Sweet Retreat: Ali & Sam

Elle Cashin Elle Cashin | February 20, 2025 | Wedding Features,

A Chicago couple heads west for a wedding in their happy place.

Ali & Sam
July 14, 2024
Hood River, Oregon

Photographed by Summer Grace Photography

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The bride worked with designer Kobi Halperin on a custom lace dress.

Sam Smith proposed to Ali Stone at the couple’s favorite place: home. So it only made sense that they’d get married at their next favorite place, their home away from home. “Hood River, Oregon, has been my sacred, happy place since I was a little girl,” Ali says. On July 14, 2024, it’s where they said “I do” in a touching Jewish ceremony.

“We got married on a lawn I played on as a child,” Ali says. “Growing up, it was the home of one of my dearest friends. A few years back, she turned the family home into a wedding venue.” It was a true celebration of the Pacific Northwest: A palette of greenery and neutrals enhanced the natural beauty, and hundreds of flowers were grown from seed for the wedding and cut fresh. A seasonal farm-to-table dinner featured locally caught salmon with Bing cherry relish from local orchards.

The energy was high all night, and the party closed out with an emo power hour, “an ode to one thing Sam and I really bonded over,” Ali says. Disposable cameras were scattered throughout the reception space—and, weeks later, the newlyweds relived it all through their guests’ eyes when they developed the film.

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