Victorian Squash Baby.

Enough said.