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!!

We are so excited to share with you what we’ve been up to over the summer months or as we call it “Wedding Season”! Rachelle coordinated this gorgeous vineyard wedding a few months ago… enjoy!

I first met with Jen and Ben over 18 months before their wedding. At the time we met, I knew their wedding would be the dreamy, fairytale type, and I was very excited to be a part of it! Jen and Ben have such a strong relationship, and they do most of it from a distance! It’s absolute true love, and they are living proof that love can conquer any challenge!

Their wedding day was full of romantic and personal touches, with all the right amounts of fun and celebration thrown in as well!!  With a line up of top-notch vendors, the day was absolutely wonderful. Their beautiful and romantic wedding was so much fun to be involved in, and the guests had a blast dancing the night away as the sun set over a beautiful vineyard setting.

Enjoy the photos from the ever-so-lovely Maggie of Honeysuckle Photography:

Vendors:

Photography: Honeysuckle Photography
Videography: Shields Films
Floral: Blum, Design in Flowers
Venue: Zenith Vineyard in Salem, OR
Bride’s Hair & Makeup: Nicole Wagner
Music: Mobile Music Entertainment
Catering: Vibrant Table Catering
Stationery: Designs by Renee
Transportation: English Classic Limousine & Premiere Tours
Bakery: Lamb’s Thriftway
Rehearsal Dinner: The Riverplace Hotel

Cheers,

Mandi, Rachelle & the Champagne team

Last year Rachelle Bell of Champagne Wedding & Event Coordination married the man of her dreams! Rachelle and Donny are perfect for each other. They love each other in a way that makes you want what they have instantly after meeting them. Here’s a glimpse into Rachelle and Donny’s wedding…

Photographs by Paul Rich Studio

Mandi: What was your favorite thing about your wedding?

Rachelle: I loved that I was able to be in a frame of mind to literally soak up all of the special moments. I think some people [my family and fiancé] worried that being a perfectionist during other people’s wedding days would transfer to me not being able to relinquish control on my own wedding day. On the contrary, I knew to simply sit back and enjoy every moment—and that’s exactly what Donny and I did, it was such a special day. I can’t say I have a favorite thing—all of it together made it so perfect. I did love my dress… : )

Mandi: What was most important to you while planning your wedding?

Rachelle: Making sure to keep our guests entertained and having fun. They all made a very long trip to be there for us, so we wanted to make sure that they were very involved in all of the activities. We planned an island tour the day before the wedding that was such a fun experience for all of us to have together. I’ve seen that island two dozen times, but having that experience with everyone there was something unique and fun for me.

Mandi: What did you like most about being engaged?

Rachelle: How excited Donny was every time he’d look at my hand and see a ring on my finger—he would literally get giddy. We were both just really happy and excited to get married to each other. I also loved how excited our families were for us too—they were all just beaming, all the time when we’d talk about the wedding.

Photographs by Paul Rich Studio

Mandi: Was it harder or easier to plan your own wedding given your profession…explain.

Rachelle: Planning was easy when it came down to getting things done, but I’m actually so accustomed to doing what OTHER people want, that it took me a while to figure out what Donny and I wanted. However, once it dawned on us that we shouldn’t be planning a local wedding with 400 guests, but should go to where we love—all the pieces fell into place. I’m a strong believer that the venue and location help dictate what the theme and feeling of the wedding will be. So I didn’t have a set color scheme or theme in mind until I had time to think about the location more. All of our planning choices simply reflected us in our everyday lives—the food, the music selections, the attire…

Mandi: How would you describe the style of your wedding?

Rachelle: Eclectic, Beach, Colorful, Celebration, Relaxed… Our biggest priority was to have a great party. The live bands really helped with that aspect, as well as the amazing people and to-die-for food!

Mandi: What are a few details you incorporated it to make it unique to you and Donny?

Rachelle:
We both had a grandmother named June—and both our grandmas were very dear to us. We wanted to honor them so we made favors that would remind us and our families of them. 

Also, we wrote our own vows, so instead of a formal program [which just wouldn’t have fit into our style of wedding anyway] we printed the vows on the program so everyone could follow along.

We also wanted our guests to know that we valued their presence during the ceremony—so we passed our rings around to everyone and asked them to instill their best advice and best wishes into them. It was a very symbolic action, but we still love the idea of it.

Photographs by Paul Rich Studio

Mandi: How did you pick St. Lucia for your destination?

Rachelle: The location was a natural choice for us, as I grew up visiting the island year after year, and Donny is such a water guy. It made perfect sense for us to get away and spend two weeks with our closest friends and family. Since I am so busy, in the Summers, with other weddings—I often miss out on the family get-togethers. I couldn’t really see myself having a wedding day that lasted only a few hours since our guest list was pretty large. So another part of the decision was in splitting the guest list up, it made it so Donny and I could [try to] spend more quality time with our guests. We had two receptions—one at my parents home and one at his parents home when we returned. They were both laid back, bbq style receptions with music, bubbly, and cake—gotta love it! I have to say, the ONLY thing that I didn’t love about our destination wedding was that Sugar [our dog] couldn’t be there.

Mandi: Any advice you’d offer to those planning a destination wedding?

Rachelle: Before you book a wedding somewhere consider a few details that will impact your planning significantly—
Do you speak the language?
Are you at all familiar with the location?
Is there a big time zone difference?
Do they provide a coordinator to help you?
Also consider where all of your guests will be traveling from- is it an accessible destination?

Photographs by Paul Rich Studio

Mandi: Thank you, Rachelle, for sharing a little about your wedding with us!

Cheers,

Mandi & Rachelle

Make sure to enter our love story contest! Details here. We will be announcing a winner on Sunday, February 14th, 2010.

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