WTR Update

I am currently in the process of closing down With This Ring. We have started homeschooling our boys and I am taking on more work at my church. Both of these things are very near and dear to my heart and so with knowing my clients would not be getting my full attention I have decided to end my time as a wedding planner. I will be finishing out my contracted brides but no longer taking on any new clients. Thank you wedding industry for 10 wonderful years in the business!

Time for a new adventure

Alexander and Asher, my precious boys

The last 10 years of being a wedding planner has been a great adventure and one I will always look back on with fond memories. Although I am eagerly looking on to my next adventure. A few months back I felt the pull to go back and finish my college education and where that is still a goal I am not going to be able to start as soon as I had hoped. As I work toward that goal my husband and I have made some decisions for our family that is requiring me to be at home more and if you haven't looked at the picture above, I have two very good and happy reasons to be doing this. In the fall of this year we will be keeping our oldest home for school and begin early education activities with our "baby". In this change I am sad to not be working so closely with brides and wedding vendors, but more than happy to be home more enjoying this precious time with my kids.

If you don't know me very well you might not know that I love to sew and knit/crochet. Because I am a woman who likes to be busy I am going to be working on some side sewing projects in my free time. You can view my work on my Facebook page, Second Stitch. This business allows me to be home more with my boys and gives me a creative outlet and the freedom to only work on projects when I have the time.

If you are in need of a planner I would be happy to refer you to those I trust in the industry. Thank you to everyone who made these last 10 years a joy and pleasure to be working with in the crazy fun wedding industry.

AM Northwest - Getting ready for the big day

Every month I have the honor of doing a segment on AM Northwest. Every time I finish the it I feel like I barely scratched the surface of all the things I wanted to share. So from now on I am going to post all my segment notes with a link to the segment on here as a way to share more of my advice and thoughts. If there's one thing I love to do, it's share ideas/advice/knowledge to help brides have a more enjoyable wedding day!
Pre wedding prep

• Everyone can start preparing for the big day not just the bride and groom. Mom's, Dad's, bridal party, even guests
• Almost everyone tells me they want to loose a few pounds before the wedding
• Make sure to loose it in a healthy way and I suggest doing it as a group with a professional. You don't want anyone passing out on the big day because they are on an unsafe diet or exercise routine
• There are other areas you can/need prepare besides weight. Skin, nails, teeth, hair
  For the bride:
• Make sure to do a trial run on hair and makeup
• Do the trail run on a day you have something fun going on, bridal shower, date night, bachelorette party, etc.
• When buying a dress don't be over confident in how much you can loose. A dress can only be let out a size or two depending on the seam allowance.  
  Wedding day prep:
• Try and get to bed at a good time and expect to have a hard time falling asleep because of excitement and anticipation
• Drink lots of water
• Eat breakfast
• Have snacks to eat throughout the day and/or an assigned person for delivering food to the bride and grooms room. If possible have stuff for the entire bridal party.
• Have a professional do your hair and make up. I had a bad experience doing my own hair and I regret it because it's now in all my pictures and I can't get it back.

Tight Budget 2014 Promotion

Josh and Alea - July 2014 One of my smallest budget weddings

We all have our own version of a tight budget. To some having $20,000 for their wedding would be a dream come true and to others it barely scratches the surface. I am a firm believer that even the tightest budget wedding needs a planner and can benefit from having one.

Last summer I planned a wedding for a couple in Salem who wanted to spend $10,000 or less on a wedding for 100+ guests and knew they needed help. Not only did I see it as a fun challenge, but a great responsibly to help this couple have a beautiful wedding. The one thing I was determined to do was NOT have any DIY projects. Every single thing was done by a wedding professional and they were able to sit back and enjoy their day. 

As I have been preparing for the 2014 wedding season I have decided to embrace the "tight" budget weddings and offer a limited quantity deal. The details are as follow...

1. Have between $8-$10K for the wedding

2. Be open to venues outside the Portland metro area

3. Have a expected attendance no more than approx. 150 people

If you or someone you know fits this description and is interested in setting up a consultation, please call or email me kzuniga@withthisringwedding.com - 503-383-9141

Below are some additional pictures from Josh and Alea's wedding shot by Sela Photography, enjoy!!!

AM Northwest - February segment

I love to give gifts, so much, that I have a small savings account I put money into each month to fund my purchases. When I got married I had the best time going out and getting gifts for my girls. I loved spending the time thinking of each girl and what she meant to me as a friend and what things about her I knew so I could purchase her the most meaningful gift. 

That might not be your style, you might hate shopping, and if that's the case then you are in luck because there are a ton of ideas out there for bridal party gifts. On my February segment we spent a little time talking about how to plan for it, what to give and when to give it. There never seems to be enough time to share all my ideas but I hope that this at least gives you a place to start.

In for the long hall

A little while ago I was starting to move towards the sale of With This Ring. We had a couple people interested and pursue the purchase into some pretty deep conversations. After the last person backed out and decided to go another route my husband and I started discussing our options. To make a long story short, I have decide to not actively pursue the sale of my business but spend more time focusing on reaching the brides that fit me best. It's easy to get caught up in the fast paced life of being a wedding vendor, but for me, I want to slow down and focus a bit more on the quality of my service. I have always held myself and my staff to a high level of service, so this next year I am going to focus getting my team to the next level. I believe if I am going to grow as a person and a planner I can never be totally happy with what I'm doing. I always need to be looking at how I can do better, be more effect, find more exciting and fun ways to get to know my clients. I don't want to be just about how many weddings I do in a season, I want to be more about the brides and how I made their day more special. I feel like to much stress is but on couples to have the biggest and most unique wedding, but really as long as they are staying try to themselves, that uniqueness is going to come through. No two couples are the same and you can use the sam linens, mason jars, venue as 100 people before you and it still won't be exactly the same. I'm okay with that, I want to help my brides find their uniqueness through conversations over coffee and pulling things off of shelves and playing around with decor. I want more than anything to give my brides the feeling that I know them so well that it feels like a friend is fluffing their train just before they walk down the aisle!

The picture above was the Salem Dream Wedding Workshop I hosted today at the Salem Convention Center. Standing back and listening to these wonderful vendors share their knowledge and try to help these brides make sense out of the wedding planning process, it was fun for me. I love sharing knowledge and connecting people. SO as of right now that's what I'm gonna do! I might have thought I was done with the wedding industry, but fate as it seems, has other ideas 

The event side of things

I have had the joy of doing some really great events in my career. One of my favorite is a bridal shower I helped an aunt plan for her favorite niece. She really wanted to go all out and transform an ordinary conference room into a hot pink and green sassy party. She spared no expense on chairs, linen's, fabric drape, party favors, cupcakes and food. She wanted to play a game or two but didn't want the traditional toilet paper bride type games, so I was set with the challenge of coming up with something fun but not cheesy.

What was so fun for me about this event was the one on one time I got with the aunt and how not stressful it was. There weren't all the same stresses on the day of the event that you can run into with a bride, she was so excited to show up and see all the work her aunt put into the event for her. AND to top it off, I got to work with some of my regular wedding pro friends. Megan from Red Pearl designs did the invites. Courtney from Flip Flop Sounds did the lighting and all my rentals came from the wonderful Linda at Barclay Event Rentals. 

Sometimes I just love to sit back and plan an event that is a touch more simple than a wedding but still really well put together!

All the details - Salem Dream Wedding

AM Northwest - Give Your Wedding Celebrity Style

Salem Dream Wedding

Sunday, February 9, 2014 - 11 am at the Salem Convention Center

The Salem Dream Wedding is an event designed to give one bride thousands of dollars in services and product for her wedding! But we're not stopping there, for all brides attending we have door prizes and give-aways, as well as gift baskets for the first 20 brides who show up with their pre-sale tickets. In addition to being eligible for amazing prizes, dozens of wedding professionals will be available to talk with and show their work. There will also be an interactive workshop to help you at any stage of wedding planning.

So what exactly are we going to do for 3 hours? 

-Talk with industry professionals

-Sample The Salem Convention Center catering

-Enjoy some yummy h'ordeuvres

-Win door prizes

-Interactive workshop designed to spend time answering your most important questions for planning the big day.
-Grand prize give-a-way at the end of the workshop, must be present to win. 

Each guest you bring with you is another chance you have to win, so bring you groom, mom, sister, and maid of honor, the more the merrier! 

We hope for this event to be a way for us to break the mold of a traditional bridal show and have it be a lot more fun than a typical workshop.

For a list of participating vendors, door prizes, and more, visit our website http://salemdreamwedding.info/ or click here to purchase tickets. 

July segment on AM Northwest

As a bride you have put thought into your wedding day for quite some time; you have planned
out where it will be held, what style of food will be served, and what color you would like your
bridesmaids to be wearing. All of these aspects will be unique to you and to your wedding;
therefor the emergency kit you bring with you needs to be just as personal.

This month on AM Northwest I was able to show some of the most popular items to bring on the
big day and share some tricks to tackle the mishaps and allow everyone to go back to the party.

 

When creating your shopping list think through your event, venue, and the needs of your bridal
party and guests. If you need some inspiration there are lists available online. Be careful and
save money by not buying items you will likely not need. For example, clear nail polish is often
on these lists, if you or no one in your party is wearing nylons you don't need it. Creating the
shopping list can be fun and you may find it helpful to brainstorm with your bridal party, you can
even ask one of them to gather the items and bring them on the day.

Regardless of your venue it is important to ensure there will be snacks and water available while
everyone is getting ready!

April segment on AM Northwest

I can't believe that I forget to share last months segment on AM Northwest! I have so much fun and love spending time down at the station that I almost forgot to share this with everyone.

I LOVED having flowers from Swoon Floral. We met recently and I am really enjoying getting to know the business and getting a chance to work with them this summer. They did our flowers for the open house and we have our first wedding together on August 2nd. I love my job!!!

DIY on AM Northwest

Truth be told, I am a DIY girl at heart! I absolutely love to be crafty, creating and recreate all kinds of projects. And when it comes to weddings, I get excited when I hear a bride wants to do projects to help make the wedding reflect her and the groom that bring in a glue gun!

On the 19th I was able to share on AM Northwest just a few things about DIY and how I like to bring it into a wedding. With only six minutes to share, we barley scratched the surface of what I wanted to say and do. Below you will find a few more of the notes I had planned to share, but really, if you are a DIY bride I would love to get a chance to meet and create with you!

• Don't do any projects that have/need to be finished or put together on the wedding day or the week before for that matter!! Some examples would be...
• Make your own bouquets 
• Cook your own food
• Assemble floral arrangements 
• Know that actually making things yourself can be more costly than having a professional do it. Some examples would be...
• Printed things like invitations, programs, ect.
• Dessert/candy bars
• Floral
• You don't have to be crafty to diy something for the wedding
• Create the invite with the designer
• Pick your playlist with the dj
• Bring a family receipt to the caterer or baker
• Utilized Pinterest for inspiration

Suggestions for good safe projects

• Pre-made centerpieces (pictures attached)
• Party favor wine charms (picture attached)
• Place card holders (picture attached)
• Party favor coffee bag with "Love is brewing tags" (picture attached)
• Boutonnieres (going to make on air) 
• Cup cake liners
• Custom headpieces or jewelry 

New office space

We are very excited to announce that we are going to begin meeting with our Portland clients at our new office space on Lovejoy street, just a few blocks east of 23rd.

A few weeks back I was contacted by Samantha of So Many Moments Photography, she was looking for a wedding planner to share her space with. When we met there was an instant friendship formed. She was so sweet and mother to a darling little baby girl just one month older than my youngest son Asher. We knew in an instant it was a good fit.

We will also be joined by Denmark of Bridge City Music, a DJ we have been working with very closely for several years now. Denmark is a wonderful guy and trusted friend who has taken very good care of our couples when they choose to hire him!

As you can see from the pictures (left) Samantha has done a great job decorating the office and providing a very comfortable location to meet with couples. We are really excited to be moving to this space and look forward to meeting our couples there as well.

As a celebration of the move we will be having an open house in the spring, stay tuned for details!!!

Wedding gowns on AM Northwest

We had a nice visit with Helen on AM Northwest yesterday talking about some of the things to know what you are purchasing your wedding gown. As always, six minutes is never enough time to talk about everything, but we always see to have fun time getting as much info in as we can!!!

Skamania Lodge Open House

Recently my husband and I spent the weekend at Skamania Lodge. During our stay there we enjoyed the cleanliness of our room, the quality of the food, in both the restaurant and the lounge, and the friendly and helpful staff. This Sunday, January 20th, Skamania is having an open house from 12-4 pm. We are very excited to be there talking with potential brides and getting to know the Skamania staff just a little bit better. If you, or someone you know, is looking for a place to host their wedding, we highly recommend driving out there on Sunday and checking it out.

Happy New Year

What a busy end of the year I had! Not only did we get to finish out the year with an amazing wedding at the World Trade Center, but I had a baby!!!! I must say there is nothing like having your first full day home from the hospital with a newborn baby be Christmas Day. If you would like to see a picture of my sweet little family, visit my Facebook page.

I thought a great way to kick off the new year would be to show off a wedding we did last summer in Sunriver. Peter and Jamie are a truly wonderful couple who worked so hard to plan their wedding day to focus on sharing their lives with friends and family. We were there for 4 days and never slowed down. It was one of the busiest weddings I have ever had, but it was amazing and worth it in the end.

AM Northwest segment #3

I know I have said this before, but I love my job! And I love the opportunity I have had the last few months to be a part of AM Northwest. This morning I was on again for my third segment. The topic was fun, but so hard to try and fit in 6 short minutes. I have hosted two hour+ workshops about this one topic, so you can imagine the difficulty in trying to fit it in this time frame.

If you, or someone you know, is getting married this might be a quick help as to where I like to start working with my couples. There were at least 4 more points I didn't get to, as well as, I could have expended more on what we did talk about. So email or call me if you want to talk with me more in depth!!!

Open House at the Portland Wedding Lounge

Madison Suite at the Wedding Lounge

Wedding Lounge Exclusive Open House

Thursday, November 8th

6-8pm

133 SE Madison Street

Portland, OR 97214

Appetizers, Desserts, Beverages

Live Music

Prizes

We only do this 2 times per year so you don't want to miss this one!

You must RSVP to:

Cherie@CherieRonning.com

Bride + 1 only

With the following information:

Bride's Name - Groom's Name - Wedding Date

Fun little contest - AM Northwest

As I started thinking about what I wanted to do for my next segment on AM Northwest I got an idea. The point of going on the show is to educate people about weddings and help them with the planning process. I thought that it might be a fun idea to ask for ideas, so I decided to have a contest. Here's how it's going to go.

- Entries can be submitted until Monday, November 5th
- Multiple ideas are allowed
- Anyone can enter, single, dating, engaged, or married
- I will pick my top 3 choices and submit them to the producer
- The winner will receive a visa gift card
- Email your submission to kzuniga@withthisringwedding.com

I am looking for things that will really help a bride and her family. If you have already been married, maybe something you wish you would have known, or if you are a current bride, something you are struggling with right now and would love some professional help with.

I will not announce the winner until the show, so you will have to watch it to find out!!! Don't worry if you work during the day, they post the segment online within hours afterwards and I will make sure to contact you to get you your prize.

I look forward to hearing your ideas!