Portland Wedding Coordinator

Reminder - The Portland Wedding Coordinator Blog has moved!

How time flies! We've been doing some really fun things over on our own website, ejpevents.com

Photo: Evrim Icoz

Come check it out! This is also where The Portland Wedding Coordinator Blog has found a permanent home. It's hard to believe we've been writing this blog for *gasp* 12 years! We've seen technologies, venues, and vendors come and go, and it's been so interesting to document how people wed in our area, the beautiful Pacific Northwest. 

We decided to combine all of our blog interests into one place, and cover Weddings, Destination Event Travel, Corporate Events, How-Tos, and Advice to the Events Industry. Ambitious maybe, but when your company has been around for 20 years, it's time to look for more challenges, and never stagnate, only innovate. Happy 20th Anniversary to EJP Events!

We've planned special events from Portland to Boston, from Minneapolis to Texas, throughout this time. We added (back!) our conference and corporate event planning departments in 2009 -- Corporate is where our love of events started in 1997, so it only made sense to come full circle and serve our most loyal customers with our signature creative and inclusive style. 

So even though we haven't been super active here on Typepad, this site will remain as an archive -- feel free to browse our posts going back to 2007. And then roll with us into the future over on ejpevents.com.

With love,

Emee Pumarega
Founder, EJP Events LLC

{ Happy Pi Day! } The Portland Wedding Coordinator's Favorite Pies and Tarts

Happy Friday! Today is a VERY special day to me as it is International Pi(e) Day. A day to celebrate the ratio of the diameter of a circle to its circumference. (That's ∏d, in case you were wondering...) BUT! Today is also a day to celebrate the most delicious circle of all, the pie. (No offense to burger or pizza lovers.)

By Paul Smith (originally posted to Flickr as Pi pie) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

This is also a great time to talk about pie for your wedding; it's a great substitute if you aren't fond of cake! Here are a few of my favorite examples from weddings we have planned and coordinated:

Clockwise from top left: Pies and cupcakes by Food in Bloom at Bridal Veil Lakes wedding; Random Order Pies at private garden venue in Hillsboro;
Random Order pies at Union-Pine wedding

Where can you get great pies for a wedding in Portland? Just a few ideas:

Random Order Coffee House, The Pie Spot, Lauretta Jean's, Pacific Pie Co., All Jarred Up, Divine Pie Co (featuring gluten-free and allergy-friendly pies), Whiffies Fried Pies (who will pull their food truck right up to your wedding!).

If I missed any places you love, please add in the comments to share with everyone. Happy Pi Day!

Skimlinks Test

Related articles

{ From the Archives } Mindy and Ashish's Garba and Indian Wedding at Bridal Veil Lakes, Oregon

Geeks Gone Viral: The Marketing Genius of Pi Day

Pi Day Quiz: How many digits can you name?

{ Real Portland Wedding } Vintage Wedding Details at DeArmond Gardens in Hillsboro

2013 Global Wedding Study from Splendid Insights

"Splendid Insights will be releasing the 2013 Global Wedding Study during first quarter 2014. In order to represent each segment as best as possible, we'd love it if you shared the survey with your clients, readers and friends! The diversity in responses helps us take a better look at the realities behind the global wedding market. As always, Splendid Insights has no financial bias hinging on the study results, so we're able to share an unfiltered look at the wedding industry..."

via www.thinksplendid.com

The lovely folks at Think Splendid are doing their part to educate us about why we make the choices that we do for weddings. If you got married in 2013, won't you please take a moment to take their research survey?  http://wedn.gs/wed13

Read more: http://www.thinksplendid.com/2013/12/2013-global-wedding-study-from-splendid.html#ixzz2qSdOA8gC

Looking forward to 2014

 

Photo by John_Brennan on Flickr.
Licensed via http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/

To our EJP Events community, and all the readers of Portland Wedding Coordinator, we wish you the best for 2014, as you are planning your event or working in the community of event professionals. Cheers!

If you like this wedding style-oriented blog, you might also like our blog for event and wedding planners over on Blogspot.

Related articles

{ Portland Wedding Planning } An Opulent Wedding in Portland

{ Wedding Trend Watch } Interactive Art Walls

Excited for 2014!

 

{ real wedding features } We're in Portland Bride and Groom magazine!

Make sure to flip over to page 58 of this summer's issue of Portland Bride and Groom magazine and check out a feature on a wonderful, colorful wedding day that EJP Events helped plan last September for bride and groom, Kiran and Siddharth. Thank you to the editors of the mag for choosing to feature our work, and to the amazing team of vendors who put it all together: JOS Photographers, Shields Films, 1st Comes Love Invitations, East India Co. Catering, The Foundry at Oswego Pointe, Paradym Events, Geranium Lake Floral, DJ Prashant, and Papa Haydn Cakes.

Photo by JOS Photographers, as featured in Portland Bride and Groom.

Wedding Wonderland Sneak Peek — Crafty Wonderland {Upcoming Wedding Planning Events in Portland}

Image via http://craftywonderland.com/2013/05/wedding-wonderland-sneak-peek/#

We just got a reminder about a really fun-sounding event this coming week! On Saturday, May 11, Crafty Wonderland is happening again at the Oregon Convention Center. And this time, there will be a special "Wedding Wonderland" area featuring handmade and vintage items from local Portland retailers, all carefully curated by the clever folks behind Crafty Wonderland. Definitely check it out!

"We are super excited to have a special Wedding Wonderland section in our Super Colossal Spring Sale this year! What is Wedding Wonderland, you ask?! Vendors with items we thought might be of interest to folks planning a wedding have been conveniently placed together in several rows! All of our vendors have amazing goods to show you, so please be sure to visit all of the booths whether you’re planning a wedding or not!"

via craftywonderland.com

Let's toast to Cinco de Mayo! (with a Margarita and Mexican Martini recipe)

Even though Cinco de Mayo is a minor regional holiday in Mexico proper, its significance in the US is that of a major cultural celebration similar to St. Patrick's Day, Oktoberfest, or Chinese Lunar New Year¹. Don't confuse Cinco de Mayo, May 5th, with Mexican Independence Day (Sept. 16th), however.  The 5th of May marks the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla, where Mexican forces defeated French invaders seeking to install a French emperor of Mexico. 

What does any of this have to do with Portland weddings? I just want to acknowledge the all-important Mexican-American contribution to the summer wedding menu: the Margarita. No matter what food is on the menu, a freshly-squeezed, hand-shaken Margarita lends an easy festivity to any wedding.

In honor of the holiday today, I thought I would share with you one of my favorite Margarita recipes from Texas, as well as one of my favorite variants, the Mexican Martini. For both recipes, all your juices should be fresh-squeezed, and the tequila should be light or Silver. (I recommend Herradura, Patrón, Yéyo, or 123 Tequilas.)

Avoid having invitations, save-the-dates, or RSVPs returned to you - Postal Rates Increase Jan 27th

 

via alesiazorn.typepad.com

This just in from our good friend Alesia at Alesia Zorn Calligraphy - US postal rates go up January 27th. Many of you are about to get to mailing your save-the-dates or wedding invitations, so head on over to Alesia's blog and read all the details.

My takeaway from all this: Always use the Forever stamps, so no matter when your guests mail back their RSVPs, the postage will be valid and the responses won't be returned to sender.

Whew - as if engaged couples didn't have enough to worry about already!

Related articles

Annual postal stamp increase

Stamps Going Up a Penny

The hottest day of the year...

I know, you probably think I'm crazy for talking about summer weddings. I can't help it! This time of year when our fingers and toes are freezing just from walking to the mailbox and back, it's almost impossible to remember what the kiss of the sun is like. Thank goodness for photographs. This beauty sent to me by Evrim Icoz shows a wedding we coordinated last year for Heather and Joe.

And what a day it was! Evrim goes in to more detail on his blog (and you can see all the great pictures there), but in a nutshell:

11:am Wedding ceremony in the urban forest

12:00 Brunch in the park

1:00 Pedicab and trolley rides around Portland

2:45 Jet boat rides on the river

4:00 Change clothes for the reception

6:00 Super glam/boho reception at Castaway with Simpatica Catering; and dancing 'til socks were worn through.

A few tips for your own summer outdoor wedding in Portland and how you can be ready:

- Make sure cold beverages are plentiful upon arrival. For an informal wedding, tubs or deep trays filled with ice can surround bottled drinks or heavy glasses.

- Have a plan for shade. Too often, brides and grooms only plan for a rain back up. But a sun plan should also be in effect. Parasols, extra tents, mist fans, and table umbrellas can all help.

- If you have an indoor venue, check out the A/C options and rent fans or swamp coolers if the venue doesn't have any.

Thank you again, Heather and Joe, for sharing the sun with me!

via www.evrimgallery.com

5 things we're still loving in 2012... { Wedding Fashion, Style, and Trends }

Over halfway through the year, can you believe it? I just returned from some Independence Day festivities in Florida where I did lots of people-watching in Miami and West Palm Beach. Super fun!

It just reminded me that there are a lot of hot styles that generated buzz around the first of the year, that I noticed are still super relevant and could be fun to use in your upcoming wedding.

1. Chevrons and Bold Stripes - It seems like we just can't get enough of these bold, preppy patterns. Whether it's a delicate herringbone paired up with lace, or black and white stripes with bright color accents, there's something about chevrons and bold stripes that just makes me go ooh!

Photo: Carla Ten Eyck; Coordination: Jubilee Events; via The White Dress by the Shore

Photo: Avery House; Jesi Haack Design; via 100 Layer Cake

La Tavola Fine Linen Rentals

2. Colorblocking - Yes, the 80s trend is back, but this time it's more layered and less Mondrian-esque. Look for styles incorporating similar color families and sherbet brights.

Twobirds Bridesmaid Gowns, photo by Trent Bailey


Chuchu Suarez's street style featured on Chicismo.

3. Envelope clutch purses - I say avoid the giant ones that dwarf your body type, but there are so many sweet styles out there that can go with the wedding gown or bridesmaid's outfit. And of course, there are chevron ones too!

Neutral envelope clutch purse by Harlex on Etsy

BCBG Max Azria "Harlow" envelope clutch

Edie Parker acrylic clutch purses via This Is Glamourous

4. Ombré - varying shades of the same color can make a big impact, whether in a gown, a cake, or somewhere else in the decor scheme.

Christian Dior couture gown via The Simply Luxurious Life Blog

Peach ombré cake via Martha Stewart Weddings

(The ombré cake craze is well documented in this post by Polka Dot Bride.)

5. Maxi dresses - Not every formal, long bridesmaid gown is really what I think of as the hot "maxi dress" of 2012. I'm thinking, the long, flowy, goddess-y dresses that make your bridesmaids look like romantic figures in an 18th-century painting...

Kay Unger gowns on the bridesmaids; Photo by Aaron Delesie via Style Me Pretty

What do you think? Will these styles and trends hold up through the rest of the year and in the years to come, as we look back at the wedding photos? Are you using any of these in your Portland wedding? Or are there any styles or trends that you are (gasp!) getting a little tired of? Please share your comments.