Emee Pumarega, Author at EJP Events

There’s no such thing as “just” when it comes to Wedding Day Coordination

Posted on 6 May, 20157 April, 2022 by Emee Pumarega

I get a lot of requests for Wedding Day Coordination that begin: “We just want someone that can keep everything running smoothly, keep the flow going and keep us on schedule.”

Let’s break this down, then:

Keep us on schedule.

What goes into a schedule? And how will your coordinator know what it is? A wedding day coordinator will normally put in 20-30 hours of advance preparation before appearing at your wedding. This includes collecting and reviewing all of your contracts to ensure understanding of everything you have arranged and what you are entitled to; review of your wedding design, venue, and vendor policies; understanding you and your families’ preferences and decisions about what you want to achieve on the day; and speaking personally with all vendors to reconfirm arrangements. Often the coordinator will condense this information into an timeline event plan. Twenty to thirty hours. And that’s just pre-event.

Keep the flow going.

What is “flow” when it comes to a wedding, anyway? I interpret it as that magical mix of timing and logistics that makes your wedding feel joyful and unplanned, while at the same time using every moment allotted to you by the venue and your vendors to the best possible advantage.

How does flow happen? Well, it doesn’t “just” happen. A coordinator keeps the flow going by being present throughout the day and nudging things along according to what’s been agreed to and what current conditions may be affecting the flow of the day.

Keep everything running smoothly.

On the day of the event, in order to keep everything running smoothly, a wedding planner may have to deal with a multitude of issues behind the scenes. Here are the most common ones:

prep time, especially hair and makeup, not going as scheduled
transportation and parking woes
decor issues: wrong color, wrong piece or fit
missing items and going back for them
lateness of vendors or bridal party

Of course, a good wedding coordinator is going to prevent most of these from happening by doing some detailed research, outreach to vendors, and prep work well before the day-of.

Even if everything goes 100% perfectly (and the reality is, it doesn’t) a wedding day coordinator still must be constantly available to act as a surrogate host, direction-giver, traffic controller, scheduler, and people-mover. They must be on site well before you or any guests or vendors arrive, and stay on site long after everyone has departed. These duties will take 12-16 hours to complete on the wedding day itself. Not to mention 1-2 hours of rehearsal time explaining the procedures to the wedding party and family; and the little post-rehearsal errands that always seem to come up.

In sum, while your wedding day planner’s job is to “just keep the flow going and keep everything on schedule”, in order to do that, they and their staff must put in upwards of 48+ solid hours of work, both on- and off-site, that results in your well-run wedding day.

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

Posted on 7 April, 201512 April, 2018 by Emee Pumarega

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.

{Destination Weddings 101} Traveling with a wedding gown

Posted on 21 February, 201512 April, 2018 by Emee Pumarega

Photo by Ewen Roberts

Although the bulk of outdoor Oregon weddings have not yet begun, winter lovebirds are still heading out to beachy climates to get married. The question of how to pack your wedding gown comes up a lot!

Always check with your airline first for specific packing restrictions. Here are some tips from one of our gown specialists:

"You will not be able to use the standard length bridal gown bag as carry on luggage. It is too long, and too easily torn. Place your gown inside an FAA-approved garment bag instead. For instance, US Airways states that wedding gowns must be in garment bags no longer than 54" long. You are then expected to fold that bag in half to fit it into the overhead compartment. If you are lucky, the flight attendant might allow you to hang the garment bag in the first class closet (cross your fingers that your flight attendant has a soft spot for brides). But don't count on it.

It is not only your wedding gown that you should make plans for – your accessories are also very important. Pack your shoes, headpiece/veil/or tiara, and other accoutrements into a carry-on bag. With all the limitations these days, you may have to ask your partner to take your bag as their one carry-on item (remember, you also have the garment bag). Another option is to pack your gown and accessories together into one carry-on bag. I know it is terrible to think of cramming your beloved dress into a tiny bag, but you will need to have it professionally pressed when you arrive at your destination anyway. Be sure to keep your wedding jewelry in your purse."

If you have a wedding planner or coordinator, you could ask them to make arrangements to have your gown pressed or steamed (the seamstress will look at each item's fabric type, and decide the best way). In Portland, we do this through our partners at The Bridal Loft. If you are heading straight to your wedding location from the airport, your destination wedding planner or coordinator should offer the service of meeting you on your arrival day at the airport and getting the bridal gown, bridesmaids gowns, tuxedos or suits from you at that time and taking them to be pressed or steamed.

When and how do we sign our Oregon marriage license?

Posted on 20 February, 201512 April, 2018 by Emee Pumarega

via awesomethingsaregoodforyou.tumblr.com

Here's a question I get asked quite a bit: when and how do you sign the marriage license? I've seen it done a number of ways.

(First though, make sure you go in person to the county office and pick up your marriage license within 3 and 60 days before the wedding! You can start the process online in Multnomah County, but you both still must go in person to pick it up, with valid ID. More about that here.)

You will have given the county clerk $60 and your personal information, and signed your names to a triplicate form. The license is then given to you to wait until the day of the wedding when your witnesses will print their names, your officiant will sign it and add his or her contact information, and make the license legally binding.

There's also a commemorative license. This is the "pretty" certificate that is included along with your marriage license, and you will want to also have your witnesses, officiant, and yourselves sign this too. It's just for looks though, and is NOT proof of legal marriage. (It is fun to get your witnesses and officiant to sign that one too, and to flash it on your honeymoon, in hopes of getting freebies 🙂

So, again, when does all this happen? If you don't mind not having the photographer there, you can cheat a little and get it out of the way by signing everything the night before the wedding. Usually your officiant and witnesses are present at the rehearsal dinner, so this makes things really easy. This is a little unorthodox though, since you are technically now married the day before the wedding. However, it does make for one less thing to worry about on the day of.

The next option is to pre-fill out all the paperwork and witness names, and let the officiant sign on the day of. This way you are still officially executing the document on the actual day of your wedding, but it still cuts down on the paperwork and poring-over-fine-print part.

The final option is still the most traditional; gather your 2 adult witnesses and officiant on the day of the wedding, either right before you walk down the aisle in the dressing room, or right after, and do the form filling and formal signing with your photographer present. Just make sure to decide where in the schedule this will fall, and that the witnesses know, and pick a good location with a table and light where all this can take place. With the triplicate form and the commemorative license, it can amount to about 10-15 minutes of careful paperwork and can take up to 20-25 minutes out of the wedding day schedule.

And that's it! Just make sure that your officiant does MAIL the license back to the county within the following week. That final step ensures that your marriage is recorded by the government and you can have your happily ever after recognized in the eyes of the law as well as your family and friends.

{ Portland Wedding Venues } Planner’s Roundup – 5 sites that allow outside catering

Posted on 26 January, 201512 April, 2018 by Emee Pumarega

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 Red Rose Ballroom – We've recently done several weddings at this very sweet space on NE Alberta St with great results. This vintage 1920's ballroom can hold up to 200 guests at round tables and features gorgeous finished hardwood floors to dance the night away, a stage for your DJ or band, a built-in bar, and a sound system. There's even a mezzanine level for guests to use during cocktails or just for relaxing and watching the party.

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:

Also if you found this helpful, please Like, Share, Comment, Plus or do whatever you do! Happy Monday!

originally posted December 2013, updated January 25, 2015

{ Local Love } Two fun open houses – Event Cosmetics, Geranium Lake, Dec. 11, 2014

Posted on 9 December, 201412 April, 2018 by Emee Pumarega

We were invited to two fun holiday open houses by a couple of our favorite vendors, and we just have to share! Geranium Lake Flowers is hosting a cookie exchange party and 20% off sale, while Event Cosmetics will be doing a "Party in the Penthouse" at their Da:Da Salon location. Both events are this Thursday, December 11th. Click the pictures above for exact details!

Holiday open houses are great ways to check out potential vendors for your wedding and get a little shopping done at the same time. Hope you enjoy!

Author: Emee Pumarega

There’s no such thing as “just” when it comes to Wedding Day Coordination

{ 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?

{ Portland Wedding Venues } Planner’s Roundup – 5 sites that allow outside catering

{ Local Love } Two fun open houses – Event Cosmetics, Geranium Lake, Dec. 11, 2014

Recent Posts

Archive

Categories

Recent Posts

Archive

Categories

Tags