To Rent or not to Rent. That is the question...

Since we’re a rental company, you’re probably expecting me to just say that renting decor and supplies for your wedding is the way to go, regardless of the circumstances. Not quite. I’m going to give you a list of pros and cons and let you decide for yourself which works best for you and your planning. Everyone is different. Sometimes buying works best for people. Other times, renting does. After taking a look at this list, if you feel like you’re more in the “rentals are definitely the way to go!” camp, shoot us an email or give us a call and we can get you set up with whatever you might need.

Cons of Renting:

• Rentals aren’t always the cheaper option.

• A lot of rental companies have a minimum order amount that you have to meet (ours is only $25)

• If something breaks, you have to pay for it.

• It might be hard to find the exact thing that you’re looking for

• If delivery isn’t included, you have to coordinate picking up and dropping off the rentals.

• If your venue provides some decor, and you’re renting more - who’s going to set it all up?

• DIYing can be an awesome creative release

• You can maybe make back the money that you spend by selling things after your wedding.

Pros of Renting:

• Can save a lot of valuable time instead of having to do the shopping yourself

• Who really wants to iron/steam all those tablecloths? I was doing that the night before my wedding. Not as fun as you would think.

• There’s often a lot of “stuff” that needs to be packed for a wedding. When you rent and include delivery, you don’t have to worry about how everything is going to fit.

• Going along with the point above, when renting, you don’t have to pack up all the rentals before the wedding, or clean them afterwards and put them away.

• Washing 320 charger plates by hand is not fun. Trust me on this.

• When you rent dishes, you just have to scrape the food off. No washing involved. Again, cutting down on washing stuff is awesome.

• If you opt for delivery and set up and styling, you and your friends and family can sit back and relax and enjoy your wedding day instead of working.

• A lot of rental companies offer “treasure hunting”. Let us do the research and shopping around for the unique pieces that you want so that you can focus on going to dessert tastings.

• You don’t have to worry about what to do with all the left over stuff afterwards. You don’t have to stress about selling it or putting it away or cleaning it or having it take up space in your house.

• If you're not a natural DIY type it can end up costing a lot of nickles and dimes as you go through trial and error. Not to mention the hours and hours of time lost, never to be found again.

I’m sure that there are more pros and cons that I didn’t think of. But it all comes down to picking which works best for you. If you have plenty of time, are super crafty and have no problem getting your hands dirty, doing your own decor and rentals might be the way to go. But if you are short on time, need some guidance or inspiration and want to not have to worry about anything on your wedding day, renting through a company would be a good fit for you. If you’re feeling like the pros of renting outweigh the cons, let us know how we can help.

Get to know two of the faces behind the business

I recently did an interview with Amber from Sightglass Photography.  Find out some tips, why we do what we do and meet our littlest mascot, my daughter Elora.  What other questions do you have that we didn't address?

What's your wedding style?

Thought we'd have a little fun and create a wedding style quiz.  Check it out!

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Creative Ideas to incorporate your personalities into your wedding day

I want to share with you something that is extremely important to me.  Making your wedding your own and not a cookie cutter wedding that doesn't reflect you as a couple. 

Lego Unity Ceremony- Picture by Natalie Arabadzhi Photography

When I was planning my own wedding, there were two questions that I kept asking myself:  "Have I seen this before?" and "Does this reflect us and our personalities?".   If you're asking yourself the same questions, than this is the blog post for you.

How can I personalize my Ceremony?

One of the most common ways to personalize your ceremony is to write your own vows, which of course, we did.  Don't be afraid to think outside of the box when it comes to your vows and what you want to say to one another.

Another way to make sure that your ceremony is about you as a couple is to look at different options for a unity ceremony if you want one.  Lots of couples do candles or sand.  I've even seen cocktails (which is awesome!).  But I've never seen a Lego ceremony until our wedding.

Our son was 7 when my husband and I got married.  Legos were (and still are) HUGELY popular in our house.  While planning the wedding, I literally had a dream about creating a Lego heart with 3 missing pieces, a different color for each one of us.  I woke up the next morning and decided that that would be the perfect unity ceremony to represent our family.  It's now in a shadow box in our living room and we've added two more blocks of different colors for our two youngest children.

But there's only so many ideas that you can do for decor...

Centerpiece from the Sweetheart Table-notice the title of the books?   Picture by Natalie Arabadzhi Photography

Close up of my husband's grandparent's wedding picture.  And the "groom" drinking glass.  Notice the cow in the background?  That's an inside joke from my maid of honor.  Picture by Natalie Arabadzhi Photography

Is there?  Let's look at centerpieces...vases, candles, wood rounds, books, table runners...they're all awesome.  They can all be absolutely gorgeous.  AND they can all also be personalized in some way.  For my wedding, I had books, assorted milk glass, assorted Pearl China, some candles, and pictures of our family members and ancestors on their wedding days and other great family pictures.  I would encourage you to look for 2-3 things that show your personalities or that are important to you and incorporate them into your decor.  Even with our books, I had Star Wars books and theatre books as an added detail to reflect my husband and me.

What else can I do to make my wedding unique?

So here's the deal, I could probably write a book about all the different ways that you can make your special day all about you as a couple.  But if I give you all the ideas, then it won't reflect you.  What I do recommend is that you don't rule anything out as too "weird" or out of the ordinary.  From brewing your own beer, light saber hilts, a cardboard cutout of Chewbacca and the groom entering to Star Wars music to antique window panes as a guest "book" and stuffed memory teddy bears to honor lost loved ones, there are so many different ideas out there to make your wedding day something that definitely breaks the mold. 

If you'd love some guidance on ideas, please don't hesitate to contact us for a consultation.  It's what we love to do.  I'll leave you with a picture of our favor-a Swedish Love Knot- that was a nod to my heritage.

Miniature Swedish Love Knot- Picture by Natalie Arabadzhi Photography

A unique way to add personal touches to your day without breaking the bank

Throwback Thursday to 2 years ago when we had the privilege to style and coordinate a vow renewal for an amazing and unique couple through our sister company, A Classic Affair. 

We wanted to add details that meant something to the couple personally.  Little pieces that they would see and love because they knew that we planned it all for them specifically. 

While planning the specific decor, we decided to think outside the box a bit.  Instead of hunting for expensive figurines and models to add into the centerpieces, we chose Metal Earth models and then spray painted them to match the color scheme.  Yeah, it took more time to put them together and paint than it would have to just buy something.  But this enabled us to find more unique pieces for much less. 

This is what we love to do.  We love to do the creative problem solving for our couples.  We like to think of different ways to help bring their vision to life without breaking the bank.

Notice the small gold models arranged on the suitcases. :)

A "life-saving" wedding planning tip!

What's with the ribbon and fabric?!

Time spent planning a wedding is exciting and exhausting all at the same time.  With so many details to keep track of, we thought it would be nice to share a hint that we found to be helpful in wedding planning we’ve done.

Whether you know right from the beginning exactly what colors you want for your wedding, or if you are still going through a zillion color combinations to come up with the exact one, it’s soon apparent that there are more shades of that favorite color than you ever thought possible. 

HERE'S THE TIP!!!!!!!!!

When you do find the perfect colors, cut a strip of ribbon or fabric swatch of each color in your palette.  Keep those ribbons or swatches with you at all times (I kept mine in a ziploc baggie).  You never know when you might run across something and need to make sure the color will work in your scheme.  Share your ribbons or swatches with others who are helping with the planning.  Don’t rely on taking pictures to compare colors, as they rarely show the true colors.  

You might notice that the colors that I have don't match perfectly and that the patterns really just don't go well together.  For my wedding, it worked totally fine because I was working with shades of greens, some yellows and white.  The green floral ribbon was used on my bouquet and on the favors.  Just little accents around the event to bring in that gorgeous pattern.  The swatch of lighter green fabric with the different shades of green and yellow flowers was actually the fabric that we used to make the sundresses for my flower girls.  So don't be afraid to mix and match colors and patterns.  Just use conflicting patterns and designs in moderation as pops of interest and color throughout your day.

Wedding Planning Timeline

Beauty and the Beast Inspired Shoot - Photo by Lauren Rebar

It's been six years since I planned my own wedding.  But I'm currently helping my sister plan her wedding.  If only I had known then what I know now, my own planning would have been just a wee bit less stressful (or, you know...if someone had done the planning for me!)

So, dear readers (however many there are of you), you'll find some planning tips in this blog, along with other fun stuff like interviews with other wedding pros, inspiration galleries, quizzes, and more.

This week, I want to talk about what you should be looking at after you figure out your budget.  Do your budget first!  Believe me.  It'll make everything that much easier.  Plus it'll save time because you won't waste hours looking at venues, dresses and vendors that are out of your budget.

1) Determine what feel/theme/look that you're going for.  Are there specific colors that you want to incorporate?

2) What time of year?  If you're dreaming of an outdoor wedding and you're in the Pacific Northwest, plan on looking at June-September.  But also keep in mind that this is also prime "wedding season" so venues often have higher prices in that time frame.  Do you dream of a ballroom wedding?  You can do anytime of year, which is definitely more flexible with pricing options.

3) Now that you've figured out time of year, that will help you determine what kind of venue you need.  Once you know what kind of venue you're looking for, the location is the first thing that you need to book.  The location determines everything else, from what date is available to vendor limitations.  After your venue is booked, then you can start your search for your vendors.  Ask friends and family who they would recommend.  Google your vendors before you book them, and make sure to meet with them in person at least once prior to your wedding.

PS-There are a TON of wedding planning timelines out there on different websites. www.theknot.com was the one that I used.  It helps to find a timeline that you can personalize for your needs.  Hiring a planner is also a huge help.  If you can swing it in your budget, I definitely recommend it! 

You're Engaged!!!!! Now what?

Methvyn Family Vineyard Wedding Photo by White Ivory

Congrats!!  It's such an exciting time!  You want to figure out all the fun details...what your colors will be, who's going to be part of the bridal party, what your first dance will be...but guess what?  Before you jump right on in and start getting stressed by all the little things, you can't forget the most important planning aspect that will help you immensely (believe me! I know!). 

Figure out your budget.

Yeah.  Money.  It can be boring to talk about when you really just want to figure out what flavor cake to have.  It can even be stressful and uncomfortable.  But, I promise you, if you figure out the budget BEFORE you start making any other decisions, it will make your life easier.  To help take one more thing off your plate, I've included links to three different wedding budget planners.  They can be personalized and edited to fit your unique needs (not everyone wants a limo).  These planners break down all the little details that you might otherwise forget while planning.

Wedding Budget Planner 1

Wedding Budget Planner 2

Wedding Budget Planner 3

So there you are...now sit down with your fiance and take a look at the different spreadsheets.  Happy planning!!

It's all about the money....or is it?

I hear a lot of people wondering which is more cost effective…renting or buying supplies and décor for their wedding.  To be honest, it all depends.  One can save you valuable time while the other might save you some money in the long run.  How about we break it down comparing linens?

Quite often, you can find great deals for linens with online retailers, sometimes for as low as $4.  But they won't come table-ready.  You'll need to iron/steam them yourself, which takes anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on size of linen. 

I would definitely recommend that you wash, dry and hang your linens up before your event.  Hopefully that will save you the hassle of trying to iron all the obnoxious creases and wrinkles out of them the night before your wedding like I did. 

If you were to rent your linens, most places in the Portland area run right around $7-$14 a piece for basic white or black, depending on size and shape.   They’ll come already cleaned and ironed, so all that you have to do is worry about returning them to the rental place after your wedding.    The other benefit of going with renting as opposed to buying is that most rental companies do offer set up as a service, so that it's one less thing for you to worry about on your wedding day.

I could go on with various rental items like place settings and décor. But it’s all going to boil down to the fact that you might find a better deal if you buy, as long as you take the time to do your research for the best deal.  Rentals will definitely save you time and energy, which can be just as valuable as money when you’re busy planning a wedding.   

Our family

I just wanted to take a minute to share the picture that served as the inspiration for our company name.  My oldest son, Austen drew this picture when he was five. He's now 14, and every once in awhile, helps out with business chores (not too often though!)

Family is so important to me.  It's the reason that I quit my 9-5 job to become a stay at home mom.  And the love of family is what inspired my mom and I to start this business.  This business enables us to help other families make those milestone days memorable and unique.