Anna + Tyler // August 6, 2016 // Private Home // North Bend, WA

Anna reached out to me from a recommendation from her aunt.  Her aunt gets her hair done by my sister in law.  Her husband also went to high school with my husband.  We met about 6 months prior to their wedding and got right into planning.  They were holding their wedding at the groom's parents house, which has a gorgeous flat back yard and is beautifully landscaped making it the perfect spot for Anna's vision of a rustic chic, but casual wedding and party!

Anna is a very sweet girl with quite the silly side.  Tyler is very quite until he gets to know you.  Anna had a vision and was pulling it together well, but just need a little help finalizing a few odds and ends and making sure nothing was forgotten.

Fast forward to wedding day.  It was a perfect sunny North Bend Day - mid to high 70 was the forecast.  My husband and I showed up at noon to start set-up.  So much of the decor had already been set out by family.  We jumped in to help finish setting up the tables and adorn them with a tablecloth, home made wood boxes that were filled with garden flowers and a heart table number.  Simple, but made such a statement.  The guest book was set on a old re-purposed dresser.  It was designed as a message in a bottle.  Each guest could write a message on a slip of paper and put it in the bottle.  Tyler and Anna will then read the message at a later date.  Hand drawn chalkboards were strategically set around the venue with fun phrases/sayings.  An old car sat in front of the house, adorned with garden flowers.  The thought and design of the decor was done so well.  

Photos started around the property at about noon.  The photographers style fit in perfectly with the rustic chic Anna was looking for.  As well as they were all just having a really good time while taking photos which helped let so much of  everyone's personalities shine through.  Anna and her girls were in hiding by 3:30 pm, when guest started to arrive.  We held the ceremony a bit due to late arrivals, but got started about 4:15 pm.  It was a short ceremony, but fit them perfectly.  After the ceremony, the guests were asked to grab drinks and mingle while the ceremony space was reset for the reception.  It was a quick transition because so many guests jumped in to help move tables and chairs.

Once the space was flipped and guests had found their seats, Anna and Tyler were introduced into the reception and dove right into the breakfast buffet.  Super yummy from what I heard.  While guests enjoyed their breakfast for dinner, Anna and Tyler made their way around the tables to say hello to everyone.  After the buffet, toasts were given by the maid of honor, a groomsman and the bride and groom gave a heartfelt thank you to their guests for joining them to celebrate their union.  The toasts lead into the cake cutting which ended with a smashed piece in the grooms face and the bride running off to avoid the same.  After a brief break to clean the dance floor, Anna and Tyler had their first dance, which led into a money dance.  They started the dance each with a parent and then guests were invited up to break in, give the couple some cash and share a dance.  The money dance finished and Anna and Tyler went right into the bouquet and garter toss.  Anna did a traditional bouquet toss, but little did Tyler know, he was in for a surprise when he went digging to find the garter.  Out he pulled some baby blue granny panties.  His face was priceless because he thought he would be pulling a garter out to wrap around a football and throw.  Anna looked just as surprised as he did to keep him fooled.  Once he tossed the granny panties a football with the garter did come out for the actual garter toss.  One more request from the bride and groom was a bridal party game of flip cup.  The guys on one side and the girls on the other.  They stated with a shot of fireball together and then into a round of flip cup...ultimately the guys one.  The minute the dance floor opened, it was filled!  The dance floor was full all night, with Anna owning it most of the night.

Once my duties were over, my husband and I were lucky enough to be guests and enjoy the party.  Anna and I fell right into a friendship the minute we started planning together.  She is someone I feel like I have known my whole life!

Thank you Anna and Tyler for allowing me to help plan and coordinate your wedding as well as enjoy your special day.  I will enjoy watching you marriage flourish, your boys grow-up and our friendship continue.  I look forward to the good times!

VENUE// PRIVATE RESIDENCE, NORTH BEND, WA
DAY OF COORDINATION// CASSIE RENAE EVENTS, LLC
PHOTOGRAPHY// FARM HOUSE SISTERS PHOTOGRAPHY
CATERING// THE MOOSE CATERING COMPANY
DESSERT// NEW YORK CUPCAKES
FLOWERS// COUNTRYSIDE FLORAL AND GARDEN
DJ// INJOY ENTERTAINMENT, WAYLON
OFFICIANT// CHERYL WEBER, PERSONAL FRIEND
RENTALS// NATIONAL EVENT PROS + VINTAGE AMBIANCE
HAIR AND MAKE-UP// CHARINA MALINAK
MAKE-UP// FLAWLESS BEAUTY BAR
BARTENDING// SELF SERVE BAR

Sarah + Keenan // September 3, 2016 // Willows Lodge // Woodinville, WA

Sarah and Keenan reached out to me through Wedding Wire well over a year in advance from their wedding date.  They were booked at Bell Harbor International Center and using a nautical theme to bring the whole day together.  They booked my day of coordination package with clean-up.  Sarah and Keenan live in California, so it was important for them to have a coordinator that would help keep them on schedule with planning and have good communication with their vendors.  They noticed in 3 months (December-February) of planning, the venue was not very responsive to them when they were trying to coordinate their rentals.  Come the end of March, Sarah and Keenan received a phone call from the venue that no couple ever wants to receive, let alone 5 months before your wedding date.  The venue they had selected, within the center, would no longer be available for their wedding date as the Port of Seattle and the cruise commissioner were moving up the remodel date.  After trying to work with the venue on spicing up the new location, Sarah and Keenan decided to cut ties and find another venue.

Willows Lodge happened to have a cancellation a week prior on the date Keenan and Sarah needed, so plans were set to move their wedding to Woodinville.  In the end, this venue ended up working out to be perfect venue and really fit Sarah and Kennan better.  Sarah and Keenan are such sweet and vibrant people and compliment each other so well.  Such jokesters they are!  I met with Keenan at the venue when he was up for a visit in June to finalize the catering menu, but I didn't get a chance to meet Sarah until two days before the wedding.  Most of our planning had been via email.

Switching your venue 5 months prior to your wedding can be very stressful, but with a great event manager at the venue, Jenn, re-planning went great.  Since Sarah and Keenan had their other vendors in place, we had the time to concentrate on redesigning their theme and decor and planning out the venue set-up and food.  Sarah and Keenan switched from a nautical theme to lavender and herbs with the lavender color being most prominent and enhanced with ivory, sage and gold.

Willows lodge does 2 events in a day.  Sarah and Keenan had the afternoon slot which means our set-up didn't start until 3:00 pm with a 5:00 pm ceremony.  Right at 3:00 pm the lodge started the room flip and my assistant and I worked right along side them with our set-up of flowers and decor.  Set-up went on as scheduled.  While setting up, pictures were taking place around the grounds.  Willows Lodge is not only a beautiful place for a wedding, but a gorgeous place for photos.  The guest table were set with an ivory tablecloth, gold charger, a lavender cookie at each place setting for a favor and a vase with lavender surrounded with votive candle holders and a table number.  Out in the courtyard sat the guest book table, gift table and escort card table.  The escort cards were handmade folded cards adorned with a sprig of lavender clipped on.

Sarah, Keenan and the bridal party were in hiding by 4:40 pm.  During this down time, they signed the marriage license and Ketubah.  The Ketubah was then taken out to be displayed during the ceremony.  Sarah is Jewish and Kennan is Polynesian so it was very important that both of their religions/cultures be a part of their ceremony.  The ceremony started at 5:00 pm and was a beautiful blend of both Sarah and Keenan.  Following the ceremony, Sarah and Keenan went for some more photos while the guests enjoyed a cocktail hour and were encouraged to find their escort card to direct them to their table for the evening.

Once each guest had found their seat for the evening, Sarah and Keenan were introduced into the reception and went straight into their first dance as husband and wife.  Following their first dance was the HaMotzi prayer and bread cutting, which lead into a buffet dinner.  The HaMotzi bread was served to each guest to enjoy with their dinner.

Once each guest had made their way through the buffet a short slideshow was played which led into toasts.  Toasts were given by four people, The matron of honor, best man, mother of the groom and father of the bride with a surprise toast from one of the groom's brothers.  These toasts had the guests laughing and aahhhing over sentiment.  Toasts turned into the cake cutting and the cake cutting turned into the father-daughter dance and a choreographed mother-son dance.  Since incorporating each of their religions was a big focus of the night, Sarah and Keenan finished the traditional events of with a Hora and asked that all guests please join them on the dance floor, which I believe almost every person did! Once the Hora came to a close the dance floor opened and everyone had a great time dancing to great music.  Around 9:30 pm; late night snacks of breakfast sandwiches and hash browns were brought out (on request of the groom).  Come 11:00 pm, the guesst filtered out and the wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Morrison came to a close.

Thank you Sarah and Keenan for letting me be a part of your special day!  I really enjoyed getting to know both of you!

VENUE// WILLOWS LODGE, WOODINVILLE, WA
DAY OF COORDINATION// CASSIE RENAE EVENTS, LLC
PHOTOGRAPHY// MARISSA RICK PHOTOGRAPHY
CATERING AND BARTENDING// WILLOWS LODGE
CAKE// BORCHINNIS BAKERY
FLOWERS// WHOLESALE FLOWERS ASSEMBLED BY BRIDE AND BRIDAL PARTY
DJ// HEADSMILE PRODUCTIONS
OFFICIANT// JESSICA GREEN, PERSONAL FRIEND
RENTALS// PALISADE
HAIR AND MAKE-UP// SORRIDA SALON
MAKE-UP// FLAWLESS BEAUTY BAR
RENTALS// WILLOWS LODGE

Lindsay + Tyler // August 27, 2016 // Palisade Restaurant // Seattle, WA

Lindsay contacted me about 6 month before her wedding and I had to let her know that while I was available for her wedding date, I wasn't available for her rehearsal, but if she wanted I could design a custom package for her and they would orchestrate their own rehearsal.  Her and Tyler were okay with this plan and away we went with planning!

Lindsay and Tyler choose the Palisade Restaurant for their intimate wedding.  They rented the Alani Room, which has beautiful view of the marina for the reception and the ceremony would be held outside in the courtyard.  The mauve, navy and soft silver colors that Lindsay chose complimented the venue and a late summer wedding so beautifully.  Most of the set-up for wedding day was done by the venue.  I arrived on-site at 2:30 pm for my part of set-up.  The florist arrived shortly after me to adorn the guest tables with beautiful arrangements and set up the ceremony alter which consisted of rust colored pillars topped with beautiful arrangements in large glass vases and small clear vases with baby's breath lined the aisle.  My assistant and I added transparent silver chair ties to the end aisle chairs to soften the aisle.

Lindsay, Tyler and bridal party arrived at 3:15 pm to start photos.  Photos were taken around the grounds, on the docks and featured the beautiful views that surrounded us.  Their photos, which you will see below, are stunning.

Lindsay and her girls went into hiding by 5:30 pm when guests started to arrive. The ceremony started at 6:15 pm.  The weather was perfect and the ceremony was short and sweet.  Following the ceremony,  guests were treated to a cocktail hour with appetizers and a lavender cocktail.  During this time, the Bride and Groom had a little bit of time to relax, enjoy the moment and sign the marriage license.  Once the guests were let into the reception room and found their assigned table, the Bride and Groom were introduced into the reception as Mr. and Mrs. Gagnebin.  Once introduced, they gave a quick welcome and thank you, which lead right into a very tasty buffet dinner.  Dinner was accompanied by soft music from a live band.

Once dinner wrapped up toasts started.  Each toast was very heartfelt and you could see how much this couple is loved and supported by their family and friends.    After toasts was the cake cutting.  This cake was so beautiful - it was almost hard to watch them cut into it.  I meant to get a piece as it was lavender flavored, but totally forgot.  I'm sure it was just as delicious as it looked!  Following the cake cutting, was the first dance.  Lindsay and Tyler took a few dance classes and had a perfectly choreographed first dance as husband and wife.  The first dance lead into the father-daughter dance which was a very special moment watched closely by the groom and his father.  Once the dances were over, the guests were invited onto the patio for the bouquet and garter toss - and you know how those go!  After the traditional items came to a close the dance floor was open and filled up fast.

It was then my time to say goodbye.  This was such a wonderful wedding to be a part of.  Thank you Lindsay and Tyler for hiring me as your coordinator.  I cherish the friendship we have created!

VENUE// PALISADE RESTAURANT, SEATTLE, WA
DAY OF COORDINATION// CASSIE RENAE EVENTS, LLC
PHOTOGRAPHY// INSPIRE BY DANIELLE
CATERING AND BARTENDING// PALISADE RESTAURANT
CAKE// BAKED
FLOWERS// FLOWER LAB
BAND// BOB GULLEY, PERSONAL FRIEND
OFFICIANT// TERRY JAMES, PERSONAL FRIEND
RENTALS// PALISADE
HAIR// CHARINA MALINAK
MAKE-UP// FLAWLESS BEAUTY BAR
TRANSPORTATION// SUPREME LIMO SERVICE