Saturday, July 10th

Another gorgeous day at BeckenRidge, slight breeze brilliant blue skies and a high of 80 degrees. Mt. Hood still could be seen. We soon will loose sight once the field burning starts and hope to see it again very soon. Either way it is great to see it on this beautiful Saturday morning.




Florist arrived first, Diane from Diane Green Designs and husband started immediately unloading the car of the flowers. The yellow lemons and Gerber daisies are just stunning.

The bridal party arrived soon there after and helped Kea (coordinator/aunt) with some of the details in preparing for the ceremony and reception. Then they guys headed to their designated area to get ready and the girls in their room finishing the last touches before pictures started. Kaitlyn the photographer www.kc.photography.com started taking pictures of the grounds and of the group getting ready. Then there was the first look of they bride & groom taken by the front doors while all the bridesmaids watch their reactions from inside the main room.

As pictures were being taken around the property, Joan from Dessert Diva and catering www.divacateringandcakes.com showed to start with the final preparation of food and cake. This group decided to do more of a brunch style meal with the ceremony starting at 1pm vs the more traditional time of anywhere between 3p - 5p. This saved a little in the budget with a lunch menu vs dinner menu.




Mom escorted the bride for the ceremony, non traditional, but since the father had passed away it was great to see them both lean on each other.








The ceremony was great they had written their own vows which brought some laughter and tears very emotional.






The laughter continued after the ceremony as all enjoyed the reception and dancing. Dancing was enjoyed by all and nicely provided from NW Mobil DJ's www.nwmobiledjservice.com.





Before you knew it guests lined up outside to say their goodbyes and continued congrats to the bride and groom as they exited to their car and left for the honeymoon.

Friday, July 2nd - Fighting with the rain

Besides continual fighting with the rain this was a beautiful wedding. Considering the circumstances the family was very calm and going with the flow. The selling point for the bride was to walk down the cobblestone walkway to the lawn for the ceremony and although it had rained most of the morning on and off, her wish came true. We waited until the last possible moment to setup the white Italian chairs on the lawn that they rented from BeckenRidge, and when it decided to downpour right after that, towels were provided to wipe off chairs. As the guests and bridal party were about to head down to their seats in came another shower. Round TWO of towel service!! They didn't waste any more time, and the ceremony commenced.


Even though the showers persisted throughout the day, the photographer Katy Sharratt http://www.ksphotographyblog.com/ captured some amazing pictures in the vineyard with the bride and groom. The best part is she shared some of her work with us.

For the ceremony, music was provided by a talented group called the Amici Quartet (sabigail@comcast.net). They set up their own tent on the fountain patio located on the corner of the lawn. This is a great touch for an outdoor ceremony.

While getting ready the bride enjoyed the benefits of the Bella Package. The girls nibbled on fruit, cheese and crackers. They washed it all down with champagne and orange juice-also known as mimosas.


The guys enjoyed a similar setup in the Belvedere Groom's room. They chose Coors Light with their assorted tray of meat, cheese and crackers. This picture taken off the Belvedere porch with the guys in the Riesling.




After the ceremony, as the bride and groom were getting more pictures Brice's Catering provided a nice display of finger foods from fresh fruits and vegetables to chicken kabobs and meatballs.






Tables were set with BeckenRidge 90" Ivory linens, surrounded with our tapestry chairs set inside. On the patio they had our black chairs, so that each room would be uniform.

They brought in their own pink overlays, mirror tiles and had simple centerpieces with floating candles.

The bride and groom had a lovely first dance, and then continued to say their hellos to all their family and friends as the evening went on.

Instead of paying a DJ, they decided to use BeckenRidge's stereo system. They had a laptop plugged in to our speakers and with a friend to man it all, this setup worked great.



The evening came to an end when the bride and groom left to their honeymoon in a well decorated car. Traditional cans were hanging from the tail end, and the sound marked the beginning of a wonderful life together!

Beautiful Saturday June Wedding

Well Oregon weather finally took a break from the rain and came through for this destination wedding. Most of the guests, including the bride & groom, are from Wisconsin and they are enjoying the views and the warm sun. This is what June is all about and should be all month long.

This group really eased into their day with a start of hair and makeup from Face, Body and Beauty www.facebodybeauty.com. BeckenRidge started the girls with the Bella package of fruit, cheese, crackers, champagne and orange juice while they finished getting ready.

Becca from SHE Designs (with Sue arriving a little later) www.shedesignsevents.net arrived about the same time as the girls and immediately started into finishing the details of setup. BeckenRidge already had the white linens, white Italian chairs, tables, bistro tables and ceremony chairs in place upon their arrival. Michelle from Image Floral www.imagefloral.com also was on her way with setup inside and on the lawn. Everything just turned out beautifully.




The guys showed up right on que and headed for the Belvedere room, where they were welcomed with their beer of choice, meat, cheese, crackers and to keep them hydrated water was readily available. They enjoyed their room with Foosball, poker set, satellite TV, stereo and those that wanted some fresh air stepped out onto the covered deck overlooking the Riesling and simply took in the views.


Photographer Kris Stalnaker www.stalnakerphotostudio.com arrived next, quickly oriented himself of who was where and started into the getting ready shots. He really had a fun time with this group, both bride and groom where cheerleaders back home in the good old college days along with most of the bridal party. The pictures really show them in action. :)


Right along side Kris Stalnaker was Ryan Chaney from Focal Point Digital Media www.focalpointvideo.biz videotaping all the action. This video is going to be amazing http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1519058898763&ref=mf. If you can't see it via the blog go to BeckenRidge's facebook and take a glimpse of what Ryan has put together, just gave us goosebumps.


With most of the guests arriving on the Raz bus the ceremony started pretty much on time. Deepwood Strings was here with a quartet playing beautifully and staged nicely on the patio with the water fountain and a tent (rented from BeckenRidge) placed to shade them from the sun.


As the ceremony took place Eric from Mobil Music www.mobilmusic.com and Wild Pear www.wildpearcatering.com were making sure everything was in place for guests as they reentered from the ceremony. Food was excellent as always and nicely displayed. This really was an all star cast of vendors, it was great seeing Carolyn from Edelweiss Cakes www.edelweisscakes.com. The cake was simple and elegant with just a few flowers added.


The bridal party was announced through the front doors, always a cool way to go. The reception lasted about 5 hours a little longer than normal, but worked well with this group.




They really enjoyed themselves and when it came to an end the college fight song was sang by all.




The Raz bus waited for the guests and the bride and groom to take them back to their hotels. As only a few stayed behind to gather the last pieces from the wedding, mostly Sue & Becca from SHE Designs handled cleanup, which is always nice to have coordinators makes the day for everyone more enjoyable.




BeckenRidge staff always stays behind a little longer with the re-stacking of chairs and our own clean up in order to prepare for the next event/wedding. While doing so we happened to catch a beautiful harvest moon creeping over the horizon. It is hard to capture the full beauty of it, but here is what the camera got. Enjoy!

Saturday, June 19, 2010

If all weddings could run as smoothly as this wedding did, it would make our job a lot easier!

The coordinator was the first to show up and start decorating. She placed the vases, rented from BeckenRidge on the head table, so the bridesmaids could put their bouquets in them after the ceremony. This is becoming more and more popular, this also takes the place of having more flower arrangements on the tables.

Next to arrive was Karen Eagen from Madison Avenue Flowers. She has done flowers here at BeckenRidge for over 5 years. She is great to work with, easy going and flower arranging comes so easily to her. The centerpieces included bowls with floating candles and colored marbles. They sat on BeckenRidge's mirror tiles, and scattered with flower petals.

It was a simple design, but looked very elegant with the black table cloths. All tables except the head table were surrounded by our ever popular white Italian chairs. This arrangement allowed the head table to stand out and be a focal point in the room.

The morning was so relaxed and with only the coordinator and florist here it went very smoothly. The guys were the next to arrive. Not only did the groom have his three attendants, he had six more guys that were in the Navy with him. These six guys took part in the ceremony with what is referred to as the Arch of Sabers.

When the Bride arrived with her hair and makeup done she was calm and collected and was happy to see that the decoration and flowers had turned out so nicely. They wasted no time in getting her dress on, which was the first short dress of the season. It was vintage looking and very fashionable. She looked lovely.

They took most of the pictures before the ceremony, and then by 3pm after the rain had cleared up, the groomsman went outside to wipe down all the chairs and make sure they were all dry. It was nice to see that everyone wasn't stressing over the weather, and it all worked out great!


After the ceremony everyone headed to the main building for the reception. Wild pear www.wildpearcatering.com catered the wedding, and by the time the bride and groom were done saying "I do" they were at the food table.

There was a line up of great vendors that made the day run so smoothly. Besides a wonderful florist, and delicious catering, there was Fred Molesworth and his wife Kathie, from Encore photography www.encorephotography.com. They are veterans here at BeckenRidge, and we love the work that they do.


Marion Barnes from Myriad Cakes and Design www.myriadcakedesign.com did the cakes. Yes, plural! This wedding had a special groom's cake. Fun, and interesting. Not really sure the story behind it, but I'm sure there is one.

Family and friends enjoyed the reception with beats by Mobile Music Sounds www.mobilemusic.com. And with a long day behind them guests relaxed as the evening came to an end. The day was a success!

Dancing Machine's Wedding! June 5, 2010

The sun decided to show off today and we were pleasantly surprised by just how beautiful it was!
The rehearsal was another story with pouring down rain.
Right away as the bridal party, coordinator and family arrived they began to set-up and decorate.BeckenRidge had already preset the tables with white linens and white napkins were available to them. Also, above the mantle we placed cylinder vases which contained floating candles.
As they began to decorate the tables, they came together quite quickly with lots of helpers pitching a hand. They also decided to go with renting BeckenRidge's white Italian chairs for the reception inside the building, on the patio as well as for the lawn ceremony.

When it was time for pictures the photographers: Michael Sherwood (503.358.5417 lcplsherwood@yahoo.com) and Azedin Trnjanin (503.380.8965 ataperture.com) took the girls and guys down to the lawn to do some fun photos.

After the ceremony Kevin Soderstrom 503.363.6908, a well known piano player, who is much acquainted with our baby grand piano, played soft back ground music as the reception was starting and the guys were moving the DJ setup onto the patio for the dance party. This was a great transition because it still allowed music to be playing while the guests were entering the building from the ceremony and it also allowed the DJ to move his setup wile still having music playing.

Dinner was catered by Carusos Italian Cafe www.carusositaliancafe.com who offered some great pasta dishes, and were a blast to work with.

For a DJ the groom had his own equipment, as it is a hobby of his. So, he had a couple of his buddies help him out with running the music. There was one setup down on the lawn fountain patio, for the ceremony. Then when that was done they moved the equipment up to the patio where they continued to play music and start their never ending dance party.


It all started when the bride and groom had their first dance, which looked more like a planned performance. They were hilarious and it was clear they were having the time of their lives!




This reception lasted about four and a half hours of just dancing and drinking and having fun! The covered patio was the perfect place for their dance floor since it was so nice outside and they had plenty of room to move around and lots of space for dancers.


The finale was when family and friends gathered outside to bid the newlyweds farewell. The bride and groom both grabbed hold of a black duffel bag and ran out the big wood doors of BeckenRidge. They jumped in a car and was taken away to their honeymoon. The night was a success and fun at that! Another wedding completed!

Sunshine Couple

To start off this blog I first need to explain the title. This couple booked with us roughly 14 months ago. Every time since that first day, they always brought the sunshine with them even when they brought family and friends through out the following months. After a very crazy week of rainy weather and many Plan B's it is their day and sure enough the sun follows them and this time they brought the warmth we have been waiting for. Summer is here and pray it stays till October. :)

The vines are loving this sunshine too, we should start seeing up to 5 inches of growth this week a so needed catch up. Guests are also enjoying the vines and the mountains that graced us. Mt. Hood, Mt. Jefferson and The Three Sisters all appeared on the horizon. Mt. Jefferson you could see clear as day on the lawn while watching the ceremony, so beautiful.

The day started of as easy going as they get. BeckenRidge already had set out the tables, Italian chairs and white linens inside. BeckenRidge bistro tables with white linens were placed on the covered patio for the cocktail hour and the lawn was set with more Italian chairs for the ceremony.

When the bride arrived she was greeted with her Bella package (fruit, cheese, crackers and mimosa's). The groom and his guys arrived not to long after the girls and they headed for the Belvedere Room (overlooking the Riesling) they rented to occupy them while waiting for the ceremony.

Since they decided not to see each other till the ceremony, many pictures still needed to be taken. After the ceremony the bridal party and family did a receiving line and guests came up to the covered patio for appetizers and a glass of wine, beer or a root beer. Everyone enjoyed the yummy eats and refreshing beverages while watching the bride and groom take their pictures in the vineyard and other parts of the property.

Bistro Catering www.bistrocatering.com from Portland had great presentation with the food, friendly staff, very professional and oh my the food was amazing. We will recommend them time and time again. Another Portland vendor we saw was Beaverton Bakery www.beavertonbakery.com who brought the 4 tier wedding cake and set it up in record time. Special Occasions www.onestoppartystop.net we see out here a lot and love having them, brought the china, silverware, champagne flutes, water goblets, glass water pitchers for each table and even high chairs for the little ones (bride thought of everything). After the wedding Special Occasions came back for all of the rented items.

We did see a couple new vendors too. This group was very green/organic, leading to a decision of using Midway Farms www.midwayfarmsoregon.com for the floral arrangements on the tables, arch and cake. Cynthia really knew her stuff and ran around making sure everything was perfect.

Calamity Jazz (a 6 piece band of various instruments) 541-461-8071, new to BeckenRidge, set up in the far Northwest corner of the room with plenty of dance floor in front. However, with the weather being so great most choose to do a few turns on the covered patio.



Soon some of the traditional events started to occur. The bouquet and garter toss stick out the most. Mainly because the intense need of the available maidens to catch the bouquet was quite the sight and then the struggle for the bouquet once it was thrown.





Then it was the grooms turn and the guys were not into it as much as the girls, it was entertaining to watch the contrast.





The evening just moved along so easily, we caught the parents of the bride taking a stroll through the vineyard just soaking it all in. It was great to see everyone so relaxed and truly enjoying themselves.





As the day came to an end it was hard to say good bye to my sunshine couple, but they left with smiles and walking through bubbles to go back to The Grand Hotel www.phoenixgrandhotel.com. This truly was a happily ever after couple.