Portland Wedding Coordinator

a good point about makeup

I was talking with Katherine Sealy over at Event Cosmetics the other day, and she brought up a great point about makeup, that hadn't occurred to me.  If you're doing your own makeup, chances are you're going out and buying a whole bunch of products from expensive beauty lines such as MAC, Bobbi Brown, Prescriptives, etc., trying them out and not sure how it's all going to work.  With foundations currently running about $30 (custom blends $50 and up), eye colors $15-20, and so on, all of a sudden the cost of your look can add up to more than $100, plus you have the hassle of doing it yourself and wondering if it's going to look good.

On the other hand, if you go in to a good makeup artist, the artist will already have all of these colors, and can give you a professional application in studio usually for less than $100, and you don't have to buy a bunch of product that you may not use on a daily basis, which will expire in three to six months.

Just something to think about!

Divine Designs Sample Sale time again!

We received this email from Cindy Rosen at Oregon ABC:

"Divine Designs Bridal Boutique is pleased to announce our Designer Sample Day - An exclusive 2 day event on
May 16th and 17th...
Designers' samples by Vera Wang, Monique Lhuillier, Elizabeth Fillmore, Amsale, Anne Barge, and much more."

Click below for the full ad and address:

Where do you get such wonderful things?

I just got back from returning a red aisle runner to our dear friend Mike Piper at An Affair to Remember.  Not only is he a great wedding coordinator, he is also an amazing florist and has a huge selection of unique props that I love to raid.  The red rose petal aisle runner that you see in the last blog post is one of those things!  Apparently his mother sewed all of those rose petals on by hand?!?  (Don't forget, Sunday is Mother's Day!)  It just reminds me how important in this business it is to make contacts and build relationships, because you never know what wonderful things your colleagues have in their warehouses.

A big red party

I feel bad that we haven't been updating so much lately ... I can't believe the whole month of April went by without a peep.  But my excuse is that we've been working so hard for our clients.  One of them, Sarah and Daren, just had their wedding on April 26.  I can't believe it's over and I am actually sad that we won't be talking as often anymore!  Sarah is actually an event planner herself and was responsible for a HUGE event and fundraiser for a contractors' association in the Portland area.  So it was extremely flattering when she asked EJP Events to be her wedding coordinator.

She came to us with some amazing ideas for a big red party, and really let us take it and run with it.  We had so much fun, and hope the bride, groom, family, and guests did too.

This post wouldn't be complete without mentioning some of the amazing people we worked with: Geranium Lake Flowers, Royce's Prop Shop, The Bridal Loft and Vibrant Table Catering.

But enough talking, I know you want to see the photos!  Here are a few, courtesy of Melissa Jill, the photographer who flew in from Arizona just to shoot the event.

With Melissa's permission, we also asked our friend Robert McNary to stop by during setup and shoot some reception details.  Here they are.

Ask me about destination weddings...

We're pleased to let you know that we at EJP Events have recently completed the training sponsored by The Association of Bridal Consultants and Ask Me about Destination Weddings.  We now have the ability to book land and air packages for over 1,800 honeymoon and destination wedding locations throughout Hawaii, Mexico, Europe, South America, the South Pacific and more.

Take a look at some of the destinations available, and also the special offers.  Through this program, we even have a dedicated travel concierge, Sarai Cairo, who can give detailed information about each property if it's one we haven't been to ourselves.

So, even if your wedding isn't in Portland, Oregon, or Washington State... ask us!  We probably have something great just for you!

Photo courtesy askmeaboutdestinationweddings.com

postage alert!

This just in from our dear friend Alesia Zorn, Calligrapher (who sent us this newsflash via a beautifully calligraphed envelope):

"I want to make you aware of the upcoming rate changes so you can pass along the information to your clients who are planning to mail invitations in the next few months...

that Northwest flavor...imperiled?

Every year, I have several clients who want to incorporate a "taste of the Northwest" into their Oregon or Washington wedding.  For many of them, that means wild salmon is on the menu in one form or another. Unfortunately, reports are coming in that are predicting an 80 percent drop in the number of salmon returning to spawn in area fisheries this year, and state and federal authorities are calling for a ban. On one hand, it's too bad that this classic menu item for a Northwest wedding might literally be "off the table" this year, but on the other hand, I think it's a good thing that we have the ability to restrict fishing when a species is endangered, even temporarily, so that it doesn't become endangered for good. And hopefully research will be done to find out why this is happening so we can educate ourselves about what environmental changes we need to make. It can also be good for us as planners to flex our creative muscles and come up with other ways for our clients to feature the flavor of the Northwest for their guests.

(don't) shake it like a polaroid

I guess the news is a few weeks old, but I was very sad to hear today that Polaroid, who quietly ended production of instant cameras some time back, has also ceased production of Polaroid instant film.  There were always a few weddings a year that provided a Polaroid and a few stacks of film cartridges for the guest book table, so guests could have fun while signing their name.  I'm sure that other technologies will rise to take its place, but tonight I raise a glass and toast, to the little machine that inspired so many of us.

Bravo! Wedding Affair

It has been a busy month!  Yesterday EJP Events and The Bridal Loft participated in a very fun, very energetic wedding show called the Bravo Wedding Affair.  We heard that there were 500 attendees and it certainly felt like it in our themed room -- "An Island Getaway".  If you weren't there, here's what you missed:

Spotlight on The Ribbon Jar

Sometimes we at EJP find out about fabulous products through serendipitous ways.  We found out about Salem, Oregon-based The Ribbon Jar last year when owner Amber Lee asked us to coordinate her wedding.  And how glad we were to work with her.  Amber's whimsical style and fantastic vision for her wedding were a joy to execute.  And now we know to share her wonderful online store with you!  If you are picky about your ribbon, want high quality, and a variety of colors and styles to choose from, please take a look!

Thank you again, Amber, for including us in your fun and fabulous day!

Cake photo courtesy Eric Cable. Ribbon jar photo courtesy The Ribbon Jar.