Timing is Everything
THE LAURENCE AND CLARE THOMPSON WEDDING
STORY BY HEATHER DOUGLAS
L
aurence and Clare Thompson
spent their childhoods in
Oregon – Jewell and
Gearhart respectively – but
never met. Laurence played
sports against Clare’s older
brother, and his mom worked
at the grocery store where
Clare’s mom shopped, yet
they would not meet until
years later in Cannon Beach.
Clare left Gearhart in August 2009 for school in New
Jersey. Meanwhile, Laurence made his way from Jewell to
Portland in the fall of 2007 for culinary school. He worked in
fine dining including the prestigious Bouchon in Napa Valley
before making his way back to Oregon.
The Thompson’s full circle journey was complete when
they both returned to the coast. “We weren’t supposed to meet
until the exact moment when he was ready for me and I was
ready for him,” said Clare.
22
OUR COAST WEDDINGS 2019
PHOTOS BY JULIE ADAMS
Laurence was hired as a dinner chef for The Stephanie
Inn in February 2014 and Clare a month later to work the
front desk of the boutique hotel in Cannon Beach. It was a
very small off-season new employee orientation with only
one other new employee and the owner. “When we first met,
Laurence and I were very 'quippy' and flirtatious with each
other in March, but we didn’t actually get together until the
following August,” said Clare.
Laurence’s timing was totally spontaneous when he
proposed to Clare one cold night outside The Warren House
Pub. The couple’s friends were visiting from out of town,
and after dinner they all met for one last cocktail. While they
walked across the parking lot Laurence gestured for Clare to
stay behind. She was cold, but he convinced her to stay and
look at the stars – then he proposed.
Of course their wedding plans would include an epic
feast. Laurence’s ‘chef family,’ Executive Chef Josh
Archibald from the Wayfarer and Executive Chef Aaron
Bedard from the Stephanie Inn, coordinated el pastor &
carnita tacos – a favorite of the couple. Archibald stayed up
in the pouring rain and cold the night before the wedding to
smoke a whole pig. Leo Luna, Chef of Public Coast, and his
wife Matha made 200 tamales with hand pressed tortillas on
the grill.
The wedding was held October 6th, 2018 on Clare’s
parents’ country property next to a late summer vegetable
garden, under repurposed cedar columns fashioned into a
pergola. Family quilts sewn by Clare’s mother, Celine, were
used as a backdrop for the ceremony and later for the band
“Maggie and the Kats” for the reception.
Clare’s favorite moment of the day was watching her
friends and family relaxing in the sunshine. “We cut the cake
on the patio; everyone was relaxing and taking photos. It was
really sweet. Some of my friends used those photos for their
Christmas cards this year. That was a moment where I look
back and see that people were enjoying the moment and it
happened the way I pictured in my head.”
“We are here because of the community we’ve created. I
wanted a real wedding – not the princess thing. It wasn’t my
day as a bride, but the start of a new life,” said Clare.