Get Married
Under the Bridge.
A legal ceremony beneath the St. Johns Bridge. Portraits in Cathedral Park. A styled picnic reception in the golden afternoon light. One price, one team of St. Johns neighbors, a wedding you don't have to plan.
Rather talk it through first? Book a free 20 minute call or text Kylie at 503-217-8500.
The short version.
A legal wedding ceremony at Cathedral Park, portraits under the St. Johns Bridge, then a styled picnic reception in the park.
$2,500 for the two of you. $3,600 with up to 8 guests. $5,000 with up to 18. All-inclusive. See what's included
Up to 20 in a package, or 24 with add-on guests. All of your guests can attend your ceremony if you choose a ceremony on the lawn, or you can opt for more intimacy with an elopement style ceremony. See the ceremony location options
Every ceremony is at 3:00 PM. Just the Two of Us finishes at 6:00, while the packages with guests end at 7:30. From November the reception moves indoors (details to come). See open dates, or ask for one of your own
We provide clear umbrellas and the ceremony goes ahead. The picnic moves indoors to Weddinglandia's wedding chapel, two blocks from the park, at no extra cost. We decide by 10 AM and notify you right away. What counts as rain
Cathedral Park features paved paths, accessible restrooms, and picnic tables for seating. The lawn ceremony is on level ground; the staircase is the one location that isn't accessible. Tell us what your group needs and we will put an accessibility plan together. Getting around the park
Two things. Get your Oregon marriage license, and join one short call with me and Portland Parks to apply for your site reservation permit. Every booking needs this permit, and the fee is included in your package price. Every step
Send us the dates you're considering and we'll tell you what's open, usually within 48 hours. Then a contract and an invoice, and your date is held. Start here, or text Kylie at 503-217-8500.
A Cathedral Park wedding, a collaboration of St. Johns creatives.
Higher Love Event Co. and Weddinglandia both call St. Johns home. We're neighbors who love this community: the people, the bridge, the parks, the small town feel that's somehow survived in the middle of one of the busiest cities in the Pacific Northwest. This package is what happens when two local businesses pick collaboration over competition.
Weddinglandia runs the ceremony. Higher Love runs the picnic reception, the vendor team and the logistics. Between us, everything that has to be permitted, booked, sourced, arranged, set up and packed down is done before you arrive.
The rest of the day belongs to our neighbors. Photography, florals, charcuterie, desserts, wine and beer all come from St. Johns and North Portland businesses. People we know by name and have worked with directly. One neighborhood, showing up for your wedding day.
Vows, Portraits, and a Picnic.
Every wedding starts at 3:00 PM, which puts your portraits in the best light of the day and your picnic in the warm part of the afternoon. The times below are The Garden Party and The Soirée. Just the Two of Us follows the same shape an hour and a half shorter, finishing at 6:00.
Ceremony at Cathedral Park
Thirty minutes beneath the bridge with an ordained officiant from Weddinglandia. You can choose to write personal vows or go with the traditional ones. They record the ceremony for you, sign your license on the day, and file it with the county afterward.
You choose where the ceremony happens; the ceremony location determines how many guests can watch you exchange your vows. Both options are below.
Portraits in the park
While we set the picnic, your photographer takes you away for an hour of portraits. If your guests attended the ceremony you can choose to involve them in photos. If you opted for an elopement only, your guests will arrive at the end of your portrait session. (30 minutes for Just the Two of Us)
The picnic awaits
The picnic opens when your portraits are done. Linen-draped picnic tables, blankets, cushions and trays out on the lawn, florals, candles, a full spread from She Serves and desserts from Flower & Flour. If your guests came to the ceremony they walk over with you. Either way you sit down and enjoy it.
Choose your ceremony location.
There are two options for your ceremony location, and the choice is yours.
On the staircase.
Who can be there for the vows 5 peopleThe two of you, your officiant, and the two witnesses Oregon requiresChoose the staircase location if those gothic arches are what made you want to get married here, or if you want your ceremony to feel more intimate.
Children count toward the five, and witnesses have to be 18 or older.
If you choose this option, your guests will begin arriving at the same time you finish up with your park photo shoot. You enter the picnic celebrated by the people who love you the most.
Want your whole guest list at the staircase instead? That takes a second Portland Parks wedding permit, around $817, which isn't in your package and you apply for yourselves. How that works.
The staircase cannot be reserved in advance without the wedding permit, so it is first come, first served and limited to five people. If another couple is there at 3:00, we will move the ceremony to another location and carry on. The staircase is not ADA accessible and the restrooms are a fair walk away, though there's ample parking close by.
On the park lawn.
Who can be there for the vows EveryoneYour whole guest listChoose the park lawn location if you would like your guests present for the vows.
We hold a spot on the lawn with the bridge above you, confirmed in advance, so it's yours for the afternoon. It's covered by the site reservation permit we help you apply for, and that fee is included in your package price.
Your people stand close enough to hear every word, and they're in the photographs afterward.
The bridge sits directly overhead, so it's in the frame whichever way your photographer turns.
Children are welcome and count toward your guest number. Please note that everyone will need to stand for the vows.
Mostly level ground and no steps to navigate, so it works for anyone who'd struggle with the staircase location. All of your guests can watch you say “I do”. Restrooms and parking are conveniently located nearby.How many people are coming?
That's the only question that changes the price. All three packages are the same day: the same ceremony, the same vendor team, the same grazing spread of cheeses, cured meats, fruit and dips laid out to pick at all afternoon. What changes is how many people are there to share it, and how much food and seating that takes.
Scroll sideways to compare all three.
| Feature | Just the Two of Us | The Garden Party | The Soirée |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guests | Just you two | Up to 8 | Up to 18 |
| Total people | 2 | 10, or 14 with add-on guests | 20, or 24 with add-on guests |
| How long | 3 hours | 4.5 hours | 4.5 hours |
| Seating | Table for two, or a blanket spread on the lawn | One table seating 10, a dessert table, plus blankets, cushions and trays on the lawn | Two tables seating 10 each, a dessert table, plus blankets, cushions and trays on the lawn |
| Photography | 1 hour | 2 hours | 2 hours |
| Food | Grazing spread and desserts | Grazing spread and desserts | Larger grazing spread and desserts |
| Drinks | Water and lemonade, plus $75 toward beer and wine | Water and lemonade, plus $225 toward beer and wine | Water and lemonade, plus $450 toward beer and wine |
| Games and send-off | Not included | Bocce, cornhole, bubbles | Bocce, cornhole, bubbles |
| Deposit | $1,000 | $1,500 | $2,100 |
| Price | $2,500 | $3,600 | $5,000 |
For couples who want the day to be about the two of them. Your vows, half an hour of portraits, then a picnic for two with no one to host and nothing to organize.
Most popular
For the handful of people who'd be hurt not to be there. One long table, everyone around it, and small enough that you will speak properly with each of them.
For a guest list that keeps growing. Two tables, a bigger spread, and the whole afternoon still in a park rather than a function room.
See exactly what all-inclusive covers, or read the questions couples ask us.
A Garden Party wedding, all in, so you can see the whole number without doing the math.
Skip the personal florals and you're at $3,660. The license fee goes to the county, not to us. A staircase wedding permit, if you want one, is about $817 on top.
Your marriage license, personal florals, rings, hair and makeup, what you wear, and travel or lodging. The usual things you'd buy for any wedding. A staircase wedding permit too, if you decide you want one.
Everything else on the day is ours, from the officiant to the last plate cleared. The full list, both ways.
$1,000, $1,500 or $2,100 depending on your package. It holds the date and the whole vendor team.
One invoice from us, due the same day your final details are confirmed. Pay ahead of it any time you like. How it works.
Deposits aren't refundable if you change your mind. But if Portland Parks cancels on you, or no 2027 date works out, you get your money back. Every case we refund or reschedule.
Not sure which package fits? Book a free 20 minute call, or text Kylie at 503-217-8500 and ask. No pressure and no sales pitch.
The things that are normally extra.
Most elopement and micro-wedding packages cover the ceremony, then hand you a list of vendors to book and pay yourself. There's nothing wrong with that, but it isn't how we do it. Below are the same nine things twice: once as they'd land on you if you booked them yourself, and once as they come to you here.
All nine, already in your price.
- A grazing spread from She Serves: cheeses, cured meats, fruit, dips and crackers, laid out to pick at all afternoon. Desserts from Flower & Flour
- Water and lemonade. Beer and wine are optional: we buy them for you at the shop price with nothing added, and anything you don't spend is credited to your final invoice
- Photography, with a handful of edited images sent within 48 hours and the full gallery to follow
- Fresh florals from Still City Flowers
- Linens, place settings, votives and candlelight
- Your Portland Parks site reservation permit fee
- Every bit of setup and teardown
- Reserved picnic tables, plus blankets, cushions and trays on the lawn
- Your playlist, bocce, cornhole and a bubble send-off
Nine things to find, book and pay for.
- Food and catering
- Beer, wine and drinks
- Photography
- Table florals and centerpieces
- Linens, plates, glassware and candles
- Site reservation permit fees
- Setup and teardown
- Tables, blankets, cushions and trays
- Music, games and a send-off
Tell us what you have in mind.
We will check your dates with the vendor team and come back within 48 hours with what is available. Every enquiry is answered by Kylie, not by an automated system.
Only your names, an email address and a rough time frame are required. Everything else simply helps us check the right dates with the right people.
Twenty minutes with Kylie, at no cost. Bring whatever questions you have. No question is too small, and there is no sales pitch.
We send you a contract and an invoice. You sign, pay the deposit, and your date is held. The balance is invoiced 10 days before your wedding.
Planning a 2027 wedding?
2027 dates are not published yet, and that is not us being slow. Portland Parks publishes the list of days the park is closed to private events every January, so the 2027 list won't exist until January 2027. No one knows those dates yet, ourselves included.
You can reserve now with a January 1, 2027 placeholder, which locks today's pricing, holds the team, and takes your place in the queue. When the calendar publishes we work through booked couples in the order their deposits arrived, so you pick before anyone who waited. If nothing on it suits you, withdraw and we refund your deposit in full.
Or wait and book in January, choosing from what's left once the deposit holders have picked.
Both options in full, plus the dates already ruled out for 2027
Ceremony at 3:00 PM
Cathedral Park, St. Johns
Reception at 4:30 PM
Cathedral Park, St. Johns
Everything you have to do, in order.
Two things require your name, and no one can do those for you. Everything else is ours. Below is every step with its timing, so nothing arrives unexpectedly. More detail on any of it.
Sign your contract and pay your deposit.
We send both together once your date is confirmed. You sign, pay the deposit, and the date is yours.
The balance is invoiced by us and due 10 days before your date. How it works.
Get your Oregon marriage license.
Any county clerk's office in Oregon, not just Multnomah. There's a three day waiting period. Bring it with you and we'll file it afterward. When to get it.
Yours to do. Bring it on the day.We call Portland Parks together.
Cathedral Park belongs to the city, so reserving part of it for a private event needs a site reservation permit. Every booking needs one, the fee is included in your package price, and Portland Parks will only issue it to you rather than to us.
Your ceremony location goes on that application, so we'll need your decision before we make the call. That's the one thing we need from you early.
You do the applying, I'm on the line to answer any questions, and once we have the permit number you're done. I stay on the line and pay the fee. The whole process takes about 10 to 15 minutes, and it's the only admin on this list.
The one exception is the staircase. Reserving that for your whole guest list takes a separate wedding permit, at extra cost, which you arrange on your own. Both permits explained.
We do it together. The deadline is 21 days before your date.Add-ons and drinks.
Personal florals, videography, live painting, anything you'd like to add, plus your beer and wine choices. Fourteen days is the minimum notice we give our vendors, so this deadline is firm. Earlier is always better if you know.
The last details, and your balance.
Final guest count and any dietary needs or allergies. One email from us, one reply from you, and it's locked.
Your balance invoice comes the same day, with any unspent drinks allowance credited to it. How the drinks work.
We confirm indoors or out.
If the weather calls for it we move the reception to the Weddinglandia chapel and tell you right away. The ceremony goes ahead outdoors with clear umbrellas, and everything else stays the same. What counts as rain.
You show up.
Get to Cathedral Park by 3:00 PM with your license and each other. Everything is already set up and waiting.
A few things to add to your Cathedral Park wedding day.
Each package is complete on its own. These are for couples who want a little more. What each one includes.
Bouquet + Boutonniere
$195Two Bouquets
$295Two Boutonnieres
$95Cutting Cake
$75 / $105 / $165Digital Videography
From $500Super 8 Videography
From $1,000Film Photography
$50 per rollCeremony Livestream
$75Polaroid Camera
$30Additional Guests
$75 each, up to 4Live Event Painting
Yoonie Mae sets up at the reception and guides your guests through making a painting together across the afternoon. You leave with an original piece made by the people who came. See one being made.
$1,800Pick your add-ons when you book, or add them later. Everything locks 14 days before your date, because that is the minimum notice we give our vendors. Earlier is always better if you know.
What couples say.
Married Under the Bridge is new, so these are Google reviews from the two studios behind it. Weddinglandia runs your ceremony. Higher Love runs everything else.
Neither of us were contacted by anyone once for clarification during the wedding.
Sage T. · Higher LoveZach was very sweet to my kids. Asked them questions to get them included.
Wedding client · WeddinglandiaSo much more than signing some papers at the courthouse.
Wedding client · WeddinglandiaWeddinglandia has married more than 250 people since opening in St. Johns in 2024, and was named Portland's Best Wedding Planner by Willamette Week in 2025. Read all six reviews.
Hi, I'm Kylie.
I founded Higher Love Event Co. and I've been planning and coordinating weddings since 2019. I'm a St. Johns native, and Cathedral Park is my backyard. I know which corner stays quiet on a Saturday afternoon, where the light lands at five o'clock in October, and exactly how far it is from the picnic tables to the nearest restroom. That last one matters more than you'd think.
Married Under the Bridge exists because Jasmine and Zach at Weddinglandia and I are neighbors, four blocks apart, and we kept meeting couples who wanted to marry under that bridge and couldn't find a way to do it. So we built one, and then we filled it with people from our own neighborhood. Higher Love is the preferred planner for both Weddinglandia and the St. Johns Inn.
The part I care most about is that you're not left guessing. Portland Parks permitting is genuinely confusing, and I would rather over-explain something than leave you to piece it together on your own. Email me a question and you will receive a considered answer, usually the same day, and usually longer than you expected.
If anything on this page is unclear, that is on me and I would like to know. Ask me anything at all. No question is too small.
Kylie Founder & Event Specialist · Higher Love Event Co.
Email hello@higherloveeventco.com
Text Kylie at 503-217-8500. Texting is often fastest.
Or book a free 20 minute call and we'll go through it together.
The people behind the day.
See real weddings at Cathedral Park. Weddinglandia runs the ceremony and Higher Love runs the reception. Everyone else on this list is someone we know, trust and have worked with directly, and most of them are based right here in St. Johns. Higher Love is woman-owned. We're proud to marry LGBTQIA+ couples, and we welcome couples of every background.
Questions couples ask us.
How many people can come to the ceremony?
Five on the staircase, or everyone in your package on the park lawn. It's your call, and we need to know before we call Portland Parks, because the location goes on your permit application.
The staircase can't be reserved, which is why it's capped at the two of you, your officiant and two witnesses. The lawn is a spot we hold for you, and it takes your whole guest list. You can have everyone on the staircase too, but that takes a separate wedding permit at extra cost, which you apply for yourselves. Both options, side by side.
What do we actually have to do ourselves?
Two things. Get your Oregon marriage license, and be on one phone call about a month before your date.
Every booking needs a site reservation permit, and Portland Parks will only issue it to the person named on it. So we call them together, you do the talking and applying, I'm there to answer anything, and once it's in you hang up and I pay the fee. About 10 to 15 minutes, and the fee is included in your package price. Every step is here.
What happens if it rains?
We provide clear umbrellas and the ceremony goes ahead outdoors. The picnic moves indoors to the Weddinglandia chapel, two blocks from the park, at no extra cost. Your food, florals and everything else stays the same.
We decide by 10:00 AM on the day and tell you right then, so you're never standing in the park wondering. Light rain isn't a reason to move.
Can we book a date for 2027?
Yes, though you'll pick the exact date in January 2027 rather than now. Portland Parks doesn't publish which days the park is closed until January of that year.
You can reserve now with a January 1, 2027 placeholder. That locks today's pricing, holds the team, and puts you in the queue, so when the calendar publishes you get first pick ahead of anyone who waited. If nothing on it works for you, withdraw and we refund your deposit in full. More on how that works here.
Ready to get married under the bridge?
We'd love to hear from you.
Prefer to speak to a person first? Book a free 20 minute call, text Kylie at 503-217-8500, or email hello@higherloveeventco.com. She answers these herself, usually the same day.