Ercely & Patrick
Puppy Love in the Tulip Fields
I was so excited to be the Portland engagement photographer that Ercely and Patrick choose for their spring tulip field engagement photography session at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival in Woodburn, OR.
I met Ercely and Patrick when they attended the Willamette Wedding Show in Salem, OR. As soon as they joined me on Zoom, for their no-obligation consultation, I know we would get along great! Patrick has such a great sense of humor, I swear I could just follow him around and write down quotes of all the funny things he says. Later after the engagement session when we met for their review and ordering meeting, I remember him looking at a photo and saying “I romance her…..like an apple”. Love it!
Ercely and Patrick met on OkCupid around the holidays, just before the start of the pandemic. For their first date, they went to Orenco Station. Ercely, wanting to take things slow, left the date thinking they were going to be great drinking buddies. Patrick confused after the date he couldn’t’ stop thinking about her. After a couple weeks, they got together again, this time on New Year's Day. Ercely found quickly that she couldn’t help but really like Patrick. She realized, he was great for so much for then a drinking buddy, and that this relationship felt so right.
There were many, many times Ercely, and Patrick thought the proposal was going to happen, but then didn't. Until one day they went on a hike with friends the octopus tree, on the Oregon coast.
As they climbed Ercely noticed Patrick was being extra sweet and romantic. Once they reached the view point, he was really really upping his cheesy game, and she thought "omg is this happening", but then he didn’t ask! Again! Determined to figure things out, Ercely, pretending to be cold, put her hands in his pocket to see if he might be hiding a ring. Nope, no such luck! She guessed he was just being his sweet self and she should just enjoy it. But, what she didn’t realize, was he also had a jacket with a breast pocket.
The group headed off to the next view point, and Patrick again upped the romance. Ercely told her self, "he is so sweet, I am so lucky", and in that moment, Patrick dropped to one knee and proposed. Ercely was shocked, how did he sneak that past her? When did he get the engagement ring? He was like, "is that a yes"? Of course, it was!
A family that was hiking through offered to take some photos of the group, it made them think about bringing their kids to visit the spot some day.
I was excited when Ercely and Patrick choose the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm in Woodburn, OR for their engagement photography session. Their festival every year is fun of fun, color and excitement. We decide to bare the early morning hours and hit the tulip farm for sunrise.
Ercely and Patrick told me about how they went ring shopping together because they were looking for something very specific. They finally found the perfect engagement ring at Zales, made from rose gold and topped with a spectacular diamond. They found a wedding ring to match for Patrick on Etsy, also including rose gold, as well as, tungsten and deer antler. Very cool! When I inquired about them both wear weddings rings now, Ercely said laughing “it’s to keep the hoes away”. Ercely has a great sense of humor as well!
Patrick and Ercely brought their adorable dog, and Paige, his handler for the day, along with them. Of course being a HUGE dog lover myself, I had to inquiry more about his cute pup. Here is what they shared with me.
What is your dogs name? And how did you choose it?
"Mousse is what we call our “Craigslist Puppy”. We tried to adopt but the waiting list was so long and it wasn't guaranteed. We started going through the ads and found a farmer in Mollala, OR. The farmer gave us the opportunity to meet the whole litter and choose which puppy we wanted. We held, and played with, all 11 puppies. I originally wanted one of the calm female pups, but while we were discussing taking a female pup I felt something tugging at my shoelace. This puppy wanted to play and he was not going to leave us alone until we did. Patrick picked the puppy up and the puppy immediately started to play with his beard and give him kisses. We both knew this dog had to be ours. We named him Mousse Chaos Stich. Mousse because he is a chocolate sweet pup and Chaos because he brought happy chaos to our lives. Prior to Mousse, we had two cats. Ours lives were so simple, work, feed cats, and rest. With Mousse there’s so much attention, training and energy that we have to give him throughout the day. But he is the sweetest pup and loves kids."
How old is your dog? And what bread are they?
"His birthday is June 5th, 2021. His mom is a full Labrador and the dad is a Labradoodle. We call Mousse a Labradoo, because he is not a Labra-don’t*"
Tell me some fun things your dog does, about their personality, or anything else you want to share.
Mousse is a live version of Scooby Doo. He is afraid of the dark, but more importantly he is the sweetest little pup.
I also asked if they would answer a few questions about their relationship. This is what they had to share.
What is your favorite memory together?
"First road trip to coast. We woke up with no set plans but we both got the urge to go to the beach. When Patrick asked me how’d I feel about an impromptu beach trip, I was so excited, I was dressed and ready to go in less than five minutes. When he met my brother and sister. My siblings and their partners were coming to visit for the first in 2020 and they were landing at 5pm. I was stress cleaning and cooking to make sure they had a good time. I had just finished making a lasagna and garlic bread when my sister called to update me with their landing times. At one in the afternoon my sister called to tell me they weren’t landing at 5pm, they were landing at 3:00. I still needed to get snacks and drinks and so I was on a full anxiety and stress ride. Patrick was there helping me already when he told me he would finish cleaning and get the snacks and drinks for me. Fast forward 3 hours later I bring my family to my apartment and everything I asked Patrick to clean he did. Plus there’s was a mountain of snacks and drinks for my family. I hadn’t told him what snacks to get but he got all of my families favorite stuff: ruffles, hot Cheetos, crackers, Mexican Cokes and more."
What are you most excited about for your wedding day?
"Sharing our wedding vows in front of my family."
What's one thing you are looking forward to in your life-after-marriage together?
"Sending all our correspondence with “ From the Stiches”."
I had so much fun working with these two and it's always amazing when the feeling is mutual! They were kind enough to leave this 5 star review on Google about their experience with me as their Portland engagement photographer, this is what they said:
"Cambrae is a delight to work with. She is very organized and her note taking is impressive, she does not miss a thing. In the initial meeting with Cambrae, she set up an ideal timeline of the day, made a list of special items/events to photograph during the wedding.
Our engagement session was so much fun. It was at 6am in the morning, my partner and I were so tired but she seemed to have caffeine running in her veins. She was chipper and enthusiastic the entire time. We just saw the pictures and I’m so happy with them. Cambrae is also very good at handling and photographing fur babies."
Engagement Photography Session Location - Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm
Engagement Ring - Zales
Wedding Ring - Etsy
Hair - Jenna Mathieson
Wardrope:
Dress - Torrid
Button Front Shirt - Men's Warehouse
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