For the last four years, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to photograph all of you — and it’s been so much fun and so rewarding. Today, after finishing my busiest wedding season ever, I’m announcing that I’m making a change.

I’m closing up shop as Sara Gray Photography and beginning a brand new career as a residential real estate broker.

It’s a switch I’m excited about and have been waiting to share with all of you — I think it’s time for me to have a new adventure, and this one is a particularly exciting move for me. Truth be told, the jobs aren’t all that different. For me, they both come down to helping people through a momentous time in their lives.

I want to thank you all for your unwavering support of me over the last four years as you allowed me to be there for really special, personal moments and you referred me to your friends and family. Your business, your comments and your feedback have been a constant source of happiness for me and I hope I’ll be able to stay in touch with all of you as I move forward.

I will leave this site up for awhile, but I won’t be blogging here anymore. This morning I launched my new real estate site, which you can find at SaraGray.net. If any of you are looking to buy or sell a home, or if you have questions about the local real estate market here in Portland, I’d love to hear from you! You can e-mail me at sara@saragray.net.

Thank you all, and I hope we can continue the conversation in a new way!

OK, let’s stop here to say WOW, huh? Talena is such a beautiful bride and she and Deacon were such fun to photograph.

After all these weddings, I still love the moment when the groom first sees the bride coming down the aisle. Deacon’s face was priceless.

After a long day and night of celebrating and eating and laughing with friends, these two shared their first dance to Hall & Oates’ “You Make My Dreams” which is one of my favorite songs ever. I was smiling the whole time.

Congratulations, you two! I know that you’ll have many happy and fulfilled years ahead of you as a married couple. I wish you all the best!

I loved getting to know Laura and Matt throughout their wedding planning process and on their wedding day. They’re incredibly warm people who have dear friends and family and treat everyone with a great deal of respect, which I just love about them. Their wedding was gorgeous, too — check it out!

They really put a lot of effort into the details, from these hand-baked sugar cookies at each place setting with a nice note to a custom corn hole game for their guests to play, and more.

Cutest flower girls ever! These two started working it for the camera the minute they arrived onsite.

Cheers indeed, Matt & Laura! Thanks for letting me be a part of this fun celebration! Here’s to a long and happy marriage.

My most recent Whidbey Island wedding was a really special one — it was the wedding of Sara & Greg, who were one of my very favorite couples to work with this summer. They are such fun, warm and loving people and their wedding was a real extension of their personalities and love for each other.

Sara and Greg are always near water — they live on a houseboat in Seattle, and got married on an island. Naturally, they chose to have their first look moment on this secluded beach.

Greenbank Farm played host to the rest of the day’s festivities, and the wonderful pies they make there made an appearance later in the day at the reception.

I loved being there for Sara and Greg’s very sweet wedding ceremony, which got me a little teary-eyed. I wasn’t the only one.

Sara and Greg, thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of your wedding day. It was a lot of fun in a beautiful place surrounded by warm and wonderful people. I wish you two the happiest life together!

Jeanette and Jason introduced me to a new spot I’d never been — Red Ridge Farms & Durant Vineyards in Newberg. It was a gorgeous backdrop for their beautiful wedding and a place I’d love to shoot again.

I love Jeanette’s eye for detail — she thought of everything, right down to the personalized hangers!

Look at these two! I love this little sign and the smiles on their faces. What a happy day.

I loved this ceremony setting — it felt like a secret fort under the vines, and the moment was very romantic shared with friends and family.

Congratulations, Jeanette and Jason! It was such a pleasure coming to your wedding and being able to capture it. Here’s to many, many happy years together.

Marissa & Jarrod make a pretty handsome couple, don’t they? They got married outside on a gorgeous July day at St. Josef’s Winery in Canby.

I loved the feeling at this celebration — friends and family kicking back and celebrating together.

Congratulations, Marissa and Jarrod! I wish you both a lifetime of happiness together.

I love how soft-spoken Stella is, and how charming Johan is. They make a great match.

I had a blast photographing this wedding. Thanks for letting me be a part of it, Stella and Johan! Here’s to many happy years together.

I have so many great couples that I’m working with this summer! Johan and Stella are one of those great couples — they’re sweet, they’re fun and they’re absolutely perfect together. We got together last month to shoot their engagement session in the Pearl District and we had a blast.

I love it when Johan would make Stella crack up — aren’t they sweet together?

Congratulations, Stella and Johan! It’s been a great experience working with you both!

There’s a special spot in my heart for couples who meet in college. If you know me, you know I met my sweetie in college and I remember how fun it was to be embarking on a new love story while away in a new place. Laura and Matt met in college too — and they’re such a great match.

These two met at Western Oregon University in Monmouth, so we met up there to shoot their engagement session, since it’s such a special place for them.

I think Matt was unsure about all this engagement session business when we first began, but he ended up having a good time in front of the camera. I love the chemistry between he and Laura.

Those boots!? It’s hard not to get clothing envy in my line of work.

I love these bleacher shots so much, it makes me want to plan a weekend trip back to my own college town and do a session with my sweetie there in the stadium. There are so many memories when you’re in college of sporting events and school spirit!

I love the area around Monmouth/Salem and how naturally beautiful it is. Thanks for getting me out of my normal shooting zone, Matt and Laura!

I’m so looking forward to this couple’s wedding in just a matter of weeks. Stay tuned for more of their story!

I grew up in Portland, and every once in awhile I meet someone who knows all the same people I do — and yet, we don’t know each other. Sometimes being a Portland native makes your life eerily like a game of “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.”

Megan and Paul are people like that. They’re natives like me, and we have so many people in common. Paul and I both went to Jesuit (although not at the same time), Megan and I were both lifeguards for the Tualatin Hills Parks & Rec District, and they found me through Morgan & Brandon, a couple from a few years ago. Looking at our Facebook friends in common is pretty mind-blowing.

I’m glad I finally met these two, because they (and their families) are some of the sweetest, kindest people I’ve come across. Their wedding was a true celebration of two wonderful people finding each other and uniting two really wonderful families. Oh — and it was gorgeous too.

Paul and Megan got married at this cool church near PCC Rock Creek, which was built fairly recently and has such unique architecture for a church. It was fun to be able to photograph a ceremony in this space, with all the natural light and natural surroundings.

Above are Megan’s parents with the happy couple, just before the ceremony.

They held their reception at the McMenamins’ Cornelius Pass Roadhouse, which is such a fun and relaxed spot to celebrate and spend time with family and friends.

Megan and Paul! What a joy it’s been to get to know you two and work with you on your wedding. Here’s to many happy years together!