Cannon Beach…it’s much like Pleasantville to me! So calm and peaceful! Filled with so many cute shops, delicious candy stores, yummy seafood and beautiful views! This might have something to do with why Jen and Nick picked to have their destination wedding on the Oregon Coast in Cannon Beach! Jen and Nick were living in Kentucky, but Nick had come to Washington for a business trip and he and Jen had decided to drive down the coast and visit Cannon Beach. They fell in love with the location and when trying to pick the perfect destination for their guests, from all over the United States, to travel for their wedding celebration, it soon became obvious- they wanted to share this sweet little town called Cannon Beach with their closest Family and Friends! A place they plan to come back and visit often. A place that marks a few major stepping stones in their life together!

A destination wedding doesn’t have to be somewhere tropical to be intimate and gorgeous!

They got married on what was quite possibly the most wet days of the summer! This, however, did not stop them from having their ceremony at Ecola State Park, overlooking the beautiful coast! It was absolutely breathtaking! Each guest had a white umbrella and as Jen walked down the aisle it stopped raining, but then it started to sprinkle and everyone’s umbrella’s popped up- it was picture perfect! The officiant mentioned how life isn’t always perfect, but when times are troubled and it starts to rain, you always have each other, your family and friends to make sure you’re covered. While those weren’t his exact words, what he said at that moment made the rain seemed as though it had been planned and moments later the rain stopped… for a few minutes! There were so many amazing pictures that we had a really hard time narrowing it down… enjoy!!

Date: September 18, 2010
Weather: Morning sun with afternoon wind and rain
Location: Cannon Beach, Oregon

The amazing team of vendors:
Destination wedding planning: Champagne Wedding & Event Coordination
Photographer: Soul Mates Photo
Ceremony Venue: Ecola State Park
Reception Venue: Surfsand Resort
Officiant: Carroll Myers, Pastor
Invitation Designer: Wedding Paper Divas
Catering: Surfsand Resort
Florist: Francoise Weeks Florist
Cake: BelLisamo
Wedding dress: Victoria Sdoukos Couture, Boutique Victoria, Chicago, Illinois
Bridal accessories: Victoria Sdoukos Couture, Boutique Victoria, Chicago, Illinois
Bridesmaid’s apparel and accessories:  BCBG
Groom and groomsmen apparel and accessories: Mens Wearhouse
Hair and make-up: Face Body Beauty
DJ: Event Team Entertainment
Transportation: Sundial Travel  & North Coast Limo Service 503.338. 8525
Dance instruction: n/a
Favors: Candy Buffet designed and assembled by Champagne Wedding & Event Coordination- Candy from The Picnic Basket and The Sweet Factory
Rings: Shane Co
Rentals:  The Party Pros
Linens: BBJ Linens

Photos by Soul Mates Photo

Tipsy Tuesday: When planning to get married on the Oregon Coast or in a State Park, make sure to apply to get a permit before making your plans. Many parks and beaches along the coast have changed their policies in the last year on having events. Some aren’t allowing them at all! Luckily we were able to get a permit for Ecola State Park, but there are very strict rules that go along with it! Ask a planner how to get more information!

Happy planning!!

Cheers,

The Champagne Team

PS Melissa with Soul Mates Photo is currently booking Boudoir sessions!! The perfect gift for your boyfriend, Husband-to-be, Anniversary or just because! Check out details here!!

When I first walked into Bella Via I instantly fell in love! The warm gold tones along with the cool gray really allows the space to be whatever style you want it to be! To showcase the space I wanted to create a mock wedding so brides could envision how their wedding could look!  To do this we decided to go with the tones of the room and create something simple and clean, with white and silver and gold accents.  We carried this look throughout the whole venue and chose a very classic look from a simple elegant cake to white roses and lilies to the brides hair and makeup. We hope this is able to give you an idea of what Bella Via can look like, but also not overwhelm you with one color verse another or style, so you are able to envision what fits your unique style!  This tones make the beauty of the space shine through from the crystal chandeliers to the silver and gold and silver accented wallpaper.

A huge thank you to all the vendors involved:
Venue: Bella Via
Design and Coordination: Champagne Wedding & Event Coordination
Photographer and Videographer: Atelier Pictures
Hair and Make up: Face Body Beauty
Wedding dress: Rosewood Bridal
Model: Emma and Bobby
Florist: Vibrant Flowers
Rentals: The Party Place
Cake: AK Cake Design
Paper goods: Paper Bloom
Cake server & knive/champagne flutes: The Wedding Cottage

Enjoy a few photos by Atelier Pictures!!

Cheers,

Danielle & the Champagne team

We’re starting the week off with a post about Evrim Icoz Photography! We’ve been working with Evrim for years! He’s not only wonderful to work with, but is extremely talented! Enjoy getting to know Evrim and a small sampling of his beautiful work!

Champagne: How did you decide to get into photography?

Evrim Icoz Photography: I was a software engineer at Intel and even though I loved being an engineer, I felt like what I did day to day had no real effect in the world. In that mind set of trying to make a change in people’s lives, I got in to photography by photographing dancers. I am an avid swing dancer and always wanted to do something artistic. Being a photographer was a natural transition as I have a degree in engineering from Duke university and my grandfather was a professional photographer.

Champagne: How would you describe your style?

Evrim Icoz Photography: My style is fun, artistic and photojournalistic. My goal is to capture the beautiful and touching moments that happen in an artistic way. I love a sense of dynamism and motion in my pictures, and I am a very romantic person being Mediterranean so I think it reflects into my style. My influences were 40’s 50’s French documentary photographers so their sense of realism and romance translate in to my photography as well.

Champagne: What would be your dream person/event to photograph?

Evrim Icoz Photography: If I could, I would have loved to photography my parents or my grandparents wedding. Of course it is not possible. However, maybe one of the important events in the past, such as I Have a Dream speech, or something like that.

Champagne: What’s your favorite part about your job?

Evrim Icoz Photography: People. I love people. That is one of the reasons I left Intel, I didn’t like being in a cubicle. Turkish people are very social and I love the social part of my job and the fact that I am documenting one of the most important parts of people’s lives and creating memories that will be forever with them.

Champagne: To you, what is key to creating a successful event?

Evrim Icoz Photography: Great vendors, and good attitude and a loving family/guests. Great experienced friendly vendors such as yourself will make sure the event goes smoothly. And if the couple can relax the day of the wedding, they will have way more fun. Something will go wrong inevitably, but my clients that seem to enjoy their day the most are the ones that let that kind of stuff roll of their back. And a wedding planner will make sure the day will run smoothly. I always ask my clients “Who is your wedding planner?”. I think a planner is a must for such a big day.

Champagne: What do you do when you’re not doing what you do?

Evrim Icoz Photography: I do swing and blues dancing, travel (been to Japan, Mexico, Canada, Turkey last year!), go wine tasting, cook and play soccer.

Champagne: What sets you apart from other photographers?

Evrim Icoz Photography: I think it is my passion for what I do, my years of experience and constantly striving to make sure my clients have a great experience with me. My style is very artistic and that is something my clients love, and if you combine that with how much I care about my clients, I believe I create an immense value for them. For me, the most important thing is that they keep enjoying their photos and 20 years later when they look at their wedding album with their children, they say “I am glad we hired him”. I have a very important job that day, and I take it very seriously. We have many backup lenses, cameras, and we go over details ahead of time - this is what separates the experienced photographers. In addition, my roots are in B&W dark room, so I spend 15-20 hours editing the photographs, much more than most photographers. I really enjoy bringing the best out of my images. When I am editing, I am careful not to make super trendy images that will look like 80’s hairdos 10 years later, but more of a timeless, classic yet modern look.

Champagne: Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know?

Evrim Icoz Photography: I have a masters degree in Computer engineering from Duke University and I left a career at Intel to follow my passion of photography. I do a lot of destination weddings such as Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Cabo, Istanbul, Hawaii, Dominican Republic. I just opened a new portrait studio where I am doing a lot of children’s portraiture and headshots. I shoot a lot of corporate events for Microsoft as well. We limit the number of weddings we do to make sure our clients get a lot of our time.

Here are a few of the awards Evrim has won:
Oregon Bride Magazine 2009 Wedding Vendor of the Year
Wedding Photojournalist Association 2006 PJ Photographer of the Year (USA)
Wedding and Portrait Photographers International 1st Place Winner 2007, 2004

Champagne: Thank you, Evrim [Evrim Icoz Photography], for taking the time to tell us more about your company! Make sure to visit their website, follow them on twitter and become a fan on facebook!

Happy planning!!

Cheers,

Mandi, Rachelle and the Champagne team

Oh, the day of tricks and teasing! I remember when I was growing up my mom and our neighbor used to call each other every year with some ridiculous story! My sister used to call and tell my parents she was pregnant… It’s amazing how easy it is to fall for things when you don’t remember what day it is or you get caught up in the moment or you don’t want to hurt their feelings if it is real! I have fallen for my fair share, including the post on LivingBridal today! It seemed like such an awesome concept that I didn’t even read what the deal was!! Here’s to hoping the deal was the April Fools and the website is really going to launch!
Here’s to hoping you don’t get fooled! Happy Friday!

Over the next few weeks we will be blogging some real weddings, a feature on Evrim Icoz Photography, our weekly Tipsy Tuesday, an update on Baby Hendricks, some contests and more… stay tuned!

Recent features:
Luminous Wedding Photography by Jen Hecht featured a few photos from a recent photo shoot we did with her for a local book, which will becoming out soon! View the post here!

Yasmin Khajavi Photography is our current featured photographer of the month! She posted a few photos here! Make sure to come check out her work- it’ll be up til April 15th!

Wishing you a wonderful weekend! Here’s to hoping the sun comes out to play!
Happy Planning!

Cheers,

The Champagne Team

Portland, Oregon wedding planners- serving Portland, Central Oregon, Oregon Coast, Columbia Gorge and Destinations all over the world.

Contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) today to set up your complimentary consultation!

Jillian and Desi are getting married in Portland, Oregon this coming July, but are currently living and teaching in Turkey! Since their photographer, Evrim Icoz, is from Turkey and had a trip back home planned, they got to do their engagement shoot in Turkey!!

Meet Jillian and Desi….

Photo by Evrim Icoz Photography

How they met:

We met in Phoenix, AZ while Desi was teaching in Izmir, Turkey. I had recently moved to Phoenix to teach, and the year before Desi left Phoenix for Turkey. So when I moved into my new classroom, I moved into the hallway that Desi left. I inherited all of Desi’s closest colleagues and friends as my own. They really took me under their wing to teach me the ways of the school, and take me in during holidays since I moved there alone from Portland. They started telling me about their friend, Desi. Apparently, they were telling Desi about me too. So eventually, Desi came back to visit one January, on holiday from Turkey. He strolled into my life, that one, late school night in January, on a Parent Teacher Conference night. We went on some dates that weekend, and enjoyed our new, united group of mutual friends. He flew out of my life for the rest of his school year in Turkey. But of course we stayed in touch with the help of skype and msn messenger. He flew me out to Turkey to visit too that year. It seemed like a fairy tale…

Photo by Evrim Icoz Photography

Photo by Evrim Icoz Photography

How long they’ve been together:

5 years

Photo by Evrim Icoz Photography

The day he proposed:

December 28th, 2009

Photo by Evrim Icoz Photography

Photo by Evrim Icoz Photography

How he popped the question:

We were in Nha Trang, Vietnam on winter break. I had just gotten over food poisoning, and it was my first time eating and going out. I was asking him a trivia question as we walked on the beach after dinner, literally under the moonlight, and he kept refusing to answer. I kept bugging him about my question. Then suddenly, he fell down. I thought he had hurt his knees. I asked him if he was okay and if his knees hurt. He asked me to marry him. I didn’t believe him (we had recently talked about marriage, and we decided we were content with not rushing. Plus, Desi is quite the prankster)! I kept saying, “You’re joking! You’re joking!” Desi was definitely not amused. That was not the reaction he expected out of me. He reassured me he was completely serious. So then of course, I agreed! It was definitely a rush of emotions thinking he was injured, to thinking I was the next victim of one of his antics, to be planning a new life together!

Photo by Evrim Icoz Photography

At what moment did you know he was the one?

I think the support from our mutual friends was a huge indication those first two years, and that feeling reminds me everyday of how lucky we are to have each other and what we’ve worked for. However, maybe a larger realization occurs, and that is the tough time that life brings. I know he is the one when we, unfortunately, have to conquer arguments, sickness, injuries, loss of loved ones…there’s no one else that I trust more with my emotions and well-being than Desi. And there is no one else that I could support so unselfishly and effortlessly during these obstacles than Desi. When life is good, it’s easy, enjoyable. But when life takes a turn for the worse, you need that reliable, best friend and partner that stays and supports you. Those are the moments that I always know he is for me.

Photo by Evrim Icoz Photography

At what moment did you know she was the one?

I knew Jill was the one for me when she was okay with teaching overseas. Not many people are willing to leave their friends and family to go traveling around the world, especially with me. My mother had passed away while we were in China and Jill was my pillar of strength during one of the most difficult times in my life and I am so thankful for having her in my life. Jill is the most compassionate and caring person I have ever met, being with her makes me wants to be a better person.

Photo by Evrim Icoz Photography

What are you most excited about on the wedding day?

Jillian: We have lived in Arizona, China, and now, Turkey together. We have never had the chance to settle down together in Oregon or Ohio (where we are each from) and for this reason, have had to leave behind our friends and family for the better part of each year. When we start over again in a new place, we have always been fortunate enough to build up a group of lovely friends that functions as our surrogate family while we are far away. On our wedding day, our family and friends from home and overseas are coming together for us (and some have quite long journeys). I am just beside myself to have them all together in Portland! We get to show them my favorite city on Earth AND share our commitment with them. I am a lucky girl all the way around.

Desi: I am most excited about celebrating our commitment to each other with our close friends and family.

Photo by Evrim Icoz Photography

Champagne: Thank you, Jillian and Desi for sharing your love story with us! We feel honored that you chose to work with us and can’t wait to be a part of your wedding day!!

Cheers,
Mandi & the Champagne team