Vendor Guide {Columbia River Gorge}

With the wedding quickly approaching, we have all our vendors solidified. It feels good to have everything set! Here are the vendors we'll be using. If you are getting married in the Columbia River Gorge area, I would highly recommend any of these people/companies...I did the research, so you don't have to :-) Welcome party location: Springhouse Cellar Winery - My fiancé and I love this place because they serve great, local wines and beers and the space is large enough for all the guests we wanted to invite. It also has the cool, laid-back vibe we wanted for the night before.

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Welcome party catering (they have a mobile brick oven!): Solstice Wood Fire Café

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Photographer: Sean Morrison

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Hair and makeup: Patricia of Foils Salon and Day Spa

Wedding venue, ceremony and reception: Mount Hood B&B

Sources:top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right

Day-of coordinator: Betheny Roberts of Mt. Hood B&B - She is technically 'day-of,' but has been so helpful answering all of my questions leading up to the wedding.

Florist: Lucy's Informal Flowers

Wedding catering: Boda's Kitchen

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DJ: Gavin Bruhn, The Aussie DJ 

Transportation: First Student

Invitation design: Kimberly Roth, Bright Room Studio

Wedding website: http://weduary.com

Wedding dress: Encore Bridal, San Francisco - new and nearly-new bridal dresses.

Dress alterations: Fichu, San Francisco

Groomsmen Suits: J.Crew Factory

Floral Alternatives

When we first starting putting our wedding budget together, something occurred to me that was a little surprising. I decided that I didn't want cut flowers. Now don't get me wrong, I think a lot of wedding florals are gorrrrgeous, but for a couple reasons I just didn't feel like they were right for our day. Mainly, I had so many other visual ideas, that I was afraid florals would be something to compete with many other things going on. Plus I was concerned over their temporary nature.

Shortly into planning, however, I talked to some friends in the industry who said they'd been to weddings without a floral component and things just felt stark. So they encouraged me that if I didn't want traditional cut flowers, I work some natural components into the decor in some way. After doing a little research I came up with three options:

1. Live Plants to fit in with a Pacific Northwest spring wedding. Instead of succulents, this would mean moss, ferns, and bulbs.

Source: Poppytalk

Source: The Natural Wedding Company

2. Paper flowers. There are a ton of amazing tutorials out there right now, and I like that these read as a little more bold and geometric.

Source: Icing Designs

Source: The House that Lars Built

3. Abstract installation: Something floral inspired but with a contemporary twist.

Source: You are my fave

Source: Anthropologie

I think right now I'm leaning toward a combination of paper flowers set amongst some maidenhair ferns for some nice contrast. Hopefully this idea can be easily interpreted into centerpieces and bouquets. I'll keep you all posted on how

Nearly Newlywed Introducing Accessories

Ok, is this not the cutest thing you have ever seen?? The wonderful ladies over at Nearly Newlywed sent me this custom drawing of me in my wedding dress. The talented Jennifer Vallez creates these custom sketches perfect for any bride after her wedding day. (Get one for yourself)

So I've told you all about Nearly Newlywed before but I can't help but sharing all the new goodies they have added! And by that, I mean ACCESSORIES! Oh ya, tons of glittery, glitzy, crystal amazingness can now be found on the same site that you find your perfect wedding dress for less. Here are a few of my faves, which are your faves? Shop Now.

Photographer Shot List

One month countdown to my wedding! It is getting close and left on my checklist are the fine details. Not necessities, but the fun stuff!

My wise sister-in-law-to-be, who just got married, recommended I put together a shot list for my photographer. Something I wouldn't have thought of, but a great idea. Seeing all the beautiful shots out there, I know I want to make a list so I'm 100% happy when I get my photos back.

Here are some I definitely want in the mix...

Closeups of me with the bouquet.

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The details.

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The ring bearer and flower girl getting excited for their walk down the isle.

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Sun behind.

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Cute candids.

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Cool shots featuring the sky at dusk.

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Did you do a shot list for your photographer?

Statement Necklaces for your Wedding

I do love a good statement piece and right now J. Crew is filled with them! Perfect pieces to match with a wedding dress, don't you think? Crystal Compilation Necklace is my favorite in the multi-color. It is my new favorite statement piece! Happy Shopping.

SHOP: Oliver Pendant, Crystal Compilation Necklace, Crystal Floral Statement

Wood + Gold Bar Styling

A little gold sparkle and wood detailing create the perfect bar area for a party. Thanks so much to Jason & Anna Photography for getting together for a little bar fun while they were visiting San Francisco.

Picking up details

Long engagements get sort of a bad rap. When Erik and I set a wedding date nearly 20 months after our engagement, people thought I'd be worried about losing momentum or that I'd feel like I'd be waiting forever. While there are moments of "lets just do this already", I'd say there are many benefits of having a long engagement. One of the best things has been picking up some small details for the day as I see them and am inspired. Its been fun getting a little thing in the mail here or there, plus shelling out a few dollars here and there gives me time to save up in between. Plus, you can score clearance if you time the purchase perfectly.

So far I've picked up these fun items:

Source: Furbish Studio

Source: ABJ Glassworks

Source: Jason Wu for Target (No longer available)

Its so exciting to start gathering little details while the big stuff is still in the works. I've been using all my restraint to not get carried away with buying too much stuff we don't need, but when its something I love and a great deal (I snagged the Jason Wu dresses for the flower girls at $16 a pop), its nice to have those small things crossed off the list!

Sarah Seven Runway Show

 

We love showcasing the latest Sarah Seven collections at The Lab Event. This year we brought in the big guns and had none other than the top fashion bloggers of San Francisco model this collection! And boy did they bring it.  Huge thanks to Sarah Seven for creating so many beautiful dresses and Em The Gem for shooting!

Biggest thanks to these amazing gals for coming out and modeling in our runway show! It was a blast. (Also, if you haven't checked out their blogs just yet, make sure you do! They are all so good.)

Gal Meets Glam, Angela Tafoya of Refinery 29, City Sage, This Time Tomorrow, Natalie - Dressed, In the City With Crystalin, Pancake Stacker, Thirty Five Inch Inseam, Vmac + Cheese, Like Fresh Laundry, Britt & Whit, Kitties & Couture, Stylenik, The Drifter and the Gypsy.

Style It: Ceremony Sign

Ceremony signs are one of my favorite wedding details. I think they are one of the most special decorations you could have on your wedding day. Whatever you choose to do with that altar, make it a true reflection of you. I get lots and lots of emails about my ceremony sign, and even more emails about those fabulous doors. So how do you achieve the look? And where does it all come from? So here it goes!

Style It:

It is so easy to style a fabulous ceremony sign for your wedding day. Check out what you need to make it happen!

• Sign - $200 from Etsy. (Or make it)
• Doors - $50 each for rental from Milkglass Vintage Rentals (San Francisco Bay Area Local). Otherwise you can find them at most antique stores and faires.

Invitation Design

Today I get to show off my invitations! I worked with graphic designer and E&I blogger alum, Kimberly Roth, to create my invitation suite. I love how they turned out.

Along the way, I feel that I really solidified the vision I had for my wedding. We pulled inspiration from the location - Mount Hood, Oregon - by featuring the mountain, the muted lavender color from the lavender fields in the area, and the overall whimsical feel.

    

Photo credit: Kimberly Roth

I also got a chance for some DIYing. Kimberly designed and coordinated having stamps made for our 'belly band' and return address. During a visit to Paper Source, I realized embossing with white would show up much better on the Kraft paper than just a white stamp. Embossing is really fun and easy (but time consuming when you are doing it for 100+ invitations).

Here's what I used:

- Stamp

- Stamp pad

- Embossing powder

- Heat tool

Once I got the hang of it, it went by pretty fast. I would stamp three at a time, apply the powder, lay them out on the table (until it filled the table) and then use the heat tool on all of those. Much faster than doing the whole process for one at a time. Two of my bridesmaids came over one night to help and that really speeded things up. Note to self: make sure cat doesn't get to them before you set the powder with the heat. :-)

After embossing, I folded each belly band around the invitation and secured it with a strip of double sided tape.

Photo credit: me

Photo credit: Kimberly Roth