Portland Wedding Coordinator

{ Local Love } Two fun open houses - Event Cosmetics, Geranium Lake, Dec. 11, 2014

We were invited to two fun holiday open houses by a couple of our favorite vendors, and we just have to share! Geranium Lake Flowers is hosting a cookie exchange party and 20% off sale, while Event Cosmetics will be doing a "Party in the Penthouse" at their Da:Da Salon location. Both events are this Thursday, December 11th. Click the pictures above for exact details!

Holiday open houses are great ways to check out potential vendors for your wedding and get a little shopping done at the same time. Hope you enjoy!

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{ Front Row Fashion } A Novel Romance: Elizabeth Dye / The English Dept. Runway Report

Sunday, I attended A Novel Romance, the spring presentation from Elizabeth Dye's bridal salon, The English Dept. Established in 2005, her shop is a can't-miss stop for local and destination-Portland brides looking for sweet, offbeat dresses. Here are a few of my favorites from the show (no laughing! I'm a coordinator, not a photographer):

Click any image for a larger version.

   
1. Nicole Miller, 2. Nicole Miller.

   
3. Not known, 4. "Anemone" by Ivy & Aster.

 

   
5. "Miss Bianca" by Elizabeth Dye.
My sideview photo doesn't do it justice, so I'm including a catalogue photo, 6., above, from Wedding Inspirasi.

 

   
7. "Poetry", Jenny Yoo  8. "Poppy", Love Yu.
The tulle netting overlay on "Poppy" was soft, touchable,
and draped wonderfully.
And I loved the little chartreuse flower added on to the Jenny Yoo gown.

 

The show closed with this cloud-blue, one-of-a-kind creation by Elizabeth Dye, "Two if By Sea" (above).

Although I must say my personal favorites were these two sweet dresses, "Romy" by Jenny Yoo; and "Sweet Pea" by Ivy & Aster (below).

   
10. "Romy", Jenny Yoo; 11. "Sweet Pea", Ivy & Aster.
"Sweet Pea" has a wonderful swiss-dot textured overlay (click to enlarge).

Not only are these designs darling and perfect for an Oregon wedding, they both have pockets. This appeals to my practical-coordinator side (what bride wants to carry a clutch everywhere on her wedding day just to have lip gloss and dusting papers close at hand?) as well as my fandom side (if you're familiar with my favorite TV wedding ever, you know why a wedding gown has GOT to have pockets).

Many more photos of these gowns are available at The English Dept.'s website and this post from Squirrel and Starling.

Know of any other great local Portland wedding gown fashion shows or trunk shows? Send me an email.

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.

{Wedding Beauty} Lash extensions - an affordable splurge for the wedding

Anyone who knows me knows I am not a super girly-girl, but I did get excited about this: lash extensions. As someone who can never seem to keep mascara on, this is a revelation! I haven't had this done yet, but our faithful friend Andrea Hoyt at August Veils, lived to tell the tale of meeting with Midori Debow, lash expert:

"She learned her trade in Japan over 10 years ago. She relocated here to Portland with her husband...Midori is very meticulous and truly stands by her work.  She even checks back with you the next day to make sure there are no harsh reactions to the adhesive. 

Midori decided to use a style of hair that had a natural upward curve to it.  The shape of my eyes would make the lashes point downward.  What I liked was the way she thoroughly explained the process so I understood what she was about to do. 

Asian women, hell, all women, rejoice! Raccoon eyes could be a thing of the past!"

Before and after pics:

It would be so nice not to worry about crying off your mascara during the wedding...and they last for several weeks before you need a refill, so you can enjoy your fluttery lashes on honeymoon as well.

Thanks Andrea, for being our guest reviewer. As soon as we can get down there, we will! I'm sure there are more great places doing lash extensions in Portland -- please post a comment if you are in the know.

Art of Weddings Recap and Roundup

The past week was plenty busy with our participation in the first wedding show of the year - The Art of Weddings.  We had so much fun and saw all kinds of cool things that we just have to tell you about. So today's Saturday Roundup will have a lot of content, hang in there!

First off, we were so lucky to be placed near Annette from Swanky Tables Event Design.  Her business centers around getting all the little details on the table just right, from linens to place cards, and she even has a candy buffet setup service!  Her table was all decked out in pink and silver, and it was hard to resist the pink rock candy swizzle sticks! We can't wait to do an event with Annette.

Next up is Karren's Specialty Cakes. They were handing out full-size samples of their chocolate orange and pear cake and both were fabulous.  I am really picky about cake so take my word, it's great! I heard tell that Karren only does one cake a weekend, so if you're interested, get on it! Pictured below is the Porceline cake from her website:

Haute looks from Emilia Kaye

Our friends over at Event Cosmetics recently did a high-fashion runway show with Emily Sunnell, the designer of the Emilia Kaye clothing line.  The looks are startling, very Marie Antoinette!  Not necessarily what you'd think of for a wedding, but I love the mood that this look inspires.  Great job EC team! Photos by Brett Marjanen.

Prepping models for the show

"Saturday" Roundup!

OK, apologies for the slight delay on Roundup this week, due to Portland #snowpocalypse 2008!  We do have the goodies for you this afternoon though!

We're still a little bit obsessed with the weather lately.  What to do in case of weather-related cancellations or delays?  For the majority of Portland weddings that occur between March and October, really bad weather is not usually a concern. Of course, all outdoor weddings should have a bad-weather plan (including one for too-hot weather), but we're not usually thinking of roads closed and flights cancelled. Today of course, in the midst of #snowpocalypse and #snowmageddon, and with the uptick in winter weddings we've been seeing, I want to remind you all about wedding postponement insurance - a way to pretty much ensure that you can recoup any lost deposits and re-schedule your wedding date for another time.  Some providers: Gales Creek Insurance, WedSafe  Photo courtesy James Christianson via Style Me Pretty.

Pink Galoshes 

Oh, did we get your attention?

Holiday VIP deals from Dosha SalonSpa

I know lots of Portlanders like to hit Dosha for the manis, pedis, waxing and such, especially around bridal time.  Here 's a great tip:  If you attend one of their holiday parties in December, you receive a complimentary VIP card for 10% off services pretty much all year round.

This year it also looks like they're offering 20% off gift certificates if you bring in a Toys for Tots donation.  Wonderful!

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!