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.
Erika and Lionel came up to Portland from sunny LA to have a subtly-Hello Kitty-themed wedding at the The Grotto with reception at The Nines Hotel. As soon as she said "Hello Kitty" you know I was already SO THERE for everything. I was also super excited to help them combine Erika's Mexican cultural and family traditions with Lionel's Filipino heritage. Some of these traditions were expressed in the traditional Filipino Catholic ceremony, complete with veil, cord, and coins ceremonies; and in having a cumbia band at the reception. All in all, it was an exciting, whirlwind day with lots of love, great food, and dancing; and we were so lucky to be there to help with it.
If you are looking to deck out a candy bar, stuff scrumptious sweets into guest bags, or just take a break from planning and treat yourself, make sure to check out Quin Candy. All of their candy is made in-house and the ingredients are sourced locally when possible. They have an array of caramels, lollipops, and chews with unique and delicious flavor profiles like maple and cracked pepper caramels and smoked cola gumdrops. Their Best of Oregon Caramels are crafted with Oregon grown hazelnuts, local honey, and salt from the coast. You can visit their store on SW Stark or find these treats in shops around town. If you don't live in Portland you can also order these confections online. Just make sure to get enough to share!
If you are looking for some great ways to save money during the wedding planning process, look no further. Here are a couple of deals from some of our favorite local vendors.
Vibrant Table is offering two deals to new bookings. If you decide to use Vibrant Table as your caterer they will include a complimentary champagne toast or they will provide their Loft on Belmont for the rehearsal dinner.
One of our favorite Lake Oswego venues, The Foundry at Oswego Pointe, is currently offering a 20% discount for all remaining 2014 dates! Here's a photo from a wedding ceremony we did recently there:
If you haven't decided on your venue or caterer yet, make sure to keep these deals in mind! We're always finding out about more of these for our wedding clients, so bookmark us and check back soon; or contact us at [email protected].
It's certianly not hard to love Andina, but many people are not aware that they offer a private dining option Tupai, as well. This is a great location to be able to enjoy amazing food in a beautiful setting for your next event.
Tupai set for a seated reception
"They offer a variety of rooms that would be great for bachelor/bachelorette dinners, showers, rehearsal dinners and receptions. Their dedicated special events team is committed to tailoring every aspect of each event, weaving together spectacular fare, extraordinary cocktails and an award-winning wine program, to ensure that every experience is memorable beyond compare. They offer a variety of menus and packages that will allow guests to take pleasure in the cuisine and hospitality for which Andina is renowned. Andina is also a great option for those looking to add a little destination element to an otherwise local wedding!"
Tupai is their largest event space, with room for up to 65 guests at a seated dinner and 100 guests for a standing cocktail reception.
"Tupai is located above Andina and offers a full bar and kitchen, mezzanine space for live music, natural light and wooden beams. The menu will feature Andina’s NovoAndean cuisine, which combines traditional flavors and ingredients native to Peru with a global reach that draws from Spanish, Japanese and Cantonese culinary influences. Dishes are prepared using modern technique and presented with finesse and flair. The full bar will deliver both Andina’s classic and NovoAndean cocktails – from the Pisco Sour and Caipirinha to the Sacsayhuamán and Margarita de Manzanita. Wines may be chosen from Andina’s award-winning list with the help of wine director Caryn Benke."
Wedding Reception at Tupai
If you haven't tried Andina yet make sure to go; and keep Tupai in mind for your next event!
From Emee: It's so very easy to blog about what's going on around town in the world of Portland weddings -- however, I'm making more of an effort to go back and blog our own weddings that we have coordinated and planned in the past, under the tagline { Real Weddings }. Some will be little snippets, some will be full features -- but my goal by the end of this year, is for our { Real Weddings } tag to be as helpful to Portland couples as possible, full of as many real venue and wedding ideas, and providing inspiration and information to all.
In honor of St. Patrick's day, today's little glimpse is one of our favorite weddings that we coordinated at Bridal Veil Lakes. This Columbia River Gorge wedding included a Celtic handfasting ceremony to reflect the groom's Irish heritage, AND Filipino traditions to reflect the bride's. TOO AWESOME.
In the Filipino tradition, the ceremony often involves many extended family members called sponsors, and three important rites are used:
An exchange of thirteen coins representing the promise of the couple to support and provide for one another and the family.
A veil, historically symbolizing being clothed in the love of Christ, but in non-denominational weddings, more often interpreted as a symbol of the couple's home and safe haven in each other.
A cord, wrapped around the couple's shoulders, to symbolize the strong bond between the married couple.
If you are looking for a local distillery for your event, wedding, bachelor/bachelorette, favors, etc., then look no further. Eastside Distilling has a great selection of spirits for any occassion. Their helpful staff can assist you in finding just the right booze to choose for your next party. Not only that, they have a fabulous tasting room that is perfect for sampling everything they have to offer!
"Eastside Distilling has been producing handcrafted spirits in Portland’s Distillery Row since our founding in 2009. All of our unique products are produced locally from natural ingredients in small batches for unparalleled quality and taste."
For so many couples, the food is the THE most important part of the wedding celebration. I often hear from them: "The food HAS to be good"..."We like the Portland food scene and want to integrate it into our wedding"..."We want to give our guests a taste of Portland and the Pacific Northwest". Often, they already have a caterer in mind when they start their venue search, and are challenged when they keep running into venues that have strict exclusive lists.
That got me to thinking. What Portland wedding and event venues allow outside catering? Here are just a few. Know any others? Please share in the comments below!
The Eliot Center - The Eliot Center is the "fellowship hall" aspect of the downtown First Unitarian Church. Not only are they able to seat up to 160 in their conference center for a reception, the adjoining Historic Eliot Chapel can seat up to 250 in a beautiful, elegant chapel setting for a wedding ceremony. They allow self-catering, outside caterers, and alcohol service in accordance with their policies.
Multnomah Arts Center - Located in SW Portland just a few minutes from downtown, the MAC is a Portland Parks and Recreation community center venue with a large auditorium and stage for indoor wedding ceremonies that can be changed over to a reception during a cocktail hour. Mingle areas include a dance studio and an outdoor plaza, which can also be used for ceremonies. All rental rooms, including the auditorium stage, and bathrooms are ADA-accessible and air-conditioned. In addition, most spaces have free Wi-Fi access.
The Glenn and Viola Walters Arts and Cultural Center is near and dear to our hearts, as one of our favorite recent weddings just took place there. The site features a large auditorium for ceremony and reception, downstairs classrooms to use as changing areas, a ground-floor lobby and an upstairs art gallery where guests can mingle during a room changeover. The kitchen facility is well-appointed and convenient for self-catering or your own caterer. The outdoor plaza can also be used for ceremonies.
The Laurelhurst Club - A 100-year-old property adjoining Laurelhurst park in SE Portland, this venue features an historic ballroom, mezzanine bar, kitchen facilities, bride's and grooms rooms, and outdoor ceremony lawn.
NW Events & Environments - By far the largest open catering venue we have seen, NW Events & Environments can accommodate 650 in a banquet setting and over 1000 if using multiple rooms in a reception-style flow. They do not allow outside alcohol, and kitchen facilities may have limitations.
Thanks for reading - if you found this post about Portland wedding and event venues helpful, you might also like:
This time of year, we're fielding tons of inquiries, cleaning up the blog, receiving happy emails from brides with links to their summer wedding photos. I was just going through some photo files and couldn't believe I'd overlooked blogging Mindy and Ashish's garba (Gujarati-style dance party) and wedding weekend from a few years ago.
The garba was held at the downtown Hilton Portland and catered by East India Company. I worked with Royce's Prop Shop and the bride, who had brought back a ton of gorgeous sari fabric that she wanted to use around the room. Royce and I came up with the idea of draping the saris over T-bar posts, and using uplighting for a festive effect:
Unique escort cards can add a special touch to your wedding, so here are some great ideas that are sure to grab your guests' attention. Escort cards are a nice way to set the tone for dinner and can even become a favor for your guests to take home!
Using vintage keys are a wonderful way to make your guests excited to find their name. This is one that can double as a wedding favor that guests are sure to keep.
