WeddingWire Newlywed Report Exposes Some Harsh Truths About Planning

I was just glancing through the 2017 WeddingWire Newlywed Report – a market research report where recently-wed couples are polled for data. A couple of items really stood out to me:

  • 40% of couples underestimate their wedding budget. This means almost half of people planning a wedding have a picture in their head of their wedding, but an incorrect estimation of what it will cost. To me, this is a recipe for heartache and stress, and could be easily solved if instead of picking a venue or a design vision first, couples first took their budget and evaluated it line by line to find exactly how each item should be allocated. (This is something we do in our very first meeting with clients.)
  • 50% of weddings occur on just 22 dates of the year which are all Saturdays. This means that, for example, if you take the approximately 16,000 weddings that occur in Oregon each year, about 8,000 of them are vying for venues on the same 22 Saturdays. It seems like it would help to have an organized planner on your side to help you find the perfect location. (We have venue sourcing services that range in price, so get in touch!)

Wedding-wire-market-research

 

Hope you find the report as interesting as I did, and that it helps you in your planning!  — Emee

Continue reading “WeddingWire Newlywed Report Exposes Some Harsh Truths About Planning”

Nesting: A Spring Cleaning / Gown Preservation Open House

We are heading back to our old digs at The Creative Loft (formerly known as The Bridal Loft) for a special open house for past clients! Come drop off your wedding gown for cleaning, and enjoy light snacks, champagne, while browsing “Spring Cleaning” info that we’ll have on hand from all kinds of helpful home services such as housecleaners, handymen, personal chefs, home organizing, Realtors, and mortgage lending.

Get your gown cleaned and get items checked off your to-do list! No appointment necessary, just stop by Sunday, March 5, 2017 between noon and 4pm.

Gown-cleaning-preservation-portland-oregon

Sunday, March 5, 2017

12 noon – 4pm

2808 NE ML King Jr Blvd, Suite #3 Portland Oregon 97212

Questions? Please email admin@ejpevents.com or phone (503) 284-6756

Continue reading “Nesting: A Spring Cleaning / Gown Preservation Open House”

{ Real Weddings } Thalia and Conor at the World Forestry Center

Today’s EJP Events real wedding comes to you courtesy of Thalia and Conor, who we worked with last summer on their lovely wedding at the World Forestry Center. The WFC is such a great venue because there are so many choices for catering, and there are both outdoor and indoor wedding locations. For Thalia and Conor’s wedding, they chose the tented outdoor plaza for the ceremony, followed by a cocktail hour inside Cheatham Hall. During this time, our team changed the tent setup from ceremony to reception. Finally, they and their almost 200 guests headed back to the tent for a seated buffet dinner with a dance area in the center.

Wedding-world-forestry-center-ceremonycourtesy Fritz Photo

While the guests went in for cocktails, the EJP Events team worked quickly to move ceremony decorations for reuse as reception centerpieces; remove tent dividers and bring out tables, move ceremony chairs around the dining tables; and set placesettings and favors.

FritzPhoto-Huseby-404

courtesy Fritz Photo

wedding-catering-food-in-bloom

The catering from Food In Bloom received rave reviews from the guests.

Thank you, Conor and Thalia, and to your families, for having us as part of your wedding day!

Thalia-conor-world-forestry-center-wedding

Menswear, tuxedos, and formalwear for your Portland wedding {Vendor Spotlight}

It seems like it can be hard to find the local flavor when looking for menswear and formalwear in Portland. Many wedding clients get steered towards giant warehouse-type stores and I know I’m not the only one wondering where you can get personal service.

Tuxedos-for-rental-and-purchase

Este’s Menswear in Northwest Portland is stepping up to the plate and offering an excellent wedding and formal wear line that includes rental tuxedos and suits. I stopped by to visit with Kelsey and Tony recently, to see what they had to offer. It is a neat little shop that reminded me a lot of the J. Press in New Haven where I went to school.

Este’s is carrying a wide variety of popular tuxedo lines, including Joseph Abboud, Oscar de la Renta, Perry Ellis, After Six, Jean Yves, and Chaps Ralph Lauren.

A few thoughts:
-They recommend coming in as early as possible to start the selection process, at the least 1 month before the wedding to give enough time for rental and alteration.

-In addition to the formal tuxes, Este’s also has suits for rent. Colors include mostly grays and navys, but brown or seersucker are possibilities.

-Grooms can get formalwear selection advice. Tony has 30+ years experience in men’s attire and is happy to assist in decision making, especially with regards to formality level, black tie vs. white tie, what colors are appropriate for what time of day, and all kinds of other questions one might have.

-Finally, Este’s offers a service-oriented experience with local flavor for the men that equals what women are used to. Men can relax in the “club room” that includes a traditional barber shop. Go ahead and have a beer, enjoy the massage chair, watch sports, get a haircut or even a straight razor shave. Sounds like a great atmosphere for the guys!

Store info:
Este’s Men’s Clothing
1633 NW Glisan
Portland, OR 97209
503-227-0275

{ Front Row Fashion } A Novel Romance: Elizabeth Dye / The English Dept. Runway Report

Sunday, I attended A Novel Romance, the spring presentation from Elizabeth Dye’s bridal salon, The English Dept. Established in 2005, her shop is a can’t-miss stop for local and destination-Portland brides looking for sweet, offbeat dresses. Here are a few of my favorites from the show (no laughing! I’m a coordinator, not a photographer):

Click any image for a larger version.

    Nicole-miller-stretch-silk-gown
1. Nicole Miller, 2. Nicole Miller.

English-dept-fashion-show    Ivy-aster-anemone-gown
3. Not known, 4. “Anemone” by Ivy & Aster.

 

Portland-wedding-miss-bianca    The-english-dept-miss-bianca
5. “Miss Bianca” by Elizabeth Dye.
My sideview photo doesn’t do it justice, so I’m including a catalogue photo, 6., above, from Wedding Inspirasi.

 

Jenny-yoo-poetry    Love-yu-poppy-tulle-gown
7. “Poetry”, Jenny Yoo  8. “Poppy”, Love Yu.
The tulle netting overlay on “Poppy” was soft, touchable,
and draped wonderfully.
And I loved the little chartreuse flower added on to the Jenny Yoo gown.

 

Two-if-by-sea-elizabeth-dye-gownThe show closed with this cloud-blue, one-of-a-kind creation by Elizabeth Dye, “Two if By Sea” (above).

Although I must say my personal favorites were these two sweet dresses, “Romy” by Jenny Yoo; and “Sweet Pea” by Ivy & Aster (below).

Portland-wedding-gown-romy    Sweet-pea-ivy-aster-side
10. “Romy”, Jenny Yoo; 11. “Sweet Pea”, Ivy & Aster.
“Sweet Pea” has a wonderful swiss-dot textured overlay (click to enlarge).

Not only are these designs darling and perfect for an Oregon wedding, they both have pockets. This appeals to my practical-coordinator side (what bride wants to carry a clutch everywhere on her wedding day just to have lip gloss and dusting papers close at hand?) as well as my fandom side (if you’re familiar with my favorite TV wedding ever, you know why a wedding gown has GOT to have pockets).

Many more photos of these gowns are available at The English Dept.’s website and this post from Squirrel and Starling.

Know of any other great local Portland wedding gown fashion shows or trunk shows? Send me an email.