Tag: weddings

{ Local Love } Fun rehearsal dinners and small party venues in Portland

Posted on by Emee Pumarega

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Today's installment of Local Love features the amazing Dayna McErlean's sister restaurants on NE Killingsworth – DOC and Yakuza. As different as different can be, DOC is an Italian kitchen with a changing set 4- or 5- course menu each night; while Yakuza is a Japanese-izakaya-influenced lounge.

What I love about each restaurant: DOC's homey, long-tables, family-style service that makes you feel as if you walked into your Italian grandmother's kitchen, even if you don't have an Italian grandmother. What the wedding planner in me loves is the reasonable, afforable rates for buying out the restaurant on a Friday night for a rehearsal dinner.

At Yakuza, I really enjoyed the Asian fusion menu items, including a Wasabi Martini and a Pear Jalapeno sushi roll, but what really wowed me was the secret hot tub in the backyard. I think it would be so fun to rent out the restaurant for an over-the-top bridesmaids luncheon or couples shower.

McErlean also owns The Colony St. Johns for weddings and larger events, and Dash Commercial Kitchen, so within her culinary empire you have lots of interesting choices.

 

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2013 Global Wedding Study from Splendid Insights

Posted on by Emee Pumarega

Think-splendid-logo"Splendid Insights will be releasing the 2013 Global Wedding Study during first quarter 2014. In order to represent each segment as best as possible, we'd love it if you shared the survey with your clients, readers and friends! The diversity in responses helps us take a better look at the realities behind the global wedding market. As always, Splendid Insights has no financial bias hinging on the study results, so we're able to share an unfiltered look at the wedding industry…"

via www.thinksplendid.com

The lovely folks at Think Splendid are doing their part to educate us about why we make the choices that we do for weddings. If you got married in 2013, won't you please take a moment to take their research survey?  http://wedn.gs/wed13

The 25-year rule

Posted on by Emee Pumarega

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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” →

Love, June boutique line, now on Etsy

Posted on by Emee Pumarega

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Did you know that about 8 million pounds of fabric waste is not recycled and is landfilled every year? (Source, ALA Waste Recycling) “But what if you didn’t cut the fabric?” Love, June Bridal asked this question, and has now launched an ingenious wedding gown line that is eco-friendly and reduces waste.  How so?  By using natural fibers such as silk and cotton and by creating designs that don’t requireLove-june-helen-charmeuse-wedding-gown cutting the fabric, virtually eliminating fabric waste. This boutique line, as described on their Etsy profile page, “is created from only squares and rectangles”!

Sounds crazy, no? But the gowns are ethereal, feminine, sexy, and a serious departure from the typical, A-line strapless wedding gown. If you have been agonizing over stiff, shiny, scratchy, heavily beaded gowns, and saying to yourself, “this just isn’t me!” I implore you to take a look at these exotic and different designs.