Portland, the best beer town in the US, maybe even the world

Photo from CNN, "8 Best Beer Towns in America"

I woke up this morning to the happy news that CNN has given my home town, Portland, Oregon, top marks in its ranking of the "8 Best Beer Towns in America."

Now I haven't actually resided in Portland for nearly five years now, but my love of finely crafted ale endures. I now live in London, a city also known for its affinity for real ale. Despite my best efforts, I still have not come around to the flat, slightly warm English ale. They're fine. Don't get me wrong. They just are not as good as what I was spoiled with in Portland.

A proud day for me and my home town. Congratulations Portland! I miss you.

Vintage Beer Labels [Things I Like]

Now that I've re-opened my Etsy shop, and received my first orders (!!!), I've been finding new inspiration for new designs. Since brewers hops are the motif for my wedding invitations, I've been dreaming of other ways to creatively integrate beer into a wedding without sacrificing the class and sophistication that I wanted for my own event. So now I'm in the process of designing beer labels for home brewers and couples to use to affix to their favorite beverages.

I haven't worked out the kinks with the new designs yet, but I've found a few vintage labels that I thought were really beautiful. They are my inspiration for the new line of beer labels, coasters, and even another option for a beer-inspired wedding invitation suite. 

I'll post pics once the new line is ready to roll out. But for now, here are a few images that you might enjoy, too.

A Special Brew: Inspiration for My Beer Hops Wedding Invitations

For some, creativity comes from within. Not for me, though. I wish I could claim some form of natural genius, but I really cannot. The inspiration for all of my creative endeavours is almost always inspired by dear friends, beautiful things I happen to come upon, and the amazing places where I have been so fortunate to live.

The inspiration for my Beer Hops Wedding Invitations came from two important sources: first, my hometown, Portland, Oregon; and second, my dear friends, Courtney and Dan. Both sources were in equal measure when I was dreaming up these little beauties.

Portland is a wonderfully weird city, the best place on earth in my humble opinion. To me, it is the perfect balance of new and old, of natural and industrial, and of rush and rest. My favorite things about Portland have always been the wonderful camaraderie of its inhabitants, its commitment to keeping it green, its affinity for the patina of time, its excellent locally sourced food, and of course, its world-famous craft breweries!

When they got married in September of 2010, I think Courtney and Dan styled their wedding in a perfectly Portland way. This wedding touched on everything I love most about Portland, and even more importantly, everything I know and love about them as a couple. I've known Courtney and Dan since our days back at the University of Oregon. Though my intercontinental movements have prevented me from staying in touch with them as much as I'd otherwise like to, I have kept tabs on them through Facebook. Thank goodness for Facebook. When I saw their wedding snaps, I was so truly overjoyed for them, and was further inspired by their use of beer hops as decoration at their wedding. So beautiful.

Here are a few snaps from their fantastically beautiful wedding. Thanks Courtney and Dan for your permission to share a few of these with my clients and readers. I hope they're as inspired by your gorgeous wedding as I was!

The success in Courtney's styling was the details

I love this photo because this is how she has always looked at Dan.

The beer hops garland was a brilliant idea!
The setting was incredible!

Beautiful details, a splash of colour,
and a gorgeous Portland late summer day.

Simply stunning. The whole day was just so perfectly done.

Portland at night, sigh, what a great place,
what a great wedding!

Whisked away by pedi-cab.
I love the touches they put on this day.

Wedding #1, Our Civil Ceremony [About Me]

When I was last posting to this blog, I was planning my weddings (yep, two of them). Our first was a civil ceremony in January of 2011, an intimate gathering of our families. I'll post photos from our big Italian wedding soon.

Now that both events have come and gone, I thought I'd share some of the photos . I always meant to share links to the great shops and suppliers I found when planning our weddings. Now's my chance to express some thanks, too! Links to dress shops, hair dressers, our venue and more below.

January 29, 2011

 

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For those who are wondering, here are a few notes about the lovely shops that helped us make this day so  beautiful and special.

 Our civil ceremony took place at the truly beautiful Weybridge, Surrey (UK)  registry office. Simon wore a beautiful brown suit and matching shoes from House of Fraser. I wore the most amazing 1950s party dress from Xtabay Vintage in Portland, Oregon ($250). My mom's dress is also from Xtabay. For hair and makeup, I took an opportunity to save a bit of money and had my hair done at Headmasters in Shepherds Bush, London (50 GBP) and makeup at MAC cosmetics in Westfield (25 GBP). I found the white coat at Brass Plum in Nordstrom ($60). My vintage handbag was a real find, from The Rag and Bone in State College, Pennsylvania ($15). My adorable vintage heels came from Aureolin Lake Fine Antiques on Etsy ($32).

Special thanks to Grandma Dean for the lovely faceted glass drop earrings, and to the Antiques Fair in Shere, Surrey (UK) for my engagement ring and our wedding rings.

And even more special thanks to Ewan for taking these amazing photos! He doesn't typically take wedding snaps, but shot a few at both our civil ceremony and our big Italian wedding, too. Right now his work is on display at Box Brownie in Stratford, Warwickshire (UK). Anyone looking for striking and colourful photo prints for their office or home walls, do check out his pics (especially the ones from Italy, they're fabulous)!

Invitation Inspiration: Brewer's Hops, The Perfect Symbol of Our Love [Things I Love]

Did you know that 80% of the world's hops are
grown in Oregon and Washington? 

What should we do for our wedding invitations?

I've been trying to answer this question for quite a while. At one point I thought I would do something having to do with a tree (who doesn't like trees, right? fail!), at another point I was getting ready to spend big bucks on letterpress invites (but wouldn't we all prefer that money to be spent on good food and booze?). Until now I haven't come to any sort of conclusion. Really, I couldn't make up my mind because I needed to focus on one important question:

What do we want for our invitations? 

Although I am certainly doing more wedding planning that Si, I want to see him in these updates. Correction, I want to represent us with these invites. From that I could eliminate anything too girlie. Then I had to think about the things that we both love. We play a lot of Scrabble, we love Apple products and we always enjoy a good trip to the pub. 

And that's it: beer! Beer (or alcohol in general) is perfect. Not only is it representative of something we both love, it is appropriate representation of our celebration. Ok, perfect. 

Next problem: how to incorporate this graphically in an attractive set of invitations? 

Solution: the hops plant. Hops are grown in Oregon and Washington, further representation of my family and are absolutely gorgeous. I'll certainly be incorporating these beautiful buds throughout our wedding decor. 

Ah, so pleased!

Botanical Drawings [Things I Love]

I just wanted to share a few pretty images of one of my new/old favorite things: botanical prints. My parents have some lovely fern prints framed on the wall of their breakfast nook and I just love them. Maybe my love for these things is partly the result of nostalgia, but is there anything wrong with that? I think I will be incorporating these into my wedding invitations. Hoorah for centuries-old artists and fair use copyright laws. Imagine. 

I particularly love those drawings describing plant diseases and garden pests.