Portland Wedding Coordinator

{Weddings in the Columbia Gorge} - The Columbia Gorge Hotel reopens under new ownership

We recently had the opportunity to tour the newly-reopened Columbia Gorge Hotel in Hood River, Oregon...

via www.columbiagorgehotel.com

We braved the icy roads of I-84 to meet with Kim Bosch, Director of Sales, of the newly-reopened Columbia Gorge Hotel. As many of you may know, the hotel closed last fall due to financial problems. The hotel has now been acquired by new owners, and brought in North Pacific Management to run the hotel. Midge Dobbs, CMP, Regional Sales Manager for North Pacific, is a long-time colleague of mine from my Meeting Professionals International days, so, between her and Kim, I know the hotel is now in great hands.

Kim toured us throughout the 39 upscale sleeping rooms and let me know about some of the upcoming renovations in store.

{Wedding Specialty Catering Services in Portland} Cravin' Raven Organic Bakery

My uncle was diagnosed with celiac disease in his late 60s. Imagine going all that time not knowing that wheat and gluten were causing you problems! Now, it seems we hear of many more people with some form of gluten intolerance, so it's always nice to hear of a place that can meet their needs, especially for an occasion such as a wedding.

Cindy of Cravin' Raven Organic Bakery contacted us the other day to let us know her shop had opened in Sellwood and is expanding its catering operations. She told us a little about her products: "I use agave for a sweetener and everything is organic except for some of the flours that I use in the gluten free products." 

 

Photos by ToraIllustration via || Cravin' Raven Organic Bakery ||

Apparently the chocolate cupcakes are a hit on Yelp! We can't wait to try some.

{Wedding Venues in Portland, Oregon} A Sunflower Garden Wedding

We often stumble across new Portland wedding venues that are a little off the beaten path. Here is one: Sunflower Gardens on the west side, off Cornelius Pass Road. (You will need to contact the venue owner for complete directions, as it is a private facility.) In January when everything is grey and dreary, it is hard to imagine the riot of colors and flowers that can be an Oregon farm in August. But just take a look:

Above photo by Gabriel Boone photography, via sunflowergardenweddingportland.com

 

We were given a tour last May by Jill, who is in charge of booking the venue. The wedding package starts at $3,500 and includes, from what we understand, lots of amenities including tents for foodservice, guest seating, and dressing. (Remember that the sunflowers bloom only from about July 15th to September 14th, so dates are limited.)

The site can accommodate up to 200 guests. Could this be the outdoor garden venue you've been looking for? Contact Sunflower Gardens to find out.

{Foodie alert!} PDX Cheeseworks - Professional fromager at your wedding or event

We just received this communique from Brandon Weeks at PDX Cheeseworks:

I'm writing to let your organization know of our services at PDX Cheeseworks - an independent professional entity specializing in the art of cheese service, something totally unique to Portland and the world! See us at http://www.pdxcheeseworks.com

... Professional cheese service works in a wide variety of formats from casual to formal. In a nutshell what we do is provide world class cheeses and service with unique and specific accompaniments made from scratch to pair with each of them in a fun and educational format. It doesn't stop there - we also specialize in the sweeter side of things, customizing flavors and preparations to individual tastes, with training under the best chefs in the country. 

This of course is right up our alley, since we love food, interactive event services, and things that are customized! And educational too? Can't wait to try it out!

Sarah and Bill's wedding: Baker Cabin Pioneer Church and Wild Bill's Casino

We were pleased to work again in August with Lenny and Bob of Studio 98, this time for a wedding at Baker Cabin Pioneer Church and reception following at Wild Bill's Casino.  The ceremony had a traditional country wedding atmosphere, with Rev. Kevin Yell presiding.

While the bride and groom took photos, the guests moved on to the Oasis Room at Wild Bill's for a Las Vegas-themed reception and barbecue buffet from Buster's Texas BBQ. 

Sarah wrote to us afterwards, “My parents thought you did great and they loved how the whole thing reflected my personality, staying true to who I am. I still can't believe how well it turned out.” Congratulations again, to Sarah and Bill!

Also, many thanks to these partners in collaboration: Flowers: Studio Del Fiore, Music: Notes of Celebration, DJ: Wild Bill's in-house, Videography: Solstice Video, Transportation: Lucky Limousine.

Many thanks to Studio 98 for the images.

Mojuba Wedding Day Survival Kit - a more chic emergency kit!

We've been meaning to blog about these cute emergency kits from Mojuba Weddings forever...

via www.mymojuba.com

We love the chic styles for man or woman, the reusability, and convenient travel sizes. At ~$165 the kit may feel like a splurge, but you could register for one on wishpot.com, or think of it as an addition to your handbag collection.

At any rate, do make sure your coordinator or helper is prepared with a stash of little things for the big day.  Some helpful lists here.

Find something interesting? Reblog with Typepad & Typepad Micro

If you've been looking for a good microblogging service, or if you already use something like Tumblr or Posterous, you might find this interesting, from SixApart, the makers of Typepad:

This morning we launched TypePad Micro. Micro is a free streamlined blog, powered by TypePad, and optimized for social media.

via everything.typepad.com

You can now microblog any Portland Wedding Coordinator content that you find interesting with your followers on your very own free Micro blogs. Or you can use a Micro blog to save clippings of stuff you find interesting on the web, and share it with your friends and fellow planning buddies. And when you see the "Reblog" button at the bottom of any Typepad blog post, you can easily add that link to your own Typepad Micro or regular blog.

Here are some other wedding and design bloggers on Typepad that you may enjoy: Sparkliatti, Ritzy Bee, The Bride's Cafe, Oh So Beautiful Paper, Always a Blogsmaid, Weddingistas, and Celebrity Wedding Buzz. So you can see, Portland Wedding Coordinator is in great company! (Did I miss anyone? Feel free to shout yourself out in the comments!)

Couples AND wedding professionals:  Are you using microblogging in any form to meet those blogging needs when you have those "in-between" posts that are too long for Facebook or Twitter, but not long enough to merit a "real" post on your main blog? Share your thoughts here.

Make it a White Friday instead, and set your wedding planning intentions

Wait! Before you make one more Black Friday purchase, stop for a minute! If you're recently engaged and hoping to have your wedding in 2010, why not take a little time this holiday weekend to set your intentions around what's really important for your celebration? A little pre-planning before the plunge of wedding shopping can go a long way.

1. Have your families met yet? Ideally, your families will meet before the wedding day. FIgure out a way to make this happen if it hasn't already.

2. Have you set your budget yet? There are many budget planning tools online, or you can email me with the subject line "I read your 11/27 blog" and I'll send you the one I use for my full-service clients -- free!

3. Have you started on your guest list? Your budget will give you an idea of how many guests you can have. It's not a perfect rule of thumb, but just to get you started, consider on the casual end (in the Portland, Oregon area), a budget of $50-100 per person; then, a more elaborate celebration will have a budget from $100-500 per person. Reducing your guest list is the easiest way to reduce your budget.

(Of course, all you really need is your intended and the witnesses, but these guidelines should work for anyone hoping to host a celebration with more than a dinner-party number of guests and some kind of food, drink, and entertainment.)

Another way to think about budget is to consider a favorite restaurant whose food you would love to have at your wedding. What did you pay per person the last time you went there on a date and had appetizers, dinner, and a few drinks? Take that number and double it (in order to budget 50% on catering and 50% on the other things like planning, venue rental, entertainment, documentation, printing, etc) and that can be a rough budget for you.

4. Have you discussed your shared vision with your fiance(e)? On The 2000 Dollar Wedding Blog, Sara Cotner discusses how she and her fiance "started with the end in mind". No matter what your wedding budget might be, this is great advice.

So take a few moments during this holiday weekend to be thankful for this exciting time, and to set your intentions and get your wedding planning started right. Who knows--maybe eliminating one Black Friday impulse purchase will allow you to get something you really hoped for for the wedding.

From Oregon Bride Magazine - "The cutest wedding favors" - A Loterìa-inspired wedding favor

Did you catch our feature in the most recent Oregon Bride Magazine? We were asked to put together a unique favor with uniquely Northwestern local ingredients and design. Working with Roopal Shah of 1st Comes Love, we had a ton of fun creating this Loteria-inspired wedding favor with a tattoo/rock-n-roll twist.

 

"Put a spin on the usual symbol of love with these chocolates in the shape of a bleeding heart, brushed in 23K gold leaf from Alma Chocolate. The Mexican Loteria design spices up the 100% recyclable package. Produced by Emee Pumarega of EJP Events (503.284.6756; ejpevents.com); graphic design by Roopal Shah of 1st Comes Love. $14 each; $5 with less expensive Alma truffles. (Photo by Jeremy Dunham)"

via www.orbridemag.com

Win an Engagement Session for your wedding from Kim + Phil and Style Unveiled

We love hearing about cool free stuff, so when we saw this post from Portland Style Unveiled about how Portland couples could win a free engagement session from Kim + Phil Photography, we wanted to pass it on...From Portland Style Unveiled:

We told you there would be more giveaways to come!  I was lucky enough to join the fabulous Kim + Phil for coffee the other day.  You may remember them from the amazing DIY detail wedding we featured awhile back...  Anywho... after sharing a coffee and some chat, these two hit me with an awesome idea!  An engagement session giveaway!  The beneficient of this giveaway?  One of you lucky Portland readers! 

via portlandstyleunveiled.com

All you have to do is comment on this thread, and they'll choose a winner from among the commenters. Easy peasy.

Know of any other great giveaways going on? Email the Portland Wedding Coordinator and we'll report them as soon as we can!