Distractions

I have a lot of shit to do(see last post). But in between complaining about how busy and stressed out I am, I'm planning my next road trip with Pat instead of getting shit done-real things with deadlines etc. I just get so distracted planning things for fun instead of planning things I have to plan-which is still kinda fun but of course less, because you have to (and because the event is in less than two weeks).

One of Pat's good friends from college is getting married in Montana at the end of July. So naturally we are turning it into Ghost Town road trip part two- on crack(or bath salts, your choice). Because we're also going to try to go to Yellowstone. And visit Michelle who lives in seriously the bottom of Idaho. Oh and PS attend a wedding.

But there are some out of control awesome ghost towns in Idaho and Montana. With plenty of standing buildings, and hopefully less abandoned motor homes and piles of trash (I'm looking at you Oregon). I'm really into the old jails, and I think a couple on our agenda are still standing. One of them (fingers crossed!) still has standing gallows. And so many cemeteries.

Inspiration Boards

Sweet miss Michelle posted a couple of idea boards I made on Oh, Mishka today. You can take a look here.

A case of the Mondays

Things that made this Monday more bearable than most (even though I didn't get president's day off...womp womp)

-Free parking downtown because of the holiday. Score!

-Starbucks meeting with our September Bride to meet her mom and discuss details. Three great things about this. 1. got me out of the office for an hour and a half. 2. I got to show the bride some inspiration boards I spent a lot of time on and I think they were at least a little helpful. yay!
3. Grande soy latte with vanilla.

-There was nobody in the office so I got to catch up on Lauren and Michelle's blogs(not all day! just a little. I did work. a little.). My favorites. Look how stinking cute Lauren's latest outfit post is.

-Also, got to talk to Michelle a bit tonight which was double awesome.
She was my first friend in college and the only person I know who really shares my interest in all things pretty/bloggy/bridal/styled.

-While I was at work my dad posted a bunch of great photos like this one of Joseph at the dog park.


-My valentine's flowers are still kickin. The tulips gave up on me this weekend but I re-worked the rest a little and they still look quite pretty. My branches are even growing little leaves!



-Sorta related, went through the first pictures I took with my new ($40 from BigLots!) camera and there are several drunken/silly photos of Pat and I that are enjoyable even if not necessarily attractive. For example,


-The drive home was a breeeeeeze because of the people who had the day off. Beautiful sunset and it only took me 40 minutes. If only that could happen every day.

-My parents made really delicious brussel sprouts for dinner.

-And now, I know that I get to sleep past 5am tomorrow because I don't have to be in the city till 9 for an Administrative Assistant Conference. Which means although I don't have the day off, I will not be in my office. So, that's a perk.

I hope this sets the tone for the rest of the week. It is waaay past my bed time. Happy Monday!

Sweet Dreams/Bravo Show

I'm in wedding mode lately. Been doing lots of work with and lots of thinking about Sweet Dreams, the wedding planning company I intern/work as an assistant for. I hadn't really done a post about them (I don't think. I forget things) so I thought while I'm knee-deep in wedding things I might as well do that.

The ladies I work for, Lisa and Tilly, are seriously amazing. I adore them.
They adore me too. But that goes without saying.

Obviously being very professional and testing out local photo booth vendors.

Brides Against Breast Cancer show. Selling dresses for healthy knockers.

They authorized me to do a friends and family promotion. SO, I don't know if anyone who reads this is engaged or soon-to-be engaged but if you book an appointment for a free consultation and tell them I sent you, it's $250 off our day-of services or $500 off our full-service package. You can check out the website to read about our services and look at some photos. These ladies are top notch. And not just because I work with them. They really are amazing at what they do. Every bride should have a planner. I believed it before and now having worked several weddings of different sizes and styles I believe it even more. If anyone has any questions about planning/what we do please ask me. My email is mridderb@gmail.com. Or you can always ask Lisa and Tilly at info@sweetdreamsbridal.com.

Now onto the show...

We just did the Bravo show downtown at the Embassy Suites. It's a really fantastic show where you get paired up with several vendors and then collaborate to design a room that showcases everyone's talents. We were working with Royce's Prop Shop and Event Floral to design the room.(our other vendors were JaCiva's, Simply Thyme Catering, The Oregon Garden, and Alyssa Jul Photography) The show is such a creative opportunity and I really loved being able to help create our room and looking at what other people had come up with.

The Bravo Site will most likely post pictures and video from the show but here are a couple (crappy phone) pictures of our room. The theme was Spring Garden Romance. Everyone else went elaborate and over the top. Ours was romantic and pretty. Amazing drippy spring flower arrangements everywhere!

I'm not generally into the sashes on chairs...but most weddings have something similar. If there has to be a sash, I enjoy the side tie with the small votive arrangement. Simple and pretty.

In love with the tall antiqued stand for the arrangement. And also, the arrangement. Swoon. It has sunset heather which is my favorite shade of pink and one of my favorite flowers. Not big into the diamonds. But my wedding planner ladies are all about the bling.
They're not terrible, I suppose.
(we don't always agree on decor. I like wildflowers and hay bales. They like crystals and orchids.)

You can just barely see the pretty bistro lights and tree in this one. The tree has lovely little votive arrangements hanging in it like the ones on the chairs.

new favorite wedding

Umbrellas hanging from trees. Sparklers. Living room furniture in a forest. Hand painted signs.
Ring toss. Buckets of beer. Photo booth. Just, incredible.

Flower Porn

I think I've mentioned ink & peat on here before. They are a florist/boutique whose floral design I found and fell in love with before I knew they were Portland-based. Then I loved them even more. I have a small dream of picking up a mystery arrangement from them every two weeks or so. Would be so wonderful to just see what they come up with. Their designs are just amazing. Would love love love to do one of their workshops.
Anyway, was feeling floral today and decided to peruse their portfolio and blog. Swoon.

Really big fan of the giant Dahlia and the unbalanced feel of this bouquet. Hands down the prettiest bridal bouquet I've ever seen.

Usually I don't love the really compact bridal bouquets (think round bunches of red roses. ick) but I really love this. It looks so soft.

Drippy. Whistful. Young. Sophisticated. Dreamy. Seductive. Man oh man. This arrangement kills me. It's my favorite.

Spectacular, no?

I have a thing for scabiosa. that's the feathery looking purple with a greenish center. They look like swinging in the rain feels.

I think this one looks like good sex. Is that a little graphic for a floral arrangement?

Sometimes I pretend...

...that I'm Chelsea Fuss(stylist extraordinaire and sort of my idol. In a very non-creepy way of course)

I got to style our office holiday dinner a few weeks ago. My pictures are terrible but it turned out amazing and I'm not sure I've ever been so proud of myself.

That's me way at the end! The space is Luce which was a great blank canvas. We made and hung swags of curly willow and holly from the rods that run along the wall.

Boyfriend conveniently has access to empty wine bottles in this great dirty green color that you can't actually see very well in any of my photos because I'm useless with a camera. Below is the best picture of the colors. I used the bottles as candle holders and also as vases for sprigs of the curly willow(I'm in love with curly willow, by the way) and holly. They were beautiful and covered in melted wax by the end of the night.

We had amazing food, catered by Navarre and a convenient power outage towards the end of the night that really let us enjoy the candlelight.
Yay for my first opportunity to style an event on my own!

Weddings are pretty great.

Yesterday I worked my third wedding for my internship. I'm loving it so far. Even if I miss my weekends.

Being involved in someone's wedding is a really interesting experience. When you've got that coordinator name tag on, you become intimately involved with the entire operation and therefore the entire family and bridal party. It is ultimate people-watching. While our brides and grooms have been so different and great to work with- what I have really loved is meeting their families and friends. I meet, work with, and observe these people on the day of their sister's/brother's/son's/daughter's/grandchild's wedding. Their emotions are high and people react so differently. There are proud sisters and jealous best friends and relieved mothers (one said to me at rehearsal: "this is the last daughter. They're all married. I've done my job." Funny way to see it, I thought. A little 'Mrs. Bennett' even. But it occurs to me that a lot of people still feel that way) I also love watching the way two whole families interact. The ability of a Michael Jackson song to unify a group of people is pretty impressive. Journey also does the trick.
It's very easy to forget that people live in completely different ways. That seems like a silly thing to say but I forget often that even people who live in the same country or even the same region, with roughly the same socio-economic status and even the same ethnic background often view the world/live their lives in so many different ways. You get to learn a lot about people in observing the way they celebrate things-especially a marriage. For some it is a very formal recognition of commitment. For others it is a party about love. While working these weddings I've been thanked repeatedly, I've been ignored, I've been hugged, I've been treated like 'the help', and I've also been pulled onto the dance floor by the bride and groom. I guess the point of this, if there is a point, is that people are really interesting, and different, and intriguing, and I feel very lucky to be able to interact with them on a day that is so important to them.

And with weddings on the brain- enough about people. Here is one of the most wonderfully styled weddings I've ever seen. I'm just so in love with it. I want to pause it and walk around inside like they do in Big Fish.
I've also come across some fantastic wedding party photos today. I adore a creative/unique wedding party- especially when they all look genuinely happy.



And also, umbrellas and parasols are wonderful.

wedding planning

I think that wedding planning should be approached as though you are "branding" the couple. Creating their room-feel and aesthetic as a couple. Making something that represents them as two individuals and as a couple. Something I would like to do someday.

Post-edit. Original blog entry was at 3:14 Am this morning. Actually surprised that the first drunken blog entry took a year.

It almost makes sense. And was something that I was going to write about anyways but...goodness.