Kelly Cardenas and Ryan Robinson met “just like any other Portland couple” – at a local brewery. At the time, Kelly was dancing for the Portland Trailblazers; so, while her first impressions of Ryan were that he was handsome and funny, his first impression of her was “glitter.”
“Things escalated quickly, and when we both discovered our mutual love for Celine Dion – serious truth here – I actually proposed to him only hours after meeting,” Kelly describes. “Our life adventures began that day and, with both of us loving to travel, our first vacation was to Hawaii, which has officially turned into ‘our spot.’”
“OUR FACES AT THAT MOMENT SHOWED NOTHING BUT PURE BLISS, AND THAT WAS OUR FAVORITE PART OF THE NIGHT”
A few months later, the couple was shopping for an engagement ring and booked a vacation to Hawaii. After being there for four days, they rented a convertible and drove around the island. Kelly suggested they pull over for a break, and Ryan parked in an intimate beach area, where they went for a walk in the surf. Ryan then dropped to one knee, pulled the ring out of his pocket, and asked Kelly to marry him.
The wedding planning process began immediately, and Elizabeth from Bridal Bliss was hired as the wedding planner. “I’ve dreamt of his day since I was a little girl, and Elizabeth was literally everything to us,” says Kelly. “We wanted to soak it in and enjoy the planning process. With Elizabeth’s help, meeting regularly with her and making countless decisions, that’s exactly what we did.”
Kelly and Ryan’s wedding location, Sunriver Resort in Oregon, was a beautiful resort full of greenery, mountains and sunshine. The bridesmaids wore sequin dresses in different shades of gold, and the groomsmen were dressed in classic black tuxes – including the couple’s dog Gary, who was their ring bearer.
Floral arrangements of pale pink and white blooms were peppered with foliage in between, as the bride and groom wanted an elegant and classic aesthetic. The event space was lit with hundreds of candles, making the wedding décor even more breathtaking than they had envisioned. With the big day executed to perfection, the only anxiousness the couple felt was the moments leading up to their choreographed first dance. They had rehearsed for months, and the dance concluded with more than 30 confetti cannons exploding, turning the entire room solid gold.
“Our faces at that moment showed nothing but pure bliss, and that was our favorite part of the night,” says the bride. “After running through sparklers, we ended with champagne and reminisced until the early hours of the morning about the best day of our lives. If I could go back in time, I would always choose that day; but I’m so excited for our future together, forever.”
WEDDING TALENT
Location: Sunriver Resort Sunriver, OR; Planner: Bridal Bliss Lake Oswego, OR; Floral Design: Heirloom Floral Bend, OR; Wedding Dress and Veil: Pnina Tornai