Portland Wedding Coordinator

{ Fall Roundup } Autumnal Wedding Inspiration

Photographer: Evrim Icoz Photography  Wedding Coordinator: EJP Events

Here in Oregon we had an uncharacteristically beautiful October. Blue skies and temps in the 60s and 70s are a reminder that fall can be the perfect time to host your wedding. Here are some ways to incorporate a fall feel into your wedding.

During the summer it's best to stick to cool, refreshing cocktails but fall begs for a warmer beverage. Here is a DIY Apple Cider Cocktail from Green Wedding Shoes that is sure to wow your guests. Plus, the alcohol is added after the cider is already concocted, making this an easy one to offer as a non-alcoholic choice as well.

{ The Daily Reblog } Tips for a Disability-Friendly Wedding, from Offbeat Bride

Having a wedding is stressful enough. Add in health issues and different physical abilities, and the normal four- to eight-hour long celebration can prove to be a real strain. That's why I'm so glad I stumbled across this blog post from Offbeat Bride that gives some great pointers to think about, from the bride's point of view.

We also have a post from a while back, about checking for accessibility issues at your wedding venue, so all of your guests can enjoy the festivities. You'll find it here: Accessibility in a Wedding Venue

Are you making any specific accommodations for yourself or your guests at your wedding? How did you get what you needed from your venue or vendors? Please share in the comments.

Related articles

Creating your own wedding ceremony | Offbeat Bride

{ The Daily Reblog } Finding a Sustainable Caterer in Portland

{The Daily Re-blog} Unique Wedding Transportation Options

10 Reasons Why No One Can Top A "Princess Bride" Wedding

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

The sweet and lovely, vintage wedding look is still a big hit with weddings in Portland. I was looking back through the files (sooo many un-blogged weddings!) and I thought I'd share some of this wonderful wedding, which was also featured on Style Me Pretty. My favorite part about this wedding was that the bride and groom got to put their mark on so many aspects by DIY'ing almost everything -- before the event.

But the day of the event (actually, starting months before), they had turned all the goodies over to us to place and style. We loved helping them (and I got to drive a huge U-Haul)! Except for the first photo, photos by Daniel Stark via Style Me Pretty.

 

Related articles

DIY Rustic Vintage Wedding

{The Daily Reblog} Fun Wedding Reception Ideas via Bridal Guide Magazine

My Portland Photographer - a valuable resource for finding quality wedding photography

A Vintage Destination Wedding at The Whalehead Club in Corolla, NC

Favorite wedding gown picks for 2013

Designer: Badgley Mischka

I've really been loving the instantaneous, up-to-the-minute info about my favorite topics that I can get through Instagram. I combed through over 5,000 Instagram photos tagged "#bridalmarket" that covered the recent New York City Bridal Market fashion shows, so you wouldn't have to. Here are my favorite wedding gown designs and trends for the upcoming season, linked to the user who took them.

Designer: Claire Pettibone . Soft drapey ribbons, gorgeous!

Designer: Jenny Packham (I'm seeing a little Downton Abbey here, yes?)

Designer: Ines di Santo. Definitely not a boring ballgown.

Designer: Elizabeth Fillmore. Everyone was talking about the Art Deco-esque butterfly.


Designer: Elizabeth Fillmore


Designer: Claire Pettibone. Both this style and the last showed off the drapey, flowing embellishment trend.

Designer: Elizabeth Fillmore (Sorry, couldn't find the Instagrammer! If this is yours, please email me and I'll add your credit.)

What do you think? You love? Or is there a gown you are just dying over and want to share? Leave us links and info in the comments.

Want to look at all the #bridalmarket goodness? Hit this link on Statigram (a web viewer for Instagram photos). And here's my Statigram feed: http://statigr.am/ejpevents

Related articles

All the Details on Anne Hathaway's Fairy-Tale Wedding Gown!

The hottest day of the year...

A little sunshine on a cloudy day {Portland Indian Wedding by JOS Photographers)

Claire Pettibone Spring 2013 Bridal Collection

Wedding Dress Inspiration: Claire Pettibone

Go Ahead and Imagine Kate Middleton in All These Jenny Packham Dresses

Idea of the day - LED light letters

Happy October! We are lucky in Portland that summer still seems to be holding on, in the afternoons at least. Makes me want to blog all the past warm-weather goodness from the last few months! One great idea we saw at a September wedding we coordinated, was a "BAR" backdrop sign designed by René Steelman of RK Steelman Events and Interiors (also mother of the groom!). It's always so flattering when event pros themselves hire us.

I loved this idea to create a "name in lights" using battery-operated LED tealights. No cords needed! René chose chevron fabric and pink rickrack which she mounted to a board. Then added embellishments like tiny mirrors with more tealights, pink flowers in test tubes, and of course, the letters. More pictures from this fun wedding are on our Facebook page.

Hope this gets your creative juices flowing - do let me know if you've seen or heard any great design ideas at weddings in Portland or beyond; email me at The Portland Wedding Coordinator or comment below.

Like this idea? Feel free to share or repin using the buttons below as well.

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.

Don't forget about beautiful indoor weddings in Portland

Today's gorgeous March weather reminds us we are moving closer and closer to summer wedding season. Outdoor weddings and ceremonies are always big in Portland and throughout Oregon. But for various reasons, not everyone wants an outdoor wedding. Perhaps they're looking for a more formal design. Perhaps they want dancing and a huge band until midnight, which would get you in trouble with the neighbors (and the law) at an outdoor wedding. So this week's post is dedicated to a short roundup of some gorgeous indoor wedding locations in Portland.

All weddings coordinated by EJP Events.

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.

{Sunday Roundup} 5 Sites to Help You With Your Wedding Color Scheme

Image: The Perfect Palette Blog.

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. Kuler - Adobe Inc.'s Kuler 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". All boards are public, so you can search the site for your desired color scheme or idea and re-pin other folks' images to your boards. All of the above tools can be used in some way along with Pinterest.

Similar to Gmail and Spotify in the past, getting a Pinterest account might involve a bit of a wait for an invite. For you wonderful readers of The Portland Wedding Coordinator Blog, I'm offering up my next 4 Pinterest invites. Just share this post, then comment and let me know where you shared it (Facebook, Twitter, G+, Tumblr or whereever!) and I'll send you a Pinterest invite. Please make sure to include your email (which won't be publicly shown) in the comment field where asked.

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

Are you killing off your wedding vision before it even happens?

Image: Bufferchuck on Flickr.

"We really want an open bar, but we probably can't afford it."

"I love the idea of live music, but it probably won't work in our venue."

"We really pictured guests walking with us from ceremony to reception, but it seems like logistically it would be too hard."

The above statements are just a few I've heard this week from my couples just starting their planning. Notice anything? They are self-editing before they've even begun planning. They are killing off their wedding vision even before it has had a chance to stretch out and take its first breath.

It's sad to me when I see couples assuming that they can't have what they want, that it will be too hard, that they should just settle for the venue or setup that will be easy, so they can stop worrying. Later they'll look back and wish they had just held out for those few things they really wanted that would make the day special and worthwhile to them. In addition, those special touches (which might seem a lot of work at the time) will be their first statement as a married couple.

So, don't self-edit. Don't give up. If you have an amazing idea, get it down on paper. Pin it on Pinterest. Talk to a wedding professional who may have seen something just like it before and can help you get there. Do something -- just don't let it die before you give it a chance to be part of your wedding day.