House on Metolius Wedding – Bend, Oregon

The House on Metolius

Mary and Brian live here in Bend, Oregon, and they chose House on Metolius for their small intimate wedding or elopement.

House on Metolius is a private ranch 1 hour from downtown Bend. The house overlooks the Metolius River and has a perfect view of Three Fingered Jack. There are also several rooms available for guests to stay in during a wedding weekend. You can also pick from a few locations to hold your ceremony and receptions. The roads are also cleared in the winter so you can access the venue year-round.

Mary and Brian

When I showed up to the venue Edge Hair and Makeup was finishing up Mary’s Makeup and it had just started to rain. Living in Bend for a little while now, I knew that the rain would pass through as it always does. Sure enough, we got a 45-minute window for a first look, Family portraits, and a ceremony.

After their ceremony, they all headed back up to the main house for dinner and some wine. Blue Bite Catering prepared an amazing meal while they hung out on the patio and sheltered from the rain.

I left this wedding knowing that it was definitely special and unique and that I will never photograph a wedding similar to this one again. This is one of the things I love about my job, every day is new and different.

I asked Mary and Brian a couple of questions about their wedding planning and here are their answers.

Why did you choose a smaller wedding over a larger one?

Weddings big or small are a joyous celebration of love and the beginning of a new chapter.  Whenever given the opportunity to join our friends or family on their special days we feel privileged and honored to participate. We have the utmost appreciation for large traditional weddings.  With that said, we both knew early on it wasn’t part of our vision for how we wanted our special day to manifest.

Both of us come from giant, tight-knit families which we’re incredibly grateful for though, in reality, it makes it easy to get to a 200 person guest list in the blink of an eye.  The planning time, cost, expectation management, and stress of execution felt like massive burdens that detracted from our ability to enjoy a very personal day for one another.  We wanted to be present, with each other, commemorating a monumental milestone in our lives and relationship together… that’s all

We initially set expectations with our families that we were intending to elope.  Though difficult for them to accept, they endorsed our decision and encouraged us to follow our hearts.  Upon months of deliberation, Mary and I decided that our future selves would regret not being surrounded by the people who brought us into this world, and the people who have been by our side every step of the way… our parents and siblings.  Once we circled the date on the calendar the rest of was easy.

We wanted nothing more than our day to be low-stress, surrounded by our most cherished people, in a beautiful setting that we would look back on with loving memories forever.

We can both agree that we wouldn’t change a thing.

Why did you choose House on Metolious?

Our priorities for the location were always specific:
peaceful
private

in a deeply natural setting
rich in character
After speaking with friends born and raised in central Oregon, they pointed us towards the Metolius river and we spent a spring day aimlessly wandering the stunning valley.  We stumbled upon the gate of House of Metolius and were immediately curious.  Having no cell reception, I hopped the fence and ran down the road to see if anyone was available for information.  My jaw dropped walking around the absolutely stunning property and we knew right away that House of Metolius was the place.

We had 3 weeks until our wedding date (with nothing except our families confirmed to be in Bend) and we found out that the main house was still available.  We were able to work something out well within our budget for a 1-night stay and HoM’s incredible staff absolutely blew us away exceeding expectations in every way.

The House Of Metolius grounds remain of one the most stunning venues I could imagine for a wedding and looking back on our daylights me up inside.  We can’t wait to celebrate anniversaries there for our life to come.

If you are considering getting married at House on Metolius, you can contact them HERE. As always you can also just call 805-704-9326 or email me ely@elyroberts.com

Hair and Makeup: Edge Hair and Makeup

Officiant: Wendy Duncan

Flowers: Hey You Flowers

Venue: House on Metolius

Dinner: Blue Bite Catering