Portland Wedding Coordinator

{ Portland Wedding Coordinator loves...} Weddings on the MAX Light Rail

Portland couples love to showcase the city for their guests, and for their wedding day to reflect all things truly Portland. So we love it when they show their eco-chic loyalty on their wedding day and make sure to ride the MAX to the wedding. (Bonus: no worries about indulging in cocktails at the reception, you have a ride home as long as you get on before the last train!) Lovely client Lisa chose to have her ceremony at World Forestry Center and reception at The Oregon Zoo.  Guests and bridal party stayed downtown at Hotel Monaco, and Lisa and her ladies had a fun adventure getting to the ceremony via the MAX light rail.

And a few photos of the ceremony at the World Forestry Center:

 

Many thanks to Kory Hauser for sharing the photos. Thank you Lisa and Doug, for letting us be a part of your day.

Related articles

{ Portland Wedding Venues } "Under the Radar" with the Portland Wedding Coordinator: Mazamas Lodge

{ Portland Wedding Venues } "Under the Radar" with the Portland Wedding Coordinator

Don't forget about beautiful indoor weddings in Portland

{ Under the Radar } The Exchange Ballroom and Cascade Rooftop

{ Portland Wedding Coordinator loves...} Weddings on the MAX Light Rail

Springtime and cherry blossoms means engagement photo time!

Today's warmer weather reminds me that springtime is just around the corner. For many of you who are getting married in Portland in 2012, this means engagement photos.

Image by Paul Rich via My Portland Photographer. (actually taken in Maryland, but ah well.)

Why have an engagement photo taken? This is an exciting time, and it's fun to document the transition between singlehood and marriage. The photos have lots of uses, such as holiday cards, and save the dates. I say, err on the side of taking more pictures, at more events, than not. When you look back, you'll be glad you did.

And in the most practical sense, if you do your engagement shoot with your own wedding photographer, it gives you a chance to run through what it's like to be around that person for an extended length of time in the focus of their camera lens. If, like me, you don't have professional photos taken that often and can feel somewhat awkward about it, every chance you get to spend time with the photographer and get more comfortable in the process will help you feel more at ease when it comes time on the day of your wedding.

An Oregon Garden Wedding Inspiration for a Stylish Manhattan Bride

I was so excited to be contacted by another out-of-towner this week who will be planning her Oregon summer wedding, working long-distance from Manhattan. Her big priorities are food and photography. She sent along a few photos of her intended style and I thought I would go through our past event file to put together a few photos to  convey my initial thought process for site selection and other possible details. Here goes:

All photos are from real weddings coordinated and planned by EJP Events.

Full size photos and photographer credits after the cut.

Curtis and Sarah, A Portland Wedding at Mt. Tabor Park and the Ace Hotel

We recently received these lovely pictures from David Barss, one of our favorite photographers who always without fail sends us a disk and a link after the wedding (hint, hint ;-)

Curtis and Sarah married at the Mt. Tabor Summit, a Portland Parks site. Often folks are wary of public parks sites and wonder if they are safe, if strangers will interrupt the wedding, if the facility will be clean. All I can tell you is about my experience as a coordinator, and that is, with good pre-planning, a public parks site can be a wonderful and affordable venue; and that members of the public in the overwhelming number of cases are respectful of a wedding.  I personally have not encountered any problems at the weddngs I have had in public parks sites such as Mt. Tabor, Council Crest Park, Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden, and many others.

So consider that public parks site: it may save you money which you can use at the reception!

Thanks again to David Barss Photographer for the photographs.

 

 

Related articles

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

{Destination Weddings 101} Traveling with a wedding gown

When and how do we sign our Oregon marriage license?

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!

{From the archives} A downtown Portland wedding at the World Trade Center: Celebrating Stacy & Lou

An unexpected thing happened the other day: I ran into past clients Stacy and Lou, at of all places, Chuck E. Cheese's! (yes, I was there with my child!) It is so fun to catch up with clients years later to see how they are doing.

Stacy and Lou were married in 2006, before we had our blog, but we still remember their lovely September wedding in downtown Portland at the World Trade Center. I thought I would share some of these with you. Some of our favorite touches? The ceremony music by Portland Cello Project collaborator Gideon Freudmann, accompanied by Ghanian drummer Chatta Addy; the red-and-gold color theme, and Stacy's classic style, with makeup by Event Cosmetics.

 

Many thanks to Naim Hasan for sharing the photographs.

A Columbia Gorge Wedding: Rebecca and Phil at the View Point Inn

While Portland Wedding Coordinator is far from a photoblog, we always appreciate it when we receive links to and discs of photos from photographers of weddings we have worked on. Thanks to Impression Arts / Studio 98 for posting this recent August 2009 wedding where we helped Rebecca and Phil at the View Point Inn in Corbett, OR. This Columbia Gorge wedding was a truly lovely day. Some of our favorite touches? Their chocolate-and-sage color scheme, the mini cheesecakes for each guest, and the chocolate-fabric lounge tents set up for cocktail hour and post-dinner mingling.

You can view the entire blog post and more pictures at this link.

Wedding photography packages - Making sense of it all!

Something I'm often asked by my wedding planning clients is, "How do I choose a photographer?” I often hear, “They all seem to offer different combinations of packages and services and it’s confusing."

Because photography is such an essential part of the wedding, and also a large part of the stress in initial planning, I wanted offer a quick rundown of my method for comparing apples to apples in the photography world.

I’m not going to cover artistic styles in this post. It’s of first importance to choose a photographer with whom you feel a connection, and one with whom you’ll be comfortable under their gaze the entire wedding day. But let’s assume you’ve found several photographers whose shooting style, artistic eye, and personality you really like. Now it’s time to select.

In my opinion, there are three “must-haves” to a photography package:

1.  Coverage time and personnel.

Most photographers offer packages ranging from six hours to unlimited time.  Some will add or include the rehearsal dinner and other events surrounding the wedding. You need to look at your schedule of the day to decide what exactly you want the photographer to cover.  I find that a minimum of eight hours works for many of our clients, and allows them to have the photographer from the end of getting ready time through to the toasts, cake cutting, and the first part of dancing. However, if you want more getting ready coverage, have multiple events such as related ceremonies or rituals (such as a morning Chinese tea ceremony before a afternoon Western wedding), or want to have formal photos taken at several locations, eight hours may not be enough.  Definitely look closely at your needs and timeline.

Photographers also offer additional photography staff ("second shooters").  This is different from a photographer's assistant, who carries and sets up equipment for the photographer, takes lightmeter readings, and performs other tasks, but who may not actually be taking photos. Do ask what the role of any additional staff will be. For many of our clients with elaborate events or multiple locations, a second shooter is essential in order to get the detail shots, as well as alternate angles and takes on the key moments.

Photo: Portland Wedding Photographer, Evrim Icoz

Saturday Roundup: Photography Eye Candy

Photography is one of the things clients tell us is THE most important part of the wedding.  It's also important in the planning process: by looking at pictures of weddings past, you can get ideas of what to do and not do at your own.  You can borrow decor ideas, be moved by emotions, and even check out photos of your own wedding site in action to figure out your own layout.

So I was thrilled when Joe Milton emailed me about the International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers' recent contest winners.  Many of our very own Portland photographers such as David Barss and Amy Prutch are featured as winners.  The images are amazing and inspiring.  Please do visit and look around!

 

Also, David dropped by the other night at our Bridal Loft Open House, and in addition to bringing some very special presents (gorgeous, huge, blown-up portraits of Love, June Bridal's newest gowns) and speaking during Event Cosmetics' makeup seminar, he also tipped me off to myportlandphotographer.com , another eye-candy website featuring all-local Portland and Willamette Valley photographers posting their latest greatest shots. If you are venue shopping I highly recommend it!

The Impossible Project: Bringing back Polaroid film!

Remember our post from last year lamenting the closure of Polaroid's instant film factory?  We thought that was the end of those cute little guest books, at least in the traditional format.  Well, it's so exciting to hear that a group called The Imposssible Project (love that name!) has announced:

"We aim to re-start production of analog INTEGRAL FILM for vintage Polaroid cameras in 2010. We have acquired Polaroid's old equipment, factory and seek your support."

So go to their website, and see if there's any way you can help them!  I know a lot of you are creative types, and it looks like a daunting task.  We wish them luck.

If you can't wait for 2010, then Adesso still has the original Polaroid film in stock.  And right now they have a special buy-two-get-one-free deal!