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Lacey & Jonathan get married!

2010-07-28T18:49:31Z

Last Saturday, July 24th, 2010 Lacey and Jonathan got married! It was a beautiful, some what… HOT day, but everything about the day was perfect! Lacey and Jonathan share a love that just radiates the room! They had me tearing up all day! We were so lucky to have been a part of their wonderful day! Their amazing photographers, Alice and Josh of Mosca Photo have already put up a sneak peak of the day!

A huge thank you to all of the vendors that made the wedding such a success!
Photographer: Mosca Photo
Getting Ready Location: Hotel Vintage Plaza
Ceremony and Reception Location: Portland World Trade Center
Hair and Makeup: AJ’s Hair Design & Makeup
Coordinator: Mandi Downs, Champagne Wedding and Event Coordination
Limo: Chariot Limousines
DJ: Bass Is Loaded
Cake: Helen Bernhard Bakery
Flowers: A Floral Affair
Chair Covers: Avery’s Chair Covers and More
Videographer: Luminous Productions

Check out their sneak peak on Mosca Photo‘s blog! We’ll be sharing more from their wedding in a few months, as well as many more weddings Champagne has been working on this summer! Stay tuned!!

Cheers,

Mandi, Rachelle & the Champagne team

Remember your wedding day today and the rest of your life!

2010-07-21T17:21:34Z

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again and again, your wedding day flies by and having a videographer to capture the moments that you may have missed or want to remember forever is necessity! Having a professional photographer is one thing you can’t go without, but when you want to go back and hear your vows and the sound of your grandmas voice, there’s nothing that preserves that better than a professional videographer. Ambient Sky is sharing with us today a little about why video is so important and some to die for samples! Enjoy!

Champagne: How would you describe your videography style?

Ambient Sky: Highly stylized, artistic with a cinematic flair. Engaging, heartfelt and timeless.

Wedding Day Highlight

Champagne: How did you get into videography?

Ambient Sky: Our backgrounds are pretty varied. Between the two of us we have extensive experience in Fashion Design, Graphic Design, Event Planning, Photography, Audio Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Music Theory and Composition. About 8 years ago Scott decided to go back to school where he studied Multimedia, Graphic Design and Filmmaking. Amanda’s love of weddings and events lead to the idea of creating wedding films. The more we got into it the more we realized it was the perfect blend of our talents and our passions and we love working together.

Wedding Trailer

Champagne: Often times we have people tell us, well my parents have never watched their wedding video, I doubt I would. What’s your response to this?

Ambient Sky: Wedding video as an industry has evolved incredibly fast in the last 10 years from virtually unwatchable home video, fly on the wall style wedding videos, to a true cinematic experience like we offer with our Couture Wedding Films™. With our films, the days of the wedding video that never gets watched is over. Our clients regularly rave about how many times they watch their wedding film. We pride ourselves on the timeless experience we create for our clients and their families. We spend a great deal of time and effort on each wedding film making sure it’s something that they will want to watch again and again. Our advanced style of shooting and our engaging edits make our vision of a wedding film unlike anything most couples have ever seen before.

Same Day Edit
The short highlight of the wedding day that we show at the reception. One of our most popular offerings.

Champagne: What sets you apart from other videographers?

Ambient Sky: Everything! Our creativity in storytelling, in shooting, in editing. Our sense of the moment, and capturing the really important ones when they present themselves thru-out the day, then weaving these together with the rest of the days events into a feature style wedding film.

Being the trend setters of the wedding film industry in the area, it is somewhat flattering to see our style and techniques show up in the work of many of our competitors. However, it’s our internal drive that keeps us always learning, evolving and pushing the envelope in our wedding films. We are always looking for a better way to shoot, to edit and to tell our clients stories in a more engaging way. We introduced the Portland/Vancouver markets to the concept of a highly stylized and enthralling Same Day Edit video shown on a big screen at the reception. It provides the couple, their family and friends with an entertaining vignette of the days events that is unparalleled. We were even the first wedding filmmakers in Portland to blog! Check ours out often, as we are proud of every film we produce which means we are always filling the blog up with our latest and greatest.

All aspects of our company focus on the style and elegance that we portray in our films. You won’t see pictures of our cameras or our gear in our advertising. The majority of couples we work with simply want a great wedding film. While we do use some of the most advanced visual and audio capture equipment in the filmmaking industry they are all just tools that help us create better wedding films.

Our expertise in showing our brides in the most flattering and elegant way garnered us a WEVA Creative Excellence award in the highly competitive Bridal Spotlight category, making us the only studio in the Pacific Northwest to ever win this incredibly difficult category. WEVA (Wedding and Event Videography Association) is an international organization that is the most prestigious in our industry to win an award from. It’s basically our Academy awards. We’ve also won a variety of other awards including a Telly for our Fashion Style Video of Miss Oregon 2007, Kari Virding.

Bridal Elegance Film

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

Ambient Sky: Try to keep up with our 3 year old daughter who is quickly becoming a force of nature. Spend time with our friends and family. Discovering new music and watching movies (but that’s “research” for us)! Dancing and playing Hockey (not at the same time)!

Engagement Film

Champagne: What’s one tip or advice you have for couples as they plan their wedding?

Ambient Sky: Don’t skimp on preserving your memories. You put so much time, money and heart into planning your day and it goes by in a flash. Photography plays an important role but it serves an entirely different purpose in the moments it captures. The truth is, people rarely have the emotional connection to a photo that they do to our finely crafted wedding films. It’s not uncommon for couples visiting us to tear up while watching one of our previous clients wedding films. And it’s not often, if ever, that people do the same looking at wedding photos of people they don’t know. We always recommend to couples that they should prioritize both photography and a wedding film in their budget.

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

Ambient Sky: Our overall professionalism, passion and creativity that we bring to each wedding and event we shoot comes thru in the experiences our clients have with us and in the final movie they get to enjoy. We are also a husband and wife team and we have great respect for marriage and family. Having been married for 10 years now with our wedding a very distant memory, we have a very intimate connection to the value of what we provide to our clients. Needless to say we don’t have a wedding film from our wedding because there was no one in the area creating anything worth paying for when we got married. We don’t remember our vows, we don’t remember Amanda’s father’s performance during our ceremony, we can’t remember the toast my brother gave that brought us to tears. If we could somehow go back and shoot and edit our own wedding film with all the experience and knowledge we have now, it’s value would easily be priceless to us.

If you are unsure about videography for your wedding day, simply watch our work and we would love to talk with you more about creating a timeless wedding film for you!

Champagne: Thank you, Ambient Sky, for sharing more about videography and your company with us! We look forward to working with you soon!

Cheers,

Mandi, Rachelle & the Champagne team

4 Engagement sessions and a wedding

2010-07-17T18:39:46Z

This coming September 4th, Amber and Ben will tie the knot! They’ve spent a little over a year planning for their much awaited big day and Mosca Photo- their amazing photographers- have been capturing their love through out the planning process through 4 fabulous engagement sessions!

Session 1: Camping

Session 2: Vineyard and corn

Session 3: Beach

Which brings us to their last shoot before the big day…. Downtown

Aren’t they adorable? Check out the rest of the shoot on Mosca Photo’s blog!

Thank you, Mosca Photo for sharing these images with us!! We can’t wait to work with you to create the perfect wedding day for Amber and Ben!

Wedding details:
Ceremony: Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden
Reception: Gracie’s @ Hotel DeLuxe
Photographer: Mosca Photo
Flowers: Blum Design in Flowers
Cake: Judy Reese Dreamcakes
Officiant: Reverend Lisa Kristen-Scott

Amber and Ben- We are so excited to be a part of your big day!!

Cheers,

Mandi, Rachelle & the Champagne team

Named “Best New Wedding Vendor” by Oregon Bride Magazine

2010-07-13T16:01:02Z

Last Thursday we attended an event at West Coast Event Production‘s new venue, Pure Space. It’s personally one of my favorite new venues and one of my top 3 choices for my wedding. It’s an urban blank slate space with two walls filled with wall to wall windows. The event that we attended was Oregon Bride Magazine‘s annual Best of Bride Party. At the party they had delicious appetizers by some of Portland’s best caterers, wine from some of the Oregon’s finest wineries and a gorgeous fashion show! On top of being a great event for vendors to reconnect and mingle with brides, they also announced Oregon Bride Magazines Best of 2010 winners. We are so honored to have won Oregon Bride‘s Best New Wedding Vendor award.

Without the help and support of our families, friends, vendors and clients we would not be where we are today! Thank you all for making this first year as Champagne Wedding & Event Coordination a huge success! With 6 years of experience and an ongoing love and passion for what we do, we couldn’t be happier to be helping you have a stress free wedding day!

Make sure to pick up your copy of Oregon Bride Magazine!

Cheers,

Mandi, Rachelle & the Champagne team

First comes love… then comes marriage!

2010-06-30T16:35:52Z

For those of you who know me well, know that I’ve been waiting for this day for quite some time! Sure, being a wedding planner I’ve always wanted my own wedding, but I always said that I wouldn’t begin to plan it until I met the man of my dreams. Little did I know at the time that I had already met the man of my dreams years ago! Darren and I went to the same middle school, but I didn’t know much other than his name. We went to the same high school and let’s just say I was dying to know everything about him. We had mutual friends and so we began to hang out often. I remember the first day I got up the nerve to invite him to a get together and he said he couldn’t because he was waxing his car. Let’s just say, he’s never heard the end of that one! Years went on, I moved on from my high school crush, we stayed friends…best friends, and to keep from boring you with the details, we’ll skip ahead to November 2008. It all started when we started going to work out in the morning together. To some that may be normal, but lets just say I’ve never been one to have a regular 7:00am work out routine! We then slowly began to date, but both didn’t say a word because we didn’t want to jinx it… 1 month later [Okay so maybe more like 3 days!], I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him!

Well I’ve been waiting for this sparkling rock for quite sometime, this past week, he popped the question!

Here’s how it happened…

Since it was the last weekend I have off til September, we headed to the coast for the night…

We played in the sand…

We waited for the sunset…

I said the sunset was lame… [I was hoping to get some cool pictures and I was disappointed with the turn out! haha!]

Little did I know that Darren had planned to propose just minutes after, but instead we headed back to the beach house…
The next morning I was a little bummed he hadn’t proposed and decided to get ready for the day…When I got out of the shower Darren was at the front door and said, “Woah, what’s that?”

I didn’t think much of it and then he said, “Look what I found for you!”

I said, “Ooo what is it!!?”

He opens up his hand and it was a rock… I was instantly annoyed.

About 3 weeks ago, he had rocks delivered for the backyard and he had said, “Look babe, I got you a rock” [Joking around about getting me a diamond]. At this point, I was not in the mood for a rock!

I said, “Grrr, you’re rude!” or something really mature like that [haha!] and turned away from him.

He said, “Wait, how about this one?”

and asked me to marry him! I, of course, said yes after freaking out and saying, “are you serious, are you serious, is it really real?!”

We spent the day at Cannon Beach, Oregon and had our families over for ice cream sundae’s to spill our big news!

I could not be more in love with Darren or my new sparkly rock! I’m still in some what of disbelief that I’m engaged, but once I have a day off and begin planning for the big day, I’m sure it’ll hit me!

Thank you for letting me share our story with you! Many people have been asking when the date is… we have picked one yet, but will be sure to keep you all in the loop!

Cheers,

Mandi

Hope you all have a wonderful and safe holiday weekend!!! We will be out of the office for a wedding this weekend and spending some time with our families on Sunday and Monday for the holiday, but we’ll be back in the office Tuesday!

Cheers,

Mandi, Rachelle & the Champagne Team

We’ve been featured! - 100 Layer Cake

2010-06-28T20:21:59Z

A few days ago we found out that a gorgeous beach wedding Rachelle planned last summer had been featured on 100 Layer Cake [A wonderful resource to help with the design process!]!
Rachelle did an amazing job bringing together all of the pieces to create an unforgettably unique affair!

Check out the feature here: 100 Layer Cake: Burk + Lydia

Cheers,

Mandi, Rachelle & the Champagne team

P.S. I just got word of this great special Katie Anderson Photography is currently running! Check out the details here!

elegant. whimsical. one of a kind artwork

2010-06-24T01:28:16Z

Love. The first word that comes to mind when I think of Astrid Mueller. Astrid truly loves working with her clients and vendors, she puts love into everything she does [work and life], and takes the love of her clients and puts it into the perfect illustration! Astrid is not only extremely talented, but also, one of the sweetest and most thoughtful vendors I’ve come across! While I could go on and on about how truly fabulous and artistic Astrid is, I don’t want to keep you from seeing for yourself! Enjoy getting to know Astrid and her to-die-for illustrations!

Champagne: How did you get into wedding illustrations?

Astrid Mueller: A friend invited me to create an illustration for wedding stationery she was designing. Up until that point, my clients had been magazines and international companies like Diesel and Marie Claire. I was thrilled with the opportunity to take on such a novel, romantic project.

The couple loved how they looked in their stylized illustration so much they ended up commissioning five additional illustrations and a personal logo…and they invited me to their wedding!

I’m a total romantic and was so moved by the experience I knew I had found my calling. I expanded my business and have been creating wedding illustrations ever since!

Photography by Tag7

Champagne: What is your favorite part of your job?

Astrid Mueller: There is nothing more rewarding than when a couple sends me an email bursting with exclamation points and capital letters, telling me how much they love their illustration!

Photograph by Photoart.ch

Champagne: How would you describe your ideal client?

Astrid Mueller: She’s planning a stylish, modern wedding that’s full of love, laughter and one of-a-kind personal touches. She’s a woman with an eye for high quality and good design, and she loves to be unique.

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

Astrid Mueller: I am so fortunate that my work is also my passion! I find such fulfillment designing for brides and the wedding industry, as well as growing my businesses. Often, in my spare time, I keep an eye out for beautiful things to inspire me. I also enjoy discussing art and business with other designers and industry professionals.

Outside of “work,” I delight in time with friends and family, fabulous food, warm summer rains, and traveling and discovering all the little miracles in this world with my love.

Champagne: Currently, you’re in Switzerland. What do you love most about it there?

Astrid Mueller: I feel so spoiled to be from Switzerland and able to live here whenever I like! At the top of the list would have to be seeing my friends and family regularly, though between the fresh air, the food, the unlimited possibilities for travel and different excursions, it’s hard to choose!

Champagne: How does it work when you work with an out of town bride?

Astrid Mueller: It’s my mission to personalize each couple’s illustration as much as possible, so I usually start with a phone call!

I love to learn all about the bride and groom; who they are, what’s important to them, what inspires them, and how they envision their dream wedding. This is vital to my creative process and allows me to infuse their character into their illustration.

More than just creating a reflection from a photograph, it’s my goal for a couple to exclaim, “Wow! This is totally me!” when they see their finished design for the first time. After the initial phone call, I often communicate via email. I involve my clients in every step of the design process. I first share concept sketches, then rough illustrations, near finished designs, and so on until it is complete.

Then, if my client chooses, I make suggestions on how their custom artwork can be applied to personalize their wedding, from bespoke stationery and design accents to keepsakes.

Photograph by Daniel Zihlmann

Champagne: Anything else you’d like to tell our clients/readers?

Astrid Mueller: Yes! If you love my illustrations and are looking for ideas to personalize your wedding in style, I’d love to hear from you! Apart from illustrated wedding stationery, I also create unique design products for my clients. I would be excited for the opportunity to develop a personalized design concept for you!

Champagne: Thank you, Astrid, for sharing more about you and your art with us! We look forward to working with you soon!

Make sure to visit Astrid Mueller’s website, follow her tweets and “Like” her on Facebook!

Cheers,

Mandi, Rachelle & the Champagne Team

Should you hire a Month-of Coordinator?

2010-06-16T23:48:46Z

With wedding season among us, many brides for 2010 have done most of their planning, but may be trying to decide whether hiring a month of coordinator would be worth it. Being wedding planners, we, of course would say, “YES! Don’t hesitate! Hire a professional wedding coordinator to ensure your wedding plans are taken care of the day of so you, your friends and family can relax and enjoy!” Make sure to find the right personality match to work with you on your wedding day! Here’s an article that we posted a few months ago about the different types of coordinators that’ll be a part of your wedding day to help you decide if hiring a Month of [Day of] coordinator is right for you! Enjoy and if you have any questions- please don’t hesitate to ask!

With the title “coordinator” used so often in the wedding and event industry, it’s no surprise that the duties of these different people can get a bit confusing. We were talking about this recently with other vendors, and it is clear that people have a lot of questions about the different types of coordinators that might work with them on their wedding day. We’ll unravel these different terms for you!

Catering Coordinator: This person works for your catering company or as a manager at a venue that offers catering.
Your catering coordinator will make sure:
o your menu selections have been made
o plans for your bar and beverages has been arranged
o receive and maintain your payments for the catering
Many catering companies offer rental items such as dinnerware, linens, and glassware. Your catering coordinator may assist you in selecting those items. On the day of your wedding, the catering coordinator manages the timeline for food preparation and food service. The catering coordinator will also oversee the serving staff.

Venue Coordinator: This person is employed by the venue, and knows the inner-workings of the space. Your venue coordinator will most often do a walk-through with you and point out typical layouts for your floor plan.
Your venue coordinator will know answers to questions, such as:
o “what time can our vendors start setting up?”
o “Where are the power outlets in the building?”
o “How many chairs and tables do you have, and do you provide linens?”
o “Am I allowed to use candles?”
o “Where can vendors park for loading and unloading?”
o “When is our final payment due?”
Some venue coordinators are on-site during your wedding day for part of all of the day. Make sure you ask them what their role with be on the day of.

Church Coordinator: If you are marrying in a church, you might have a church coordinator.
Your church coordinator will:
o schedule your rehearsal time
o advise you on etiquette of that specific church as well as its rules
o run your rehearsal (for example, tell you how you should line up/walk into the church)
o refer cantors or musicians through the parish
o your church coordinator will be there on your wedding day to guide you down the aisle

Wedding Coordinator: A wedding coordinator/consultant/planner is one and the same. A wedding coordinator differs from the afore mentioned coordinators because he/she is hired directly by the bride/groom/family which means their first and foremost job description is to provide to you the services that you need to make your wedding planning experience enjoyable. He/she can not only answer questions about your venue, rentals, catering, and church customs, but can also aid you with subjects such as design, budgeting, vendor selection, timelines, and etiquette. A perk is that most wedding coordinators receive discounts with vendors that get passed on to the client as a savings, rather than marking them up and costing the client more money. This comes from the experience that a professional wedding coordinator has, as well as the extensive research and networking that he/she maintains on a regular basis to continue to learn about the vendors that are available to their clients.
Most wedding coordinators offer day-of coordination in their list of services. When hiring a Day-of Coordinator they manage the details of your wedding day for you.
This includes, but not limited to:
o preparing a timeline and ceremony processional/recessional sheet
o organizing day of information details
o communicating details between all vendors making sure they are on the same page
o running the rehearsal or assist officiant and church coordinator
o set up and clean up
o trouble-shooting any and all situations throughout the day
Many day-of coordinators offer packages that include meetings to prepare for the wedding day and more.

If you have a coordinator at your venue, church or catering company that uses the title wedding planner/ wedding coordinator/ wedding consultant please inquire about all of the different things that they plan to do for you on your wedding day, as well as throughout your planning timeframe, so you are not left disappointed on your wedding day. We are happy to answer any questions you may have. Every company is different, so some coordinators may vary from the above description.

Happy planning!

Cheers,
Mandi, Rachelle and the Champagne team

Local event:
Eco-friendly wedding event! Portland:
Monday, June 28
6:00- 8:00 pm
New Beginning Salon Spa
503-645-2950
http://www.nbsalonspa.com

Real wedding: Lindsey + James 5.22.10

2010-06-10T05:14:19Z

Aww… We are constantly reminded why we love our job so very much! Rachelle sent me these images from a wedding she had a couple weeks ago and I instantly fell in love! I never met the couple, but their wedding pictures give a glimpse into who they are and how much love they have for each other! Enjoy as Rachelle tells about Lindsey & James’ wedding!

Lindsey + James, May 22nd, 2010

In true Spring fashion, May 22nd was full of both sunshine and raindrops! Lindsey and James reside in Northern California and are one of the sweetest couples I’ve met! Their vision for their wedding day was relaxed and joyful, yet classy and romantic. Lindsey was a true visionary with her DIY projects: Collecting all of the milk glass vases and all of the stationery was done herself. Michelle of Goose Hollow Gardens filled these vases with beautiful Spring blooms to compliment the grey, green, and lavender palate. Each centerpiece was unique!

Gracie’s at Hotel Deluxe was the perfect setting for an intimate dinner party reception, and the food was enough to impress any gourmet enthusiast! Keeping with tradition from his hometown [England] James requested Jutta of La Jaconde construct a wedding cake that was part American, and part British. One layer was a traditional wedding fruitcake, and the other layers were Pear with Amaretto- Yum!!

Aside from a couple of raindrops at the Rose Gardens during their formal photos, the day was flawless and beautiful—it was apparent that Lindsey and James are surrounded by very loving and kind family and friends! I’m so happy that we had the very talented Koes & Lindsey of Koes Bong Photography capturing all of the special moments! Cheers Lindsey & James!

Church: Zion Lutheran Church
Reception: Gracie’s at Hotel DeLuxe
Photographer: Koes Bong Photography
Videographer: Focal Point Digital Media
Flowers: Goose Hollow Gardens
Design: Lindsey [Bride]
Coordination: Champagne Wedding & Event Coordination
Entertainment: Mobile Music Entertainment
Cake: La Jaconde
Stationery: Lindsey [Bride]
Hair and Makeup: Austie Eckley

See more images by Koes Bong Photography in this slideshow:

Cheers,

Mandi, Rachelle & the Champagne team

2nd Annual Jessica Hill Client Appreciation Party

2010-06-07T18:05:51Z

Oh my goodness- I can’t believe I haven’t blogged in over a week, a true sign that wedding season is here! Though that is no excuse! Don’t worry, I’m back and will be sharing many blogs with you this summer!

A few weeks ago we helped Jessica Hill of Jessica Hill Photography put together her Second Annual Client Appreciation Party at The Heathman Hotel & Restaurant! [See last years event here] Jessica is an incredibly talented and creative photographer, that loves what she does and truly believes in making lasting connections with her clients! Make sure to check out Jessica Hill Photography and her boudoir company Peekaboo Portland [The perfect wedding or anniversary present!]

A huge thank you to all of the vendors that were a part of the event!!

Every party is more fun with The Original Photo Booth

Jessica Hill of Jessica Hill Photography [Hair and Make up by Face Body Beauty] and her boyfriend Travis- they are too cute!

Stylize table by Champagne Wedding & Event Coordination, Flowers by Punch, Linens & chargers by West Coast Event Production

Delicious cupcakes from Le Cookie Monkey! I could have eaten at least 20 of those little cupcakes!!

and Le Cookie Monkey sugar cookies- to die for!

Punch provided the gorgeous arrangements through out the party!

Royal Steamline provided the adorable invitations for the event!

Photography: Jessica Hill Photography & Peekaboo Portland
Venue: The Heathman Hotel & Restaurant
Invitations: Royal Steamline
Event rentals: West Coast Event Productions
Flowers: Punch
Jessica Hill Promo Video: Lights in the Attic
Photo booth: The Original Photobooth
Cupcakes & sugar cookies: Le Cookie Monkey
Jessica Hill’s hair and make up: Jennifer Walker of Face Body Beauty
Event coordination and design: Champagne Wedding & Event Coordination

Thank you, Jessica, for having Champagne Wedding & Event Coordination as part of your beautiful event!!

Cheers,

Mandi, Rachelle & the Champagne team

Meet Danielle and Amanda

2010-05-26T20:26:38Z

You’ve heard us say their names, but they have yet to be introduced! Danielle and Amanda are two of our wonderful lead wedding and event planners! All four of us sleep, dream, live wedding and event planning thoughts! I can’t remember the last time I went somewhere and I didn’t think about whether or not it had event space potential! haha! With wedding season in full swing, we wanted to help you get to know Danielle and Amanda a little better! Enjoy…

Meet Danielle:

Dayna Schroeder Photography

How did you decide you wanted to get into wedding & event planning?
Danielle: I decided to get into wedding and event planning at a very young age, if my friends Barbie and Ken doll wanted to get married, I was the one they would bring them to. I would beg my mom to buy me wedding magazines even before I could read! Wedding planning has always been my dream job and I am so blessed to be doing it!

What do you love about weddings?
Danielle: What I love about weddings is the magic that fills the venue and the groom’s eyes when the bride walks down the aisle, seeing a couple’s vision turn into the wedding of their dreams. I love every planning moment from a blank piece of paper with a bride spilling her ideas to the moment when the last guest has left…and of course cake : )

How would you describe your dream wedding?
Danielle: My dream wedding would be a winter wedding in Banff on Lake Louise with sleigh rides and a hot cocoa bar.

What do you like to do in your free time?
Danielle: In my free time I like to read, kayak, do yoga, and try new restaurants with my boyfriend.

Fun tidbit:
Danielle: I only eat Kraft mac and cheese if the noodles are shaped like characters.

Meet Amanda:

Dayna Schroeder Photography

How did you decide you wanted to get into wedding & event planning?
Amanda: After graduating from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, I got a job working for couture bridal designer, Monique Lhuillier in Los Angeles. Hearing the brides talk about their engagement and planning the details, I became infatuated with weddings! To me, it’s not a job, I look at it as hobby. I have so much passion about each wedding or event I am involved in.

What do you love about weddings?
Amanda: What’s not to love about weddings!! I would say the number one thing I love the most is the first step the bride takes down the aisle. It’s the big moment we both have worked so hard towards for the last several months.

How would you describe your dream wedding?
Amanda: My prince charming hasn’t road in on his white horse yet : ) but when he does my dream wedding would be candlelit at this beautiful church in Bel Air, CA. It’s on top of a hill that over looks all of Los Angeles and is absolutely breathtaking. For the reception, I would love to have it in a indoor/outdoor venue in Santa Monica or Malibu. Photos on the beach are always amazing and so peaceful.

What do you like to do in your free time?
Amanda: I love staying active by hiking or going to a pilates class as well as spending time with my family.

Share a unique/fun fact or two about yourself:
Amanda: I have my own jewelry line that I hand make, Simply Jo Designs and I have an obsession with Christian Louboutin shoes.

You’ll love working with Danielle, Amanda and the rest of our staff! We are so excited for wedding season to be in full swing and to be a part of your special day!!

Cheers,

Mandi, Rachelle and the Champagne team

The best things in life are free? I think it’s most definitely true! That is why we offer a no obligation, complimentary initial consultation where you are able to get to know us and tell us more about your wedding plans, as well as learn if hiring a wedding planner is right for you! We offer packages from day of to full service planning! Planning your wedding day should be as fun and enjoyable as you always imagined it! [We also have special packages for the bride who is planning from a far or the destination bride] We look forward to hearing from you!

1001 ways to be Romantic

2010-05-18T02:38:04Z

Planning a wedding can be stressful, it can be the best time of your life and consuming at times! Often times you may even have to remind yourself to take a day off from wedding plans and go on a date with the reason for the occasion, your fiance! One of my best friends gave me a book for my Birthday the other day called 1001 ways to be Romantic by Gregory J.P. Godek. Some people may be romantic naturally, but to be able to write a book of 1001 ways to be romantic? That’s pretty incredible! Here’s a few ways to be romantic from Gregory J.P. Godek’s book:

1. Send five large flower arrangements to her at work, timed to arrive one per hour, beginning at one o’clock. Write a five part love note, with one part accompanying each flower arrangement.

2. [This is so cute] During their first date she picked up a penny for the ground and said, “A penny for your thoughts.” He shared his thoughts and she paid him. [He saved the penny.] As they continued to date they often gave each other pennies as special little love tokens. One day, two years later, he presented her with two ring boxes. As she opened them he said, “A penny for our thoughts…and a diamond for your heart. Will you marry me?” They named their first daughter Penny. On their tenth anniversary he gave her a rare nineteenth- century penny made into a pendant…

3. Prescription for Romance #1: Compliment her. Repeat every four to six hours.

4. From the weird & wacky section: Greet him at the door with confetti, noise-makers and party hats.

5. Another from the weird & wacky section: Practice “Leap Year Romance.” When February 29th rolls around, take the day off work and declare it your own personal “Romance Day.” Give the gift of time- twenty-four hours worth!

What is the most romantic thing someone has done for you?

Cheers,

Mandi, Rachelle & the Champagne team

Obsessed!

2010-05-12T18:12:47Z

I just got a new camera for my birthday and we just picked up our new business cards from Studio Olivine [Julie is AMAZING, We L-O-V-E her work!!!], between the two, I’m quite obsessed! I decided to play with my camera and take some pictures of our new business cards. We worked with Julie at Studio Olivine to come up with a new design that continued our branding, but had a little more… spice! We loved our coasters, but needed something different. We loved our cards, but the hole punch never worked quite right. Well let me introduce to you, the newest addition to Champagne….yes, our business cards! haha! I’m sorry, I told you I was obsessed!

We are dying to hear what you think of them and can’t wait to start handing them out!
Would you like a pair of our coasters to use in your house? Email your address and we’ll send them to you! Want more to give to your friends? Just ask!

Starting soon on the blog we will have another addition of “30 days of vendors”, but this time it’s going to be focused around the Central Oregon/Bend area!

Cheers,

Mandi, Rachelle and the Champagne Team

Inspiration board for Danielle

2010-05-04T17:15:43Z

Yesterday we shared with you an inspiration board that Danielle put together for Amanda’s “dream wedding” [See yesterday’s post here] and today we’re sharing with you the board that Amanda put together for Danielle! You never know how many times a girls wedding dreams will change through out their life before their wedding, but it’s so fun dreaming up different designs! Enjoy!

Here’s part of what Danielle described to Amanda…
“Winter is my favorite season, so naturally I want a winter wedding in a chateau on a lake, complete with a hot chocolate bar and sleigh rides. My favorite color is pink, I want light pink flowers and bridesmaid dresses, with white or off white with a very vintage feel with pearls and lace. I love the idea of candles and flowers everywhere. I adore very full open flowers like mums and garden roses; I picture pink glass wear and plates, with pink lighting to soften the room.”

Here’s what Amanda put together:

I love seeing how different every one of the inspiration boards that we put together for clients turns out! Weddings are unique and very much a reflection of the couple and their relationship! Everyone has a different vision of what they’d want their wedding to look like and that’s one of our favorite parts of our job! Even when we have 2 clients that are describing something very similar, they turn out to be completely different!

Cheers,

Mandi, Rachelle and the Champagne team

Did someone say giveaway? Just last night I saw the preview for the new Sex and the City movie, which premieres May 27th! I can’t wait to see it! Portland Style Unveiled is giving away the umbrella that Sarah Jessica Parker picked out from Bella Umbrella to use in the movie… see more details here!

Inspiration board for Amanda

2010-05-04T00:06:54Z

The other day Rachelle, Amanda, Danielle and I all got together to talk about some upcoming stylized photo shoots we have in the works and got a little side track when we starting talking about what Danielle and Amanda’s dream weddings would be! We decided that Amanda would make an inspiration board based off of what Danielle described would be her dream wedding and Danielle would make an inspiration board off of what Amanda described as her dream wedding and we’d share them with you! Today I’m going to share with you the inspiration board that Danielle put together for Amanda! Enjoy!

Here’s part of what Amanda said while describing her dream wedding,

“I would love my wedding to be in the spring time with a color scheme of black, white and a grass green. Somehow I would like to incorporate black and white stripes, whether it be the table cloths, drapery or the ribbon on my bouquet. My vision for bridesmaid dresses would be a black strapless, empire waisted, cocktail length dress with a green sash. I picture a whimsical wedding, with chandeliers, lots of candles and white/silver butterflies hanging from the ceiling. I love shopping at Anthropologie and would love a touch of that thrown in. My dream dress would be a Monique Lhuillier gown, that is full, fluffy and fairy tale like, with a pair of sparkly pair of Christian Louboutin heels. For flowers, I would want white (maybe yellow and orange too) roses and tulips with green leafs surrounding the bottom of the vase.”

Here’s what Danielle put together:

We’ll be sharing Amanda’s inspiration board for Danielle tomorrow! It’ll be interesting to see how their vision changes over time… Do you think it’ll be the same for their real wedding? What was something that inspired the design for your wedding?

Hope you’re enjoying this blustery day!

Cheers,

Mandi, Rachelle and the Champagne team