Kiley + Jesse | Doe Bay Resort Wedding | Orcas Island | 9.1.2018

The dreamy Doe Bay Resort on Orcas Island is one of the best multi day, friends from all over the place, destination wedding sites in America. Give it a serious gander if you are looking for a cool venue. There are plenty of ways for the guests to make lots of memories. This place has it all! But you don’t have to take my word for it. Here’s a little of what the bride and groom had to say about their expereince in a little segment I call, “He said, She said”

He Said:

I have been to a lot of weddings in my day, and without fail there is something that goes amiss. Our wedding went off without a hitch–I cannot remember a single thing that was out of place or that we had to compromise on so make the day happen. The weather was a dreamy summer island day. The vendors, location, and venue were all as beautiful as we hoped. There is no way this could have happened without the family and friends as generous and willing to pull the weight behind the scenes so we could have the day we imagined. When we considered getting married, we didn’t think in our wildest dreams that we could pull off such a beautiful wedding on Orcas Island–but because of all the support around us, we had a wedding we will always remember. -Jesse

She Said:

What amazes me most looking back on our wedding is how, even though we made a 3-night weekend trip out of it, it absolutely flew by. It was a whirlwind of the very best kind. I’ll always remember the raucous glee of the guests the night before the wedding, as some of our dearest friends and family met one another for the first time, and I assembled our wedding cake while everyone heckled me like I was on a cooking show and stole cake scraps. I’ll remember how much trouble I had falling asleep that night because I was so worried about all of the details I was forgetting, Jesse doing everything he could to soothe me to sleep, and then then incredible calm and sense of total happiness that came over me when I put on my dress and realized I was GETTING MARRIED to a person I love deeply, and the details weren’t that important. I’ll think back with amazement and gratitude about the different ways our friends and family pitched in cheerfully to make the whole thing happen — people setting tables, stringing lights, assembling the incredible wedding arch that my dad made, shredding pork with their hands, putting out snacks. My brother and sister-in-law/BFF Josh and Molly accomplishing a superhuman amount of work and never complaining once. I’ll remember how beautifully our friend Gigi played the piano as Jesse and I walked together to the ceremony spot, and how my sister Emily’s reading of the poem “For What Binds Us” by Jane Hirshfield moved me and felt so true to the love Jesse and I were celebrating. I’ll remember the sincerity of our vows and wiping tears from Jesse’s cheeks with the handkerchief I hid in my bouquet. The next day, a big group of us kayaked along the north shore of Orcas and it was exhilarating — the weather cooperated and the water wasn’t too choppy, and we saw harbor seals and birds and breathed the salt air. It was all over way too soon, and I remember crying happy and sad tears as we took one last look at the water from our ceremony spot before we caught a ferry home. For me, it was a weekend of pure magic. – Kiley