A few weeks ago I had the honor of photographing a Clise Mansion wedding for Jillian and Michael in Redmond, WA alongside my dear and talented friend Kristen Tourtillotte. It was a soggy Pacific Northwest day that could not dampen our spirits.

Besides being 6′ 6″ and a former Seattle Seahawks tight end, Michael and his boys are huge lovers of Mountain Dew. I think there may be more Reservoir Dogs portraits of the lads with their Dew than traditional groomsmen images.

It turns out too that Jillian is a mighty good singer and as coincidence would have it, the male lead singer of the band was none other than James Cowan – A man I’m quite familiar with having spent hours and hours recording his sweet voice in the studio. The best part yet? Jillian jumped up and killed one song with the band. Awesome.

The Clise Mansion is best utilized for small, intimate weddings that are looking for a bit of a traditional feel. The floor plan is a little difficult with half of the action in one side of the building and the rest split to the other half, but not stuffing the place to the gills provides for great mobility and a nice experience. The surrounding grounds and Marymoor park provide excellent photo opportunities for portraits of the couple, family and wedding party.

Keep your eyes peeled on Kristen’s blog as she’ll be sharing tons of portraits, details and great moments as the primary photographer. Here are a few frames from my coverage that caught my eye and who doesn’t love a little rain hitting their lens when trying to hand hold a 70-200 1/6th of a second (Windmill shot).

Clise Mansion Wedding Details

Wedding venue:  Clise Mansion
Lead Photographer:  Kristen Marie
Second photographer:  Kip Beelman
Band: Oncore
Catering: Twelve Baskets Catering