Just over two weeks ago I was in Portland, Oregon, for a couple days for the Rettke wedding.
Rhett and Kendra are the brother, and sister-in-law of my brother-in-law… you guys follow? My sister is married to Matt, Rhett’s brother. So when Rhett and Kendra started planning their wedding they reached out to me to see about my availability for their wedding.

It was a beautiful weekend up in Portland – although we managed to be there during a brief heatwave and some very warm weather for the late-summer timeframe. But it made for an absolutely beautiful evening with guests being able to enjoy warm weather long into the night during the outdoor ceremony and reception.
That weekend was also a very busy weekend for me, too. Which is why there has been a delay on my typically quick updates after shooting a wedding. You see, the next morning my sister, mother, step-dad, and father all had to fly back to California and drive out to Santa Cruz for a relay triathlon I was going to be doing with my Mom and Sister two days after the ceremony. And then my step-dad and I left from that triathlon and drove back to Lake Tahoe where we had been living and training for the Lake Tahoe Ironman for several weeks.
So even though I was in the middle of my own training, it was a really fun break to see extended family and be able to do something like this for Rhett and Kendra.

I’ve made a large selection of photos and edits to share with you all below. I’ll save more comments for the captions, so, click past the break for just over 300 images from Rhett and Kendra’s wedding weekend!

 

Thursday afternoon everyone arrived at the venue for a walk through. It was already a warm day out, so many of the family that tagged along stayed off to the side while Kendra and Rhett were talked through the order of events for tomorrow’s ceremony.

Practice kiss! haha

After two quick walk-throughs we were done for the night! Tomorrow is the big day… well, big afternoon.

Everyone had time to sleep in a bit for the afternoon wedding. The girls all assembled themselves around lunch to start getting ready.

the dress

Alllllmost Mrs. Rettke
Which is funny to me, because my sister became a Mrs. Rettke several years ago

The rings.

Now, a quick note and story about these rings. Sadly, Rhett and Matt’s mother passed away earlier this year. But with his father’s blessing, Rhett’s ring is made from the gold from his mother’s wedding ring, and Kendra’s ring has the stones from her ring in hers. It was a very touching way to keep the ring both in the family, and a way for Rhett to always have his mother close.

Rhett’s nieces (well, mine too) playing on the stairs.

Reese (left) playing with the flowers, while Arianna mostly sat and watched. She’s a pretty awesome big sister though and keeps an eye on Reese most of the time.

Make and hair is moving along in the girls room

A couple rooms over the men are all getting ready.

Rhett had the right idea leaving his shirt for last. For some reason there was no A/C in that particular room and it was toasty in there

Getting some help from his other son

A few minutes later the guys relocated to another room that was much cooler.

Rhett’s sister in law, Monica, wrangling her girls all afternoon.

Rhett assisting Matt with the cufflinks

Allllmost time for the dress when I wandered back over to the girls room.

Meanwhile the guys were pretty much done

Big hug from dad

And then it was time for Kendra to get in her dress

The girls were laughing and allllmost panicking because for a moment they couldn’t find the clasp for the dress

It took about 30 seconds before all the girls started laughing and pointing out “gotta make sure the boobs look good for the ceremony!”

It was a team effort

Seriously, they all helped. hahaha!

Reese hasn’t left Mom’s side most of the morning

A few makeup touchups

Getting the jewelry on

And the shoes

Had to get a few shots of the bride

Who wants a shot before we do this!?

Gotta get a shot with mom!

So this venue had this little hidden room in the back that was kind of a speakeasy style room. Lighting was dim, but that’s where we did the first look

Aweeee

Time to come down, say hi to the family that’s already here, and start knocking out some photos

Big hugs from Mr. Rettke

It was a hot afternoon already. See how thrilled everyone is to have to go outside? Haha!
Kendra also wasn’t too happy that I was standing on a barstool taking these since I had a race later that weekend to do.

Rhett is already Arianna’s favorite uncle… I joked with him that because of that, he doesn’t get to convert Reese as well. He laughed and said he’s working on it.

All the men with their new shoes and socks for the ceremony

Flower girls!

Since we had some time, and it was nice and cool inside we decided to do some of the family and group photos indoors.

I hope this one makes the wall at home. LOL

 

 

All the guys were standing outside greeting family and friends as they started to arrive after photos finished

Mr. Rettke wearing his granddaughter Arianna’s glasses.

Had to get my usual shot with the bride before the ceremony started!

So Arianna did a great job as flower girl #2…

Meanwhile Reese was walking in circles swinging her basket around… which was pretty ineffective. haha!

But then she started walking down the aisle

Then stopped when she saw grandma..

Rhett seeing Kendra walking the aisle.

I think that bit of nervousness, if there was any, quickly vanished

Kendra being walked down the aisle by her brother

Big hugs

And a emotional handoff

Getting things started welcoming family and friends, and discussing Rhett and Kendra’s relationship, etc.

It wasn’t too long before vows were started

Exchanging vows with each other

There were some laughs

And there were some tears, too, when the pastor explained the significance of the rings to the guests of the wedding.

Exchanging of rings

And now Rhett’s ring

The kiss!
(even though were weren’ttt quite done yet!)

Rhett and Kendra chose to do a paint-mix rather than a unity candle or sand ceremony type thing.

A few more words and short blessing..

And now they’re husband and wife!

Once inside it’s just a few papers to sign and everything is done!

Then we all headed back out for some more photos before the reception got too busy

Mr. and Mrs. Rettke!

The Rettke men

Matt really wanted a silly photo with his brother and dad. I think this shot wins the day. LOL

As the sun started to set it cooled down just enough to become a gorgeous evening for the outdoor reception

Reese practices her stairs a lot. If she goes missing, this is where you can usually find her

Dinner about to served

First introduction as man and wife

And shortly after, everyone headed back inside to get food

After dinner were the speeches

And Matt got up to deliver a speech him and Monica wrote that had everyone rollin’

I definitely didn’t expect Matt to roast Rhett up there

But he did, in a nice way of course, that was hilarious

Had to share some embarrassing funny stories from growing up.

As well as talk about the night Matt hung out with Rhett when Rhett spent the whole time texting Kendra who he had just met.

And Matt even brought photos that he helped Rhett take during what Matt called a “home fashion shoot” of different outfits when Kendra texted asking for photos of him to show her friends.

Mr. Rettke got up and said a few words to congratulate Rhett and Kendra, and also thank everyone for being there

Kendra’s brother got up and said a few things, too.

Rather than just one cake, they had selected four (maybe five?) different types of cake for everyone

All the kids were ready for cake though

Rhett trying it before anyone else

Kendra and her girls

They’re all very close. LOLLLL

And after that the rest of the night was mostly everyone socializing for quite a while

Kendra and Rhett wandered tables greeting people

And even as it was getting dark it was still very comfortable outside so everyone stayed there instead of going indoors

Had to get a shot with the bride and groom as usual

We decided that they would do the first dance outdoors.

I needed a test subject for a lighting check… my sister obliged

And then Rhett and were re-introduced to everyone for their first dance as husband and wife

And even though it was a little dark outside, it was lovely

After that, everyone else was asked to come join

Once the last bit of sun had set quite a few people moved indoors to talk, and drink… cuz that’s where the bar was.

Toward the end of the night though Rhett and Kendra actually spent a lot of their time here, dancing together, chatting with people, then dancing together some more.

Then Matt cut in…

For a dance-off with his big brother

Matt and Monica, prom style photo

Grandma still keeping tabs on the granddaughters.

Rhett… ending the night with some cartwheels… haha!

 

And that’s it for the Rettke Wedding!
As the night came to a close I thanked Kendra and Rhett for having me and asking me to be part of the whole weekend. While we’re family, it’s family ties through marriages, so it was very sweet to be asked to Oregon and take part in everything.
The guys wrapped up their night sitting around talking over a couple beers, and the girls were also sitting around chatting, too. As we’ve all gotten older and people have spread out it’s harder to just get time to together to talk.
So I said my goodbyes and headed back to the hotel to get some rest before my early flight out.

I hope you all enjoyed this brief look into Kendra and Rhett’s weekend!
And to Rhett and Kendra, Thank you for having be up to be a part of it all!