Dress!

My dress has been purchased. I look pretty darn good! And I get to wear feathers in my hair! Sounds bad, but trust me, it'll be good in the long run.

Destination: Brewpub

After much consideration, frustration and eventually giving up and choosing at random (no, not really - we made a logical decision), we have chosen to go with Bridgeport Brewpub as the destination for our reception. For those that haven't been, I hope you will enjoy our local brew product! And, when I DO get stolen, I'd recommend the Rouge Brewery which is a few blocks away. Not that I'm thinking ahead...

BridgePort Brewpub

And now for something completely different... BridgePort Brewpub has the distinct advantage of being a local establishment that has a lot of Portland in its veins. Our fabled streetcar (which I can apparently rent out for a wedding party, but seeing as I don't like you all THAT much...) runs right next to Oregon's oldest brewpub. The brewery was once located in what was a less than desirable neighborhood, but over the years has maintained its physical location while the surrounding real estate has transformed into the sleekest section of town. The Pearl District is home to some of the most expensive property in the city of Portland, and there is always new development occurring just in case you would like to purchase a condo while you are in town. Amidst the boutiques and the high-end restaurants, BridgePort Brewpub decided to undergo a serious makeover a year or two ago. This is a shame, since Andy and I enjoyed their original building, with its exposed rafters and very well used hardwood floors. The brewpub still maintains its original brick exterior, but the interior is now crowded with black tables and chrome accents. Luckily, the room where the reception would be still has its original high beams and even features wooden paneled walls with local art (and note, this is not Art the dog from Hotel Monaco, although he would be a welcome addition). But don't worry - even though the face lift has taken away from the well-worn charm, the place is still primarily a bar. With flat screen TVs, so if we have our reception here, everybody will be able to watch the Huskies take on Oregon State in High Definition. After all, there are priorities!

Red Star Tavern

The quest for a reception site has moved away from the Willamette river and into downtown Portland. The Red Star Tavern is the restaurant associated with the Hotel Monaco which is a boutique hotel fashioned loosely on an "art for everybody" theme. Apparently local art is featured in the rooms, as well as significant pieces on each floor and in the lobby (but, as always, what defines "significant" varies significantly from person to person...). Personally, my favorite piece of art was the lobby dog, an actual live golden retriever named "Art". As Art does live within the hotel, this should satisfy the hotel requirements, but I guess Portland wanted to go above and beyond and feature some, shall we say, "unique" art elsewhere.

Whereas the lobby of the hotel is almost obnoxiously bright, the restaurant is more traditionally covered in dark red and gold colors with mahogany wood. We had an enjoyable dinner there with our friends Sylvia and Paul, allowing us to sample a wider variety of food. The house walnut bread is a welcome and unique item that is deliciously salty and a welcome change from traditional baguettes or focaccia. Paul ordered some jalepeno cornbread with honey butter that came out in a little cast iron skillet. Very cute. Our main meals were all good and distinct from each other -- we enjoyed rabbit, sea scallops with relish, kobe beef and ahi tuna and oxtail barbecue. All of the food was excellent, but at nearly twice the price of a dish at Aquariva for similar sized portions. Too full for dessert, we took a look around the hotel and the reception space.

The reception space at the Red Star Tavern is well appointed, and features one smaller area elevated two or three steps above the larger dining area. There is a handsome bar on the upper area which I am sure would be lovely for our purposes. Looking at the space, squeezing 60 people in may be a bit tight, but the room can apparently hold 90 so I shouldn't worry. Pictures can be found at http://www.monaco-portland.com/monpmn_photo.html#.

Ah, but the downside!! Portland is in the midst of a huge transit mall remodeling. Additionally, there are other construction projects that litter the downtown area, making driving and parking an especially annoying task during the best of times. Sadly, the construction nearest to the Red Star Tavern may be continuing past October 2008. Even if the transit mall is completed by our wedding, parking will be limited and expensive - street meters run at $1.25 per hour until 7PM, and garages are $8 - 12 dollars per day. *sigh* If only they'd spend some more time building parking garages and fewer unnecessary condos!

Let's Eat! Aquariva

As the quest for a reception venue marches on, we have been absolutely forced to consume two rather large and lavish meals. Thereby immediately bypassing all of the working out that we have been doing, but don't tell our trainers... Anyway, thus far we have stopped at Aquariva which is beautifully situated on the Willamette river. At Aquariva the food is served tapas style, which means smaller sized plates. Good for portion control, bad for wallet as the average diner apparently consumes 2-6 plates. There was an extensive wine list; in fact, the menu was divided into dishes that went well with white wines and dishes that went well with red wines. However, my ability to consume and appreciate wine being what it is (namely not so good), I can't report on the quality of their cellar. The food was decent, although Andy's steak came out covered in olive oil and basalmic vinegar. I had a nice butternut squash and Gorgonzola cheese ravioli, but the beet salad was by far the best portion of the main meal (weird, eh?). We enjoyed a chocolate mousse dessert that filled the requisite requirements for fat and chocolate, and then we had the unique experience of enjoying watermelon cotton candy. It is delicious! Strange looking to see a waiter bringing out a cloud of cotton candy in a restaurant that features low lighting, sleek leather and velvet furniture and uber-stylized light fixtures. But, hey, it worked!

But will we have a reception there? Stay tuned...

Oh happy day!

After our priest consulted:
1) God,
2) The Parish Calendar, and
3) The Parish Secretary,
(of which Father Tom said that was in inverse order of importance), we finally have a date.

October 18th, 2008

St. Clare's Church, Portland, OR

Next step: reception venue. I guess somebody has to go do it, so Andy and I will be checking out the food at local caterers. Yummy!

Options, options, options!

Perhaps one of the more entertaining options for a wedding that we experienced this evening was Greek Cusina in downtown Portland. It is most famous for having a giant octopus hanging on the outside of the building. I kid you not. Don't believe me?

What is even more alarming is the waiter who has a purple octopus headband. We all saw him and can vouch that he most certainly does. And apparently he wears it every day. Strange....

And it gets better! After hours the restaurant and banquet hall turn into...

The Greek Night Club

If I had could screen capture a flash video of the night club's web page I would post it here in a split second. Seriously, you should check out their website. It goes into detail about "Toxxic Fridays" and "Plush Saturdays". Ummmm... perhaps not. The last time I went clubbing was probably before the turn of the century. However, Andy does own a pair of yellow lenses for his sunglasses -- all he needs is a tight shiny shirt to get in the doors!

And on the complete, utter, opposite end of the spectra we have the Benson hotel's Crystal Ballroom. It is quite spectacular, and has the added perk of having multiple sets of chairs, depending on one's taste (only one who has planned a wedding and thought about chairs will appreciate this fact). Walking in quite took our breath away, but a mere nanosecond after having the wind knocked out of them, both Andy and my dad were thinking "boy, this will sure be expensive". And understandably so! Check out this completely not flattering photo (it looks many times better in person):


Whew, that is one fancy room. In fact, it is probably a bit too fancy for our purposes. I felt that I should have brushed my hair and waxed my eyebrows before entering the premises.

But the coolest part of the Benson hotel lies in its basement. The lowest level houses what they claim to be the only four-star chef in the city. And if you walk straight thru the dining room to the back wall and press gently, there is a secret door to the wine cellar. Over 6,000 bottles of wine are stored here, and as a special treat you can book a table in the cellar. It is like spy work at a vineyard. Granted, the room seats only 10, but I'm trying to think of a way to use this room in the whole wedding shindig. A secret room! You can't get much cooler than that!

So close...

Well, we finally got the ball rolling and met with our priest to discuss dates. Andy had consulted a calendar of OSU football games and picked October 11th, 2008 as the Bye Week. So we were elated when our meeting with the Fr went well and we were scheduled in for the 11th. Yippee!! Something is finally planned!

Whoops...

Turns out the 11th is Oregon State's only home game in the month of October.

Crap.

Back to the drawing board...

Response

Here's what typically happens when people find out I'm engaged.

Girls first:
1) Girl squeals and/or jumps
2) Girl says "Finally!"
3) Girl looks at ring. At this point you can tell that most girls are surprised by the ring, maybe because it isn't a solitaire and maybe because my ring is square (which is awesome). Some girls try very hard to come up with reasons why it is "very... ummmm... nice".
4) Girl asks if I've been dress shopping.
5) Girl asks if I know where, when, and the million subsequent details of the wedding.

Boys second:
1) Boy looks nonplussed.
2) Boy, if accompanied by girl, will attempt to be interested in the ring, and his interest may be excited by the fact that it is made of palladium, which for some reason is just cooler than platinum, but then again he may glaze over.
3) Boy, if alone, will ask if there is an open bar.

So far the best response to being engaged has been from my coworker Noe, who said (and I quote):

"Shut up! Shut up -- you are not! No way! I never thought it would happen for real!"

Note the complete disbelief. I love it! That was our evil plan, being together for years and years (and years and years) so we could trick people into thinking we were never going to tie the knot... :-) OK, not an evil plan but it at least makes for a good hat trick right now...

Most blah response, from chance encounter with acquaintance in hallway:

"Aren't you already married to him?"

An obvious and not infrequent response when we have been together for 8 years. BUT, this response does raise the interesting idea of getting married to somebody twice, maybe so as to capitalize on the registry option. But frankly, planning this shin-dig once will be plenty for me.

Wedding Mascot?

Chances are, we will be having our wedding out in Roy, Oregon. Where is Roy, exactly? Well, it is less of a city per say so much as an... intersection. Luckily the intersection has a church. Unluckily the intersection does not have a reception site.

But... nearby Forest Grove has one of our trademark Pacific Northwest icons, McMenamins. Hammerhead ale, here we come!

We're Engaged!

After a mere 8 years (which is only 2,920 days or 175,200 minutes or 10.51 million seconds... not that I'm counting...), Andy and I are finally engaged!

*whew!*

Welcome to our planning blog. As we piece together our wedding, information will be periodically posted here for your amusement. We plan on creating a wedding website in the future, but until then check back here for updates.

Cheers,
Andy&Jackie