Category: Wedding Planning

Win an Engagement Session for your wedding from Kim + Phil and Style Unveiled

Posted on by Emee Pumarega

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 Willamette Week: Win a Space-Themed Wedding at the Space Room Lounge

Posted on by Emee Pumarega

We loved this little blurb in Willamette Week about the Space Room Lounge’s contest to give away a free wedding:

MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN: The Space Room, the Hawthorne Boulevard Stumble Zone’s recently remodeled shrine to drunken retro-futurism, is giving away a wedding at the bar, including a licensed officiate, photography, invitations and free appetizers for up to 50 guests, to the couple who write the best 200-word essay on why they want a space-themed wedding. Even at recession wedding prices, this deal’s probably worth $5,000. The deadline to enter is Sunday, Nov. 15. Spaceroomlounge.com/wedding-contest

via wweek.com

We checked out the website, and if you win, you’d have to use the prize and get married by March 2010.  For the right Portland couple, this might be perfect! Are you thinking of entering? Tell us!

Would you do this in real life? {Wedding Planning Philosophies}

Posted on by Emee Pumarega

As Rebecca Mead says in her book One Perfect Day: "How we marry is who we are." (Did I, a wedding planner, really just quote this book? I read it recently — review to come soon!)

The biggest wedding planning regrets have to do with when we let how-we-marry get too far away from who-we-are.

If wedding option overwhelm is starting to get to you, I propose another simple test, similar to last week's 25-year-plan:

A wedding day should be made up of: you at your best and most authentic, promises to keep for a lifetime, and the first party you'll host (or co-host with family) as spouses. So ask yourself as you make your wedding planning decisions: "Is this something I would do (or enjoy) in real life?"

If you can't answer yes to this question, there's a problem.

Continue reading “Would you do this in real life? {Wedding Planning Philosophies}” →

The 25-year rule

Posted on by Emee Pumarega

25-years-from-now-older-couple-wedding-marriage

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kayugee/CC BY-ND 2.0

As we get into the early part of the wedding planning process for many of this year’s upcoming clients, we often hear the question:

“Do I really need to…(insert X, Y, or Z element here)?” This may relate to a a vendor decision (to have a videographer or not?) or a tradition decision (to see each other before the wedding ceremony or not), or maybe a design decision (to rent those chivari chairs or not).

Thing is, no wedding planner or magazine or blog can truly help you answer these dilemmas until you’ve explored your own feelings. One method I recommend is what I’ve been calling the “25-year rule“. How will you feel about this decision 25 years from now? When you look back at your wedding album, when you celebrate your silver anniversary, will you say to yourself, “I wish I had ____________, after all”?

Continue reading “The 25-year rule” →

Event Planning, Wedding Planning, and High School Job Shadows

Posted on by Emee Pumarega

At this time of year, I also get a lot of calls from high schoolers desiring job shadows. I think this is a great idea and can be a worthwhile experience for the student, but for a busy planner it can almost be overwhelming to try and convey the concept of who we are and what we do in a one-day experience, which is what a lot of students are asking for. I even have schools asking for a one-hour job shadow. Unfortunately, it would take ten times the amount of hours to prepare a useful curriculum, than what the student and I would actually spend together, based on what schools and students are asking.  So I usually decline.

One thing that I think would make high school job shadows more appealing to event planners would be if, rather than a one-hour or one-day event, students would treat their job shadow just as importantly as a varsity sport or other extracurricular activity such as Debate, Math Club, etc., and plan on signing up for at least a 90-day experience, perhaps with four to ten hours per week spent on working for their job mentor.  This way, both the student and the mentor can benefit from the experience.  And event planners would be more likely to accept more students.