A Homegrown Affair
THE MEGAN SWEET AND ALEX JUNES WEDDING
STORY BY KATHERINE LACAZE
F
or Clatsop
County locals
Megan and Alex
Junes, their Sept. 29
wedding in Surf Pines
was a truly homegrown
affair, with friends and
families contributing from
start to finish to pull off the
event.
Both Alex and Megan grew up on the North
Coast— the Astoria/Knappa area and Gearhart area,
respectively—with families active in their
communities. They met several years ago when
Alex was on a group date with another girl at the
bowling alley, accompanied by a friend who invited
Megan to stop by. It wasn’t long before they were
asking mutual friends about one another, which to
led to nearly three years of dating.
After getting engaged in Maui in December
2017, they agreed they wanted their wedding to be
close to home. Finally, they decided upon the
backyard at Megan’s childhood home. The only
problem, Megan joked, was she and her brother had
thoroughly enjoyed—and destroyed—the backyard
in their youth. It took nine months to revitalize the
outdoor space, installing new landscape and fresh
grass. Her parents, Denele and Chad Sweet, as well
as several family friends, pitched in to accomplish
the giant task.
“It was an army who put this all together,”
Megan said. “We completely redid the backyard for
this wedding.”
Not only was this a project Megan’s parents
wanted to get done, it also saved the couple money
on the venue and gave them the familiar and “very
Clatsop County” setting they desired, Megan said.
They took advantage of the natural beauty of the
newly renovated backyard and added their own
touches as well. One of Megan’s favorite features
was a chandelier they handmade using chicken wire
and tall, white-plumed Pampas grass. Megan said
it was one of several unique decoration ideas that
came together nearly last-minute.
On the day of the wedding, more than 200 guests
gathered in the Sweets’ backyard for the ceremony
18
OUR COAST WEDDINGS 2019
PHOTOS BY DON FRANK
and reception. Although a large tent was set up, the
altar was situated in the open. Guests toughed out
the rain—which was steady throughout the entire
day—for the ceremony.
“It was the definition of an Oregon Coast
wedding,” Megan said.
The couple encouraged semi-formal attire for the
affair but did not set a specific dress code. The
groom and his three groomsmen wore suits and ties,
and Megan’s father chose a partial suit. The bride
wore a floor-length, sleeveless dress. She was
determined not to make her maid of honor and
bridesmaid pay hundreds of dollars and be miserable
in dresses they didn’t like. So she told them they
could choose their own long dresses, as long as they
fit into the wedding’s neutral color scheme, featuring
beige and cream tones.
The boutonnieres and bouquets for the wedding
party also incorporated whites, creams, and dusty
rose. Because of Megan’s love for olive branches,
the arrangements included Italian Ruscus, which has
a similar appearance. The flowers were designed by
Cannon Beach florist Basketcase, owned by Debbie
Nelson, a friend of the Sweet family.
Other longtime friends and community members
involved were Chef John Newman, of Newmans at
988 in Cannon Beach, as the caterer and John
Chapman of Seaside who served as the DJ. The
cake and cupcakes were made by one of Alex’s
longtime family friends, who brought supplies
down from her home in Washington to do the
baking at his mother’s house in the days before the
wedding.
Another special element for the couple was that
the ceremony was officiated by Alex’s father, Brian
Junes, who had already acquired his license to
officiate Alex’s older brother’s wedding.
“We both love our families a heck of a lot, so we
wanted to make sure our families were a part of it,”
Megan said. Knowing they would be emotional, the
couple asked him to read off the vows they had
written down, which was “the best way forward for
both of us,” Megan said.
After the wedding, the couple spent a week at
home to help clean up from the wedding before
heading to Oahu, Hawaii for their honeymoon.