{inspired} portland bloggers

As promised, I want to introduce you to the lovely ladies that attended the Portland Bloggers Summer Social last week.

1. Makaila from Distinctly M, Sarah from Mysterious Object, Amanda from Re-Do and Dorothy Jeane, and Lyn from Two Lovely Spaces

2. Andrea from Seek the Unique, Lydia, and Tate

3. Mandy from Ciao Darling and Mindy from Rindy Mae

4. Kristen from Inspired Whims, Tate from Tate Creates and Lydia from Lydia Lauer

5. Tate and Sarah

6. Katie, from Newcomb Home and Lydia

7. Kristen and Kirsten, from Restored Style

8. Lia from ellinee and Skye from Rose City Bungalow 1913

9. Lia, Amanda, Mindy, Skye and Mandy

Sadly, not pictured, is Danielle from Storypiece. Hi Danielle! I know you were there! Clearly the photographer was off her game, ahem ... go check out Danielle's site! :)

Friends, you should definitely take a few minutes to check out each of these sites! This is a group of incredibly talented women.

After my original post, I had a few questions about how, exactly, you pull together a blogger meetup. I think Kirsten and I took planning for granted, in a way, because we both plan events for our jobs. But, I put together some tips and suggestions if your area doesn't have a blogger meetup and you'd like to pull one together. 

1. Partner with a friend or fellow blogger. I once read on another blogger's site that if you plan a meetup with another blogger and no one else shows, at least you have each other :). You also have a bigger reach then.

2. Pick a location. Kirsten and I were really lucky that we had access to a location that was happy to host us for no cost and has relationship with a {awesome} caterer. This is event planning gold, friends. 

3. Decide what type of event it will be: coffee? dinner? guest lecturer? We opted for dinner because of the caterer relationship.

4. Let people know! Kirsten and I combined our knowledge of Portland bloggers and about three weeks before the event sent out an invite via email. Then a couple days later we both posted the invite on the blog to capture Portland area readers/bloggers that we didn't know.

5. Decor. The fun part! Decide on a color scheme and how you want to decorate. 

6. Communicate. If you're have people rsvp, which I recommend, send them a reminder email the day before. And, make sure to keep in good communication with your event location so they know how many people to expect, what sort of rearranging you'll be doing on the day-of, etc.

I hope this helps! But, if you have questions about planning an event, let me know in the comments and I'll make sure they get answered.

{inspired} a beach{ish} wedding

Happy Monday friends!

Did you all have a great weekend? :) Our weekend was relaxing ... and productive! I love those type of weekends, and they don't happen often enough. If I can find that perfect (and often elusive) balance between productive and relaxing, I'm happy.

Today I thought I'd share a little bit about one of my "hobbies" and a project I'm working on this summer. To give you a little background, I LOVE event planning. There's something about the sheer amount of details to keep track of and coordinate that makes my brain incredibly happy. But, the great thing about events is there is so much room for creativity as well! It's a win-win for me. Planning our wedding, in my mind, was the most fun ever. Seriously, I would marry Chris every five years if we had the money. So, every once in a while, and usually just for people I know {because I am busy already!}, I coordinate weddings. Usually I'm the day of coordinator ... I think they're critical and I love being able to help out people that way. I've given my coordinating abilities as gifts a couple times. And, I've taken a couple referrals and made a little money on the side. Love it! :)

pinterest

But, this summer, one of my favorite people in the world is getting married. There's a lot of background I won't go into, but she's like the little sister I never had. When she got engaged I knew I'd offer to be her coordinator, but I was tickled when she asked me to help with decor as well. YES PLEASE. 

 once wed

design sponge

She's getting married in Washington, but her theme is beachy. Since it's not at the beach, we don't want it to scream themey-beachy, but we want to give the same feeling as being at the beach: light, bright, open and airy. Her colors are a pretty bright blue, with accents of light blue, yellow, white and tan. Of course, I've been researching inspiration photos for her to get ideas. And of course, I put together an inspiration board. :) Wanna see? Good! Because it's below:

{Clockwise from bottom left} Her colors are blues and tans. She's definitely planning on having a dessert table, and I love the streamers behind this one -- so festive. She opted for no table flowers, so instead I'm thinking items that are beachy, but not themey: driftwood, sea grasses, sand, shells, succulents and TONS of candles. I love the idea of having white table clothes with a bolder blue accents. I think it will keep the room really light. Obviously, it would be cute to have fun with the straws. The room the reception's in is TALL. We're brainstorming ways to make it a little more intimate. Lanterns strung down? So dreamy. And, we'll need lots of signage to direct people I love this twine and blackboard sign. It's relaxed and casual, yet still so cute.

Friends, what do you think of when you think of the beach? How would you capture the feeling of beachy, without being too themey? The bride and I would LOVE your thoughts! :)