It’s been a wild weather ride these past couple of weeks in Portland, Oregon. We’ve had a chilly and rainy early June, and now as we approach July, we’re hitting 100-degree temperatures. This reminds me of the summer we did a wedding at Bridal Veil Lakes for almost 200 people that took us through the full complement of sun, overcast, and finally rain late in the evening. Thankfully, the couple had made weather plans: renting scores of white golf umbrellas from Barclay Event Rentals, providing tent heaters, using the site’s two existing covered areas wisely, and checking the weather forecast regularly with the option of adding more tents if necessary.
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:
For today's EJP Events real wedding, we look back at Jeanne and Korash's celebration at Zenith Vineyards in Salem, Oregon. The couple found us by searching the web, all the way from NYC, although Korash's family is based in Salem; so a family-friendly celebration in the heart of Willamette Valley wine country fit the bill.
We loved helping Jeanne and Korash find their wedding location, their wedding photographer David Barss, choose flowers and menu options with Vibrant Table and Vibrant Flowers, and helped them select music from the Ramsey Embick Trio through Northwest Artist Management. Bright oranges met with the warm ivory tones of the venue and were used throughout the wedding, especially in the whimsical guest book table decorations that we helped assemble.
Clockwise, from top left: (click the links to go to the full awesomeness)
Maptotes. What a wonderful guest favor or hotel amenity gift for your out-of-towners! They do custom work too, just visit maptote.com
The Barr Mansion in Austin, TX – Just realizing that this May, it will be FIFTEEN YEARS that I have been at EJP Events. The thought has been at the back of my mind for a while, but stumbling across this Barr Mansion (where I coordinated my very first wedding as an independent planner) wedding on Green Wedding Shoes, really made things hit home. I am so grateful for every wedding I have had the honor of working with, and so grateful for all the many service providers who have supported me and my sometimes wacky ideas. I’ll be posting more thoughts with the hashtag #ejp15 and I invite anyone who has thoughts and memories to post with the #ejp15 on any social network — past brides especially — or, please email me and send in your memories. Photo by The Nichols via Green Wedding Shoes.
Tiny tacos. Who wouldn’t love a tiny taco! Why not try one for your wedding cocktail hour, or late night snacks, perhaps with a signature margarita? Photo via the Beverly Hills Hotel Instagram feed.
It is most definitely spring, and this Apartment Therapy post shows us some ingenious ways to bring spring into your home, and I got some great ideas for unusual ways to arrange flowers at a wedding as well!
Check out the back detail on this Anna Campbell gown, via the Everthine Bridal Instagram feed. (I just love Instagram as a place to see ideas and inspiration – it’s almost eclipsed Pinterest for me.)
And finally, the glorious colors from the Oh Joy! Collection from Target. This garden party photo shoot has colors that I just want to swim in. Joy Cho’s taste, as always, is impeccable. Photos by Laure Joliet
Early in wedding planning, even before the gown or the venue is chosen, most of you are thinking about look and feel. When you close your eyes and picture yourself entering the venue on your big day, what do you see? What flowers are you holding? What colors are surrounding you?
It's a big choice and the heart of wedding design, and it can be overwhelming. Equally confusing can be the many options you have for gathering your ideas in one place. You've probably heard about mood boards and inspiration boards, palettes and swatches, but what is what?
A mood board is the broadest tool used early on to help you determine the most general ideas about look and feel of the wedding. Not limited to actual wedding services, you might pull in photographs, videos, songs, words, and even poetry that evokes the mood you want to set for your special event. I really love the mood boards over at The Wedding and Event Institute Blog, here's one example:
An inspiration board is the next building block of creating your wedding design. Many of you may have started a Pinterest account and it's a great way to easily create inspiration out of your collected pins.
Once you have set the mood of your wedding, use an inspiration board to collect specific photographs of actual flowers, invitations, linens, stages, mandaps or huppahs, ceremony backdrop, room layout, and so on. Lots of folks interchange the terms mood board and inspiration board, but I feel like the inspiration board is a more specific tool.
An inspiration board can also be tweaked to become a story board later on – necessary for design-intensive weddings. A story board is just that: a detailed board that tells the event's story from start to finish, from the actual color scheme and entry points to the venue, to the lighting settings and tablescape. These depict final choices and elements. Most of the time, we accomplish the same thing at EJP Events by writing a detailed setup narrative, but in some cases, a story board is definitely needed.
A palette is just a selection of possible colors for the event. This is a great way to communicate to your vendors so they are all on the same page and using the correct warmth, hue, and saturation as they produce your wedding attire, linens, tablescape, and flowers. I love the palette tools over at ColourLovers:
Finally, a swatch is a sample of a design item, usually a textile/fabric that you use as a sample of the texture and color you would like to see. It is the physical version of the digital palette.
