Evrim Icoz, a Portland-based photographer, just sent us a few wonderful photos of a wedding we coordinated this past September at Kruger Farm on Sauvie Island. Here are a couple of our favorites:
View the entire blog post over at Evrim's blog here.
Sometimes we meet with clients interested in wedding day coordination, and then don’t hear from them again. We always wonder if they decided to work with a coordinator and how their weddings went. Most of the time we never find out, but recently we were talking with a caterer friend of ours who mentioned a bride’s name we recognized.
When we asked how the wedding went, they began with a weary, “Well….” and proceeded to tell the tale of a timeline gone way off track. After the ceremony, the bride and groom were taken for several hours of photographs, while the guests ate and drank. The bride and groom stopped to cut their cake and dance at 9pm, then departed. The guests basically never saw them during the wedding.
It seems impossible, and yet it happened because no one was watching the timeline. When I asked the caterer if any guests said anything, she said, “Oh, of course! The guests were very upset to have traveled all that way for nothing. But I was just responsible for the food.” Evidently, the photographer had no vested interest in making sure the timeline moved along, as that person was concentrating on taking lots of pictures. As long as they got their shot of the cake and the dance, they were happy. But the guests were not, and surely when the bride and groom look back years from now, they won’t be happy either.
So who’s watching your timeline? The caterer? The photographer? The guests? Make sure you have a designated party who knows how you would like the day to flow, and who isn’t just focused on their one aspect of the wedding — someone who wants the entire day to go well, just like you.
We love Austin–it’s no secret that we love to get away there when Portland skies turn rainy and gray. Maybe because it’s like looking at Portland through a lens where fir trees are turned to live oaks, the Willamette is Town Lake (I guess it’s Lady Bird Lake now!), and spotted owls become salamanders. One thing the two towns have in common is a signature, independent style, which you can see in all the locally-owned shops and boutiques.
There are too many of these to even hope I could make a comprehensive list, but I’ll at least try to shout out a few of my faves: By George, Parts & Labour, Strut, Blackmail, Envie, and Fetish. Great finds for wedding or engagement party stuff, bridesmaid stuff, gifts, or just when you need to look fab in general!
Photo: Envie Boutique
Recently, at summer’s end, we had the pleasure of hanging out with the crew from Hybrid Moon for a little get-together at PGE Park. Also there were our friends Holly from Hitched Weddings and Events, Monica from Divine Designs, Jill from The Sidewalk Studio, and Eric from All Wright Music.
We were enjoying the warm weather (sigh — it seems so long ago), a few hot dogs and brews, and supporting our Portland Beavs as they were being trounced by the Tacoma Rainiers, when suddenly, all the lights in the ballpark went out. I could see the MAX train going by up on the hill, and it stopped as well. All the streetlights were out too.
I had the opportunity to visit with a catering company owner at a fall tasting and open house the other day, and we started chatting about the popular requests for locally sourced food items on wedding menus.
So why not booze? I've noticed many wedding bars stocked with Grey Goose, Absolut, Maker's Mark, and the like… all very well and good, but with all the amazing distilleries we have right here in the Portland area, why miss this opportunity?
Here's a list of local distilleries just to get you started, I'm sure there are more. If you think of one that I haven't mentioned, please add it to the comments!