Portland Wedding Coordinator

Vintage and tweed styled inspiration shoot - with a little shot of velvet

I often have the opportunity to work with some really fun public events around Portland. This year I've been involved with the Portland Tweed Ride organizers' group and had the opportunity to help them produce some promotional media for their event, starting with a Save the Date card. It seemed like a great way to do some vintage and tweed inspiration for a possible wedding style board. With the way velvet is trending for 2018, I thought it would fun to throw a bit of that in too.

 

We were able to secure the wonderful Evrim Icoz Wedding Photography to shoot the photos, and Event Cosmetics to handle the hair and makeup. Nea Posey, one of Katherine Sealy's Event Cosmetics clients, and Jeanie Whitten-Andrews, who had worked with Evrim before, stepped up as models. Event Cosmetics also secured the indoor venue, Oregon Historical Society, for us. Luckily, I owned a great deal of the props and attire in my personal collection, so it wasn't hard to put together the shoot!

 

A quick stop by Elephants Deli for some bread, Champagne (actually it was Cremant de Bourgogne -- a more affordable alternative to having Champagne from the actual region of Champagne) and glassware; and also Gifford's Flowers for some blooms to adorn the vintage bikes, and we were all set. I hope you enjoy the photos and our vision! And of course, I hope you'll join us on the ride on April 8th, 2018. Or just use these photos as an inspiration stepping stone to your own engagement, elopement, or wedding style.

 

Photography: Evrim Icoz

Models: Nea Posey and Jeanie Whitten-Andrews

Planning and Production: EJP Events

Hair and Makeup: Event Cosmetics at Da:Da Hair

Locations: Oregon Historical Society; and South Park Blocks; Portland, Oregon

Floral: Gifford's Flowers

Catering: Elephants Deli

1973 Raleigh Sports and 1973 Free Spirit Bicycles: Private collection, Emilynn J. Pumarega

Picnic Blanket: Yakima Camp Blanket in Blue Heather by Pendelton Woolen Mills

Clothing on Nea: Model's own

Clothing on Jeanie: Tweed vest from Gap via ebay; Pussycat bow blouse, Argyle socks, and tweed trousers from Uniqlo. Pink velvet accordion pleat skirt from Target. Flat cap from London Fog; all courtesy EJP private collection

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{ Photo of the Day } A Portland Art Museum outdoor sculpture garden wedding

Today's photo comes is from the 2007 archives! Altura Studio captured this beautiful outdoor reception at the Portland Art Museum sculpture garden. I loved how the platinum lamour table linens contrasted with the bright colors of the fall flowers and the existing art. Very excited to read that the PAM will be adding a fantastic new art pavilion in this location in the next couple of years, but it's a little bittersweet to say farewell to this unique outdoor urban wedding location. Catering: Vibrant Table, Flowers, Geranium Lake.

 

( Photo of the Day ) - The Nines Hotel, Textural Geometric Centerpiece

Today's photo that I'm loving comes from Evrim Icoz Photography - we recently did a wedding at The Nines Hotel where the client asked for modern, geometric centerpieces to go with the modern, glamorous look of the hotel and the reception. These were designed by Geranium Lake and I just love the mix of textural floral with the sharp lines of the container. Thank you to everyone who worked on this wedding with us!

"Photo of the Day" is our regular blog feature where we pick a quick favorite photo and share it with you. It might be a behind-the-scenes, it might be a wedding detail shot, whatever is catching my fancy that day. If you have worked with EJP Events and would like your photo of the day featured here, please email me.

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{ Design Roundup } 5 sites to help you choose a wedding color scheme

You're engaged, you've got the venue and the date, and are so excited to get going on planning! Yet, you're stuck on what the wedding will actually look like. Envisioning the final event means you need to pick invitations, table linens, flowers, lighting, and all the assorted goodies that go with your big party. And of course you've got to start with a color or two (or a few!) that hopefully go together.

"But I like everything!" you say. Or maybe, "Our site has this weird carpet and I'm not sure what goes with it." Or possibly, "I don't want my wedding to look too matchy-matchy." How do you decide on a color scheme that, while not as lasting as a bedroom paint job, is still super-important and something you'll remember for years to come? Here are five tools and websites I like to use when I help clients formulate their color ideas.

1. The Perfect Palette This blog updates several times a week with wedding color palette ideas and an explanation of each. You can search the whole site by color family to find exactly what you want.

2. ColourLOVERS A bit broader in scope, ColourLOVERS covers not just weddings, but other design solutions such as graphic, print, and web; interior design; and fine art. Users are encouraged to get social by creating accounts, uploading patterns, and sharing with the community. (A side note: ColourLOVERS also has the great widget Themeleon, for creating Twitter screen backgrounds. It's where I got mine - look here.)

3. Adobe Color CC - Adobe Inc.'s Adobe Color CC tool makes it possible for you to take a photo of your site (or any photo, for that matter) and extrapolate a color scheme from it. Click on "Create" > "From an Image" and upload your photo and wow! You can also select different moods for the same picture. A great tool if you are feeling a bit stumped. You do need to create an account if you want to save your palettes.

4. Design Seeds Similar to The Perfect Palette, but not exclusively about weddings. This blogger takes hundreds of artful photos and applies her own aesthetic to draw out each custom color palette. A wonderful inspiration site.

5. You knew I would mention Pinterest. If you're following my boards already, you know how addicted I am and how you can be sure to see a 2am pin from me on your dashboard now and then. If you haven't had the pleasure of using this site, it is a sort of visual Twitter where you can "pin" just about any image on the Web to a virtual bulletin board, keeping all of your ideas in one place. You can create as many boards as you like and name them anything, from "Color Inspiration" to "Cute Pictures of Pugs". Most boards are public, (you have a limited number you can set to "Secret"), so you can search the site for your desired color scheme or idea and re-pin other folks' images to your boards. Also, all of the above-mentioned tools can be used in some way along with Pinterest.

Are there any other great color tools you're using to design your wedding? Please share with me in the comments as well.

Update: March 12, 2018: Another great post about color palettes for 2018 from Azazie.com, check it out!

A version of this post appeared on The Portland Wedding Coordinator blog in January 2012.

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{ Wedding Wednesday } What's inspiring me today...

Here's what's inspiring me today:

 

Clockwise, from top left: (click the links to go to the full awesomeness)

Maptotes. What a wonderful guest favor or hotel amenity gift for your out-of-towners! They do custom work too, just visit maptote.com

The Barr Mansion in Austin, TX - Just realizing that this May, it will be FIFTEEN YEARS that I have been at EJP Events. The thought has been at the back of my mind for a while, but stumbling across this Barr Mansion (where I coordinated my very first wedding as an independent planner) wedding on Green Wedding Shoes, really made things hit home. I am so grateful for every wedding I have had the honor of working with, and so grateful for all the many service providers who have supported me and my sometimes wacky ideas. I'll be posting more thoughts with the hashtag #ejp15 and I invite anyone who has thoughts and memories to post with the #ejp15 on any social network -- past brides especially -- or, please email me and send in your memories. Photo by The Nichols via Green Wedding Shoes.

These bell jars / cloches - Just loving the way they set off the florals and details for this science-themed wedding. Photo by The Nichols via Green Wedding Shoes.

Tiny tacos. Who wouldn't love a tiny taco! Why not try one for your wedding cocktail hour, or late night snacks, perhaps with a signature margarita? Photo via the Beverly Hills Hotel Instagram feed.

It is most definitely spring, and this Apartment Therapy post shows us some innovative ways to bring spring into your home, and I got some great ideas for unusual ways to arrange flowers at a wedding as well!

Check out the back detail on this Anna Campbell gown, via the Everthine Bridal Instagram feed. (I just love Instagram as a place to see ideas and inspiration - it's almost eclipsed Pinterest for me.)

Candy kebabs. I want one! Perfect for a wedding favor or a kids' table idea. Photo by Brooke Stapleton via The Perfect Palette.

What's inspiring you today?

You might also like:

Mad about Macarons

An Oregon Garden Wedding Inspiration for a Stylish Manhattan Bride

Barr Mansion Wedding by Kim Maguire Photography

everthine bridal boutique

Austin Wedding at Barr Mansion from Francis Joseph Photography

{ Wedding Design } What's inspiring me today...

{ Wedding Design } What's inspiring me today...

Here's what's been inspiring me today:

Clockwise, from top left:

DIY honeycomb shelving, on Green Wedding Shoes, photo by Jihan Cerda

Mon Voir Calligraphy, featured on Oh So Beautiful Paper. Just love this whimsical style! Photo by Jenna Rainey, the calligrapher.

7 Ways to Add Visual Height to A Room, via Apartment Therapy. Written for residential, but a lot of the tips, especially the one about drapes, apply to events and weddings as well. Photo by Le Belle Photographie

A darling ceremony at House on Metolius, photo by Jessica Watson Photography.

DIY Gem Place Card Holders on Ruffled Blog. Looks pretty easy! And love the subtle geometric touches, right in line with our predictions for 2014 wedding trends.

And finally, the glorious colors from the Oh Joy! Collection from Target. This garden party photo shoot has colors that I just want to swim in. Joy Cho's taste, as always, is impeccable. Photos by Laure Joliet

Hope you enjoy!

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What's the difference between an Inspiration Board, a Mood Board, and a Palette?

 

Photo courtesy Craig Mitchelldyer

Early in wedding planning, even before the gown or the venue is chosen, most of you are thinking about look and feel. When you close your eyes and picture yourself entering the venue on your big day, what do you see? What flowers are you holding? What colors are surrounding you?

It's a big choice and the heart of wedding design, and it can be overwhelming. Equally confusing can be the many options you have for gathering your ideas in one place. You've probably heard about mood boards and inspiration boards, palettes and swatches, but what is what?

A mood board is the broadest tool used early on to help you determine the most general ideas about look and feel of the wedding. Not limited to actual wedding services, you might pull in photographs, videos, songs, words, and even poetry that evokes the mood you want to set for your special event. I really love the mood boards over at The Wedding and Event Institute Blog, here's one example:

An inspiration board is the next building block of creating your wedding design. Many of you may have started a Pinterest account and it's a great way to easily create inspiration out of your collected pins.

Once you have set the mood of your wedding, use an inspiration board to collect specific photographs of actual flowers, invitations, linens, stages, mandaps or huppahs, ceremony backdrop, room layout, and so on. Lots of folks interchange the terms mood board and inspiration board, but I feel like the inspiration board is a more specific tool.

An inspiration board can also be tweaked to become a story board later on - necessary for design-intensive weddings. A story board is just that: a detailed board that tells the event's story from start to finish, from the actual color scheme and entry points to the venue, to the lighting settings and tablescape. These depict final choices and elements. Most of the time, we accomplish the same thing at EJP Events by writing a detailed setup narrative, but in some cases, a story board is definitely needed.

A palette is just a selection of possible colors for the event. This is a great way to communicate to your vendors so they are all on the same page and using the correct warmth, hue, and saturation as they produce your wedding attire, linens, tablescape, and flowers. I love the palette tools over at ColourLovers:

Finally, a swatch is a sample of a design item, usually a textile/fabric that you use as a sample of the texture and color you would like to see. It is the physical version of the digital palette.

Thanks for reading this post! You might also like this post about 5 tools to help you choose a color palette for your wedding.

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2014 Geranium Lake Dream Wedding - Contest Entry

We are thrilled to be chosen by Geranium Lake Flowers again this year as one of Portland's best wedding professionals and to help judge their Geranium Lake Dream Wedding Pinterest Contest. Please read below for the exact details on how to enter your Pinterest board in the juried contest - it's not a drawing!

via geraniumlakeblog.weebly.com

YES! It's happening again!  This weekend at the Portland Bridal Show we launched our search for 2014's most fabulous wedding board on Pinterest.  

Here's how to enter to WIN $1000 TOWARDS YOUR WEDDING FLOWERS!

You must be getting married in 2014 (if you're a 2015 bride,  check back next year!)

Follow us on Pinterest {Emee says: Why not follow Emee's pinterest while you're at it? :-D}

Create your own Pinterest board and title it “Geranium Lake Dream Wedding”

Re-pin to your board a minimum of 3 images that inspired you from our website

IMPORTANT: Continue to curate your board from any source until your dream wedding look is complete and simply amazing.  Your board should not be limited to flowers only.  Feel free to pin whatever has inspired you, including your dress, invitations - and whatever else rocks your world. This is NOT A DRAWING. Your board will be judged against other couples' boards so it's important that your board be complete, cohesive, and gorgeous.  The boards will be judged by the best Portland wedding professionals so make it count!

Finally, email a link to your board to [email protected]

We will accept submissions accept through February 28th and the winner will be announced in March.

Good luck!

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{Wedding Attire Tips} Can I mix ivory and white at my wedding?

Today's tip is not just an attire tip, but it also touches on overall wedding design and colors.

I get a lot of clients every year who ask me if they can wear an ivory gown but have white tablecloths, and vice versa.  Or if they can use ivory and white on the same surface, for example, white tablecloths and ivory plates.  We receive so many inquiries like this that we decided to address it here on the blog at Portland Wedding Coordinator.

 

Some people seem to think that there is an etiquette or protocol issue at work here, but I have done some initial research at the Peggy Post and Martha Stewart sites, and to date have not yet found anything etiquette-related, except a reminder to guests not to wear white or ivory to a wedding.

 

So my feeling is that it boils down to your personal style and what you feel comfortable with.

{ Portland Wedding Coordinator's} Top Wedding Trends for 2014

2014 is roaring in and we are so excited to see what this year's couples are planning for their wedding designs. Here are some wedding trends we hear are going to be super-hot in Portland, from our own clients and also talking with colleagues around town:

Interactive art walls or art installations. So fun we had to do a whole post about it, read here. We even had one couple grab all the art off the walls of their own home and display it during cocktail hour, creating an art gallery atmosphere.

Image: EJP Events