Vanessa & Ryan

This wedding holds a special place in my heart because both the bride and groom are Cougs! Ryan and Vanessa met in Pullman and are now both engineers and live in Mercer Island. The wedding ceremony was lavish and decadent. St. James Cathedral was the beautiful backdrop for this traditional Filipino Wedding and Columbia Tower Club was the sky high reception venue for all 200+ of their guests. Vanessa had the PERFECT dress to walk down the aisle of St. James Cathedral. Reem Acra is know for their ball gowns--and let me tell you, this dress from Voletta Couture in Bellevue was drop dead gorgeous! (see photos below)

Random Factoid: For all you Team Coco fans out there--St. James Cathedral is where your beloved Connan O'Brien got married!

In true WSU Cougar fashion one of the colors of their wedding had to be Crimson. We accented the Crimson with Tiffany Blue and White. Guests were welcomed to cocktail hour at CTC and greeted with a Crimson Strawberry Spritzer, followed by an open bar of course (again in true Cougar fashion.) Guests were escorted to the 76th floor of the Columbia Tower Club for dinner and dancing. Vanessa, a woman after my own heart was obessed with having the right chair for her reception...they chose the gorgrous dark wood Chiavari chairs from Grand Event Rentals. They worked perfectly and were worth every penny!

Check out these fabulous photographs taken by the ever-so-talented Loren Callahan with Alante Photography. This wedding was also featured in Seattle Bride Magazine's latest issue--so check it out on page 108 &109.

Go Cougs!

We are finally on Twitter

Come follow us... @LindemanEvents

SATC2: Girls Night Out for A Purpose

SAVE THE DATE!!! Tickets are limited and they go on sale next week!

If you are a local business in the area and would like to donate to our raffle please contact: events@lindemanweddings.com All Proceeds go to charity!

Evil Eye

I am just so in love with planning weddings that have different cultural or religious traditions other than my own. We have so many different cultures and religions being represented here at Lindeman Weddings this year--I can't wait to start sharing all of them with you. Some wedding traditions I come across I find amusing but most often I find that there is so much meaning behind each tradition--it is just down right endearing.

So I just finished up coordinating a Turkish wedding and I can't wait to share the photos. Best genre of music ever by the way! During that entire reception DJ DaMarr from Wave Link Music and I were trying to contain ourselves--we just wanted to bust out and dance with everyone!

Until the photo debut I wanted to share one of the favors they gave to their guests. Each guest received a box filled with Turkish Baklava. Adorning the ribbon that was tied around the box was a bead like the one pictured below. This is called an 'Evil Eye.' A traditional bead/charm from Turkey and Greece. It is traditionally worn as some form of jewelry, or the bead is pinned onto sweaters and newborn children's clothing, etc. The 'evil eye' is meant to keep other people's envious thoughts from hurting you. I giggled to myself, thinking if there is any place I see lots of jealously, a wedding reception might be up there.

It started me thinking on envy and jealousy. It is everywhere. If something good happens to you, such as, you loose a bunch of weight, you fall in love, get married, become wealthy, have a baby, etc--undoubtedly there is someone that is jealous of your good fortune. I know you should strive to never be jealous of anyone else, but never really thought having protection from someones jealous thoughts hurting you--but they can very much.

Just an interesting tradition I thought I'd share...looking forward to sharing more cultural traditions as this wedding season unfolds. We have so many weddings of different cultures this year!

Photoshoot

Hi all,

I want to share with you a few pictures from our photoshoot with the FABULOUS Kristen Honeycutt. Can you believe these were taken in February--what gorgeous weather we have been having, huh!? Kristi and I (and Stanford) had such a great time running around downtown Kirkland with Kristen--I can't say enough good things about her and her work! Make sure to check out her blog!

Our make up was done by Sequoia Leopold with My Flawless Tan & Make Up. If you are ever in the downtown Kirkland neighborhood--you must stop in and check out her studio. She has happy hour on Fridays starting at 3pm where her airbrush make up application is half priced. Great for a GNO or a hot date with your fiance perhaps!? :)

Many of our clients (and vendors) get to know Stanford (my pug), as he is often hanging around the office. He did such a good job holding it together for a few of these shots! Thanks to our uber talented photographer--we are excited to share these great photos!

Happy St. Patrick's Day & "Green" Wedding Tips

You can incorporate several elements into your wedding planning to make your wedding more eco-friendly.

• Use biodegradable seed paper for your invitations; when planted in soil, they grow wildflowers.
• Wear a vintage or previously owned wedding dress. Places to find vintage dresses include consignment shops, thrift stores, or auction websites. Some bridal shops also may specialize in the restoration, recycling and resale of wedding gowns.

After the wedding, think about donating your wedding gown to charity. There are charitable organizations who donate proceeds from used wedding gowns to their valuable work.

If you have your wedding and reception in the same location, it will lessen automobile emissions into the air.

Instead of renting a limousine or Hummer, try using a hybrid, compact car, or even a horse and buggy for a more unique, old-fashioned vibe. If two separate locations cannot be avoided, you can request that your guests carpool on the invitations or hire a shuttle bus.

Use local and organic food wherever feasible, and donate extra food to a shelter. Use local, seasonal flowers for the ceremony and reception. Another option is potted plants, which can be given to guests for replanting or donated to a local hospital or professional nursing facility.

Consider giving your guests wedding favors such as packets of seeds and bulbs, promoting sustainable and renewable agriculture for the planet.

Set up your bridal registry at stores that sell organic cotton, recycled glassware, bamboo home décor, and the like, reflecting your green lifestyle and values as a couple. As another option, you could request that your guests donate to eco-friendly organizations rather than giving other wedding gifts.

Check out this unique company that will make a ring out of a pebble you found on the beach he proposed on...

Check out this men's ring incorporating a pebble found on a beach...

HAVE A SAFE ST. PATRICK'S DAY EVERYONE!

Rain, Rain, go away!

So if anyone out there caught the Bachelor last night, you would have seen Molly Malaney and Seattle's own Jason Mesnik tie the knot down in Cali. First off, I would like to say how much I adored her dress and how her bouquet complimented it PERFECTLY! I thought it was a beautiful wedding and a gorgeous venue, but I felt so bad for the wedding planner and event designer having to make that event unfold out in the rain and wind! Setting all of that up in the middle of all that rain must have been challenging! Molly had an awesome attitude about it though--didn't you think?

Here in Seattle with the unpredictable weather, I have been in that situation more than once. I leave it up to the bride and groom to make the call whether to have the wedding inside or outside. 'Your Day, Your Way' is a motto we LIVE by around here! I am always up for a challenge, and I know how much it means to some clients to have their outdoor ceremony...but I have seen go both ways. Sometimes they get lucky and they have a beautiful sunny ceremony but I have also seen the skies open up right in the middle of the ceremony before also.

So for all of those brides out there who will be making that decision in the upcoming months--just think about Molly and Jason's wedding...how will would you react if it started down pouring in the middle of your vows? If you would laugh it off like she did--then go for it, but if you would end up balling and worried about your make up running down your face--probably best to stay safe and move it inside!

Here's to wishing Seattle a long, mild and sunny 2010 wedding season!