Locally-Sourced Wedding in Eugene, Oregon
To say it plainly: weddings are expensive. But what if we could keep the money you spend within your own community? What if… instead of buying the same gown, offering the same small plastic gifts and guest favors, and serving the same food and drinks as everyone else, you splurged for something unique - a true taste of Oregon from local artisans?
“Local Honey” was the theme of our styled photo shoot last month in Eugene, Oregon. We hired the dream team of vendors to style a hyperlocal wedding: from the wedding couples’ clothes to the drinks, flowers, candles, furniture rentals, and paper menus, everything was radically, locally sourced. Thank you to Shadow Hills Country Club for hosting us!
Our “Local Honey” was provided by Humble Bee Honey: a local family business passionate about the long term health and survival of bees, and their honey is 100% produced by their own bees in the Southern Willamette Valley. They use organic, sustainable practices and guarantee the quality, origin and the welfare of the bees that worked hard to produce their yummy golden products. We used both raw honeycomb and raw honey in this styled photo shoot.
Also featured in this project is a locally-made hemp wedding gown by Sweet Skins Hemp, a women’s clothing company based here in Eugene, Oregon. For the groom’s attire, we sourced a locally-made hemp shirt and pants from Circle Creations, which is another local clothing brand and can be found at Trillium Clothing Store. Before embarking on this project, I didn’t even realize how many incredible local clothing makers live right here in Eugene!
Local beeswax custom candles in a honeycomb print graced our tables, provided by the talented Starlight Candles. Fiona’s creations have become a favorite for wedding planners like me, since she can customize size, shape, and color to perfectly match your wedding vision.
Our menus were made from handmade paper crafted by Julia Garretson. You’ll find her work on Etsy, but she can deliver larger orders to your home right here in Eugene (that’s what she did for me!). Julia shreds existing materials to use in her homemade paper such as junk mail, community flyers, fabrics from clothing, and even botanicals like dried petals and leaves. Her work is one of a kind and can be customized to your event: for example, she can use bits of your favorite flower or incorporate denim to create memorable, meaningful invitations, place cards, menus, and more.
Twin Ravens Press printed the paper for us to create custom menus. They use an “old-school” letterpress to make gorgeous custom stationary for wedding planners all over the USA. They can use metallic foils, embossing, and other techniques to create the paper goods of your dreams. We are so lucky to have the studio right here in Eugene: no shipping necessary.
I will write a separate blog post about the local food, flowers, and more. There’s so much deliciousness to share!
Thank you to everyone who collaborated on this project. It was pure joy to watch all the details come together, and I hope this styled photo shoot can inspire others to spend their wedding dollars in their own communities, and “keep it local.”
Full List of Collaborators:
Planning: Round Pearl Events
Photo: Smoke and the Sea Photography
Venue: Shadow Hills Country Club
Rentals: Birdie June Events
Florals: Wrong Number Floral
Candles: Starlight Candles
Dress: Sweet Skins Hemp
Shirt & Pants: Circle Creations Clothing
Drinks: BNF Kombucha
Honey: Humble Bee Honey
Paper: Julia Garretson
Printing: Twin Ravens Press
Models: Abbey Wilusz and Gabe Nitkowski
