Weddingbee boards

Hey Portland Bees! I saw on some of the posts there were questions about different vendors, and reccomendations for others. Since we are all in the same proverbial boat, lets create a place for all our vendor reccommedations.

Photography: Elle Images Photography. Laura is our photographer and she did some amazing enagement photos for us. Her prices are great and I think her photos are even better. She is local to the area and can travel if you are going to like the beach, hood river, or really anywhere you want her to go. She has great advice on posing and makes you super comfortable while shooting (which lets be honest, can be a little awkward.) She also does boudior photos for any of you ladies who would like to do them as a grooms gift.

www.Elleimagesblog.com

Cake/Baker: Brandie with Flirt Cakes. Brandie is the one we have chosen to make our cake and cupcakes for our dessert bar (we are thinking that we would like to add ice cream and or gelato to this as well, so please let me know if you know of a good vendor for this). We found her at the Tigard Farmer's Market this summer, man she is amazing, and she also catered my FI corporate party, which is what really sealed the deal. Seeing that also she is a one woman shop and she handled 700+ cupcakes was pretty amazing. She has delicious combonations with fresh fruit and they are all hand made and decorated with top-notch ingredients.

www.flirtcakes.com

Yelp Review(s)

DJ: We are using a referra from a friend of ours who used to DJ, named Zeke. Zeke is a great guy with a great personality who really seems to know his business. He doesn't have a website as far as I know, but his prices are great and he has all of his own gear. If you want more information about him, please PM me, as I don't want to put his phone number up here without his permission.

Venue: We are going with the Crystal Ballroom in Downtown Portland. They handle all of the catering and alcohol in house and have additional packages that you can add on if needed like candles, sound (it is a music venue) and lighting. You also get a DOC (who rocks by the way) and there is no fee to use the venue, just a food and beverage minimum. The Crystal has a hotel a block or two away, which is also a bonus.

Crystal Ballroom

Hotel/Accomodations: We have not officially booked our room block yet, but we are planning to go with the Crystal Hotel (via the Crystal Ballroom) and the Hotel deLuxe which is a little nicer (okay, quite a bit, but the Crystal Hotel is full of character and has a spa in the basement) and is a few blocks in the other direction. Hotel deLuxe is full of classic old Hollywood glamour that you just can't beat and the prices aren't through the nose either like some of the other nice hotels in Portland.

Hotel deLuxe

Bridal Shop: This isn't your most typical bridal salon, and no you will not get champagne and a private dressing room, but you will get one heck of a deal on a dress. This is kinda like Klienfeld's "Running of the Brides" but a lot more civil. There are a ton of dresses, most of them are the only ones of their style, and they are super affordable. My reccomendation is to go to your local salon, try on 50 dresses with your champagne and private room to get an idea of what you like. Then, high-tail it over to see Fran at FABulous Affordable Bridal and bring along your craziest bridesmaids and future in-laws to gown hunt for you. You will leave with an amazing dress you never thought you would be able to afford...

http://fabulousaffordablebridal.com/

Seamstress: Kathy of Kathy's Stitchery came to me by referal from Fran (see post above) as my dress was WAY too big for me. She does an amazing job bringing in my dress and adding some special things to it. She is rather affordable (at least I think so) and easy to schedule.

www.Bridal101.com

Well, that is all we have for now, but I hope it helps, and I am looking forward to your feedback on your vendors!