Save the Date!

October 8-10, 2010 for the Brides Against Breast Cancer National Tour of Gowns! This is an excellent opportunity for brides-to-be (in the Portland, Oregon area) to find the gown of their dreams at a remarkable price, while helping to make wishes come true. Not located in Portland, click here to find your city.

Most gown prices range from $99 to $799, including hundreds of beautiful new name brand and designer gowns. More than half the gowns presented during each event are new designer gowns that arrived directly from designers, manufacturers and bridal retailers.

For more information about the National Tour of Gowns or to purchase tickets please visit: http://www.bridesagainstbreastcancer.org/

July 1st through July 3rd New and Blue’s retail location in Portland, OR (NW 13th and Hoyt) will be hosting an open house and sidewalk sale. Stop in to check out all the products on sale… many of which are $5.00 or less! Below is a little teaser of what’s going to be on sale.

Silver 2″ x 2″ favor boxes, blank place cards/name cards, assorted silver tins, clear plastic favor boxes, various candles, DIY invitations, notebooks, jewelry, favor bags, and so much more!

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Need a creative and unique idea for a wedding favor? Look no further. Jones Soda is offering personalized soda bottles as wedding favors. You are able to customize the entire bottle specifically to your wedding. You can choose from the various Jones Soda flavors, upload a personal photo for the label, and write a message to your guests on the back.  

Customizing your wedding colors and gifts is a great way for your wedding to stand out. Check out their website for more information and ideas.

We have some amazing stationery and invitations on sale in our retail store.  They are going fast, so make sure you get them today!

Here are today’s featured items:

Item #1 is a beautiful blue Ribbon and Charm attachment.  Buying invitations with ribbons is more expensive. Here is a low cost alternative.  Just attach the ribbon to the outside of the invitation for a beautiful embellishment. They also come in blue!

Item #2 is a three-dimensional martini invitation. This fun and creative invitation can also be used as a placecard holder, menu card, or cocktail invitation.

Item #3 is a tropical invitation. This card is perfect for a destination wedding, reception or rehearsal dinner. The invites also come with printed envelopes keeping with the destination theme.

Stay tuned for more sale items to come….

Your budget has been set and the majority of the finances figured out, it’s time to begin making decisions. Many ceremony and reception sites are reserved about a year in advance. This being said the first decision you make should be the location or venue for your wedding. The availability of a location will help you determine the date for your wedding.

Once you have the venue reserved, you will also have your wedding date and time (kill two birds with one stone).  Next- go ahead and buy (or make) a wedding notebook. In this book make sure to keep track of all decisions made and any information that will help you make decisions.

Credit: Wedding books, Bravo! Weddings.

Next Up: Wedding Attendants

Now that you have valuable knowledge regarding the budget for your wedding, it’s time to work. It is important to remember as you create a budget to have categories to track spending for flowers, food, beverages and other items (Excel is a great tool for this). Below is a percentage break down of spending for the average wedding.

Reception site rental, food and beverage: 37% Photography: 10% Florist: 10% Music: 10% Bride and Groom attire: 10% Wedding Coordinator: 10% Invitations, programs, calligraphy: 5% Misc (clergy, guest favors, attendants gifts, transportation):5% Ceremony site rental: 3%

After looking over this budget hopefully you can see where more money can be spent in one category and where less money can be spent in another. Example: holding the ceremony and reception at the same site will allow you to have a larger budget for invitations.

Credit: New and Blue, Bravo Weddings

Looking for a centerpiece which isn’t the traditional flowers?  Try this fun idea we saw in Marthastewartweddings.

Take your favorite boxes (filled with candies, bath beads, etc), leave them as-is or cover them in beautiful papers and ribbons and then stack them in the middle of the table on a beautiful pedestal.

You won’t have to worry that they are too high and blocking conversations at the table, and your guests will be excited to be able to take one home.

Join us this Saturday, February 27th, at The NW Wedding Scoop and learn tips and tricks to help you plan a wedding on any budget.  Panels will take place throughout the day where wedding industry experts share their knowledge with you on all the different parts of the wedding planning process.  You will even have the opportunity to meet the experts one-on-one between panels to ask questions.  Best part, there are no sales pitches as this is not a bridal show or wedding fair, it’s a day of helpful information from experts that are willing to share their knowledge with you!

The NW Wedding Scoop

Portland City Center Marriott

Saturday, February 27th

11am - 5pm

Pre-Register here or pay at the door and don’t forget about the swag bag full of goodies just for attending!

The trend moving forward for 2010 seems to be a lot of Do-It-Yourself.  This is a great way to save some money and make your special day exactly the way you want.

New and Blue has a lot of fun ways to cut costs and get you the wedding you want.  Check out our DIY invitations, necessities and books.

We thought we would help you busy brides by putting together an inspiration board for a garden party bridal shower.  Pull the event together with lively colors showcased in your invitation and floral decor and provide light fare for your guests like lemonade and tea sandwiches.  Send your guests home with something to remember the day by like these cute garden magnets or natural fans available at New and Blue. Lastly, look effortlessly chic in a summery dress and sandals.  Almost forgot- don’t forget about the games!  We like ”Bridal Shower Games” for its collection of 8 classics.