Camp Korey & Celebrated Chefs

One of our favorite spots for a local-destination wedding is The Hide Away at Camp Korey, located at the historic Carnation Farm.  Catherine & Ronny had their eco-friendly wedding their last summer, and tomorrow marks 3 years since Brea & Andrew said “I do” at the lovely location.  Happy anniversary kids!  Third wedding anniversary gifts are traditionally leather, so Brea could consider giving Andrew a leather-bound journal to write music lyrics while sitting on his “comfy” leather couch at Abel Brown, his recording studio in Ballard.

In addition to being an incredible spot to host weddings during a limited time period each year, Camp Korey is a medically supervised residential camp for children living with serious and life-threatening illnesses at no cost to them.

Photos used with permission from Camp Korey

In 2005 after Tim Rose lost his teenage son Korey to cancer, he developed a plan to build a camp here in Washington. Today his family’s vision has become a reality, and Camp Korey at Carnation Farm is now bringing the magic of camp to children and families of the Northwest.  Camp Korey is able to fulfill its mission due to the generous contributions from supporters as well as by hosting conference and social business.

Photos used with permission from Camp Korey

One of the easiest ways to support Camp Korey is to join the exciting new Celebrated Chefs program.  Through this innovative program, you lend valuable support to your chosen organization simply by dining at the area’s best restaurants.  There is no cost to participate and your enrollment includes a beautiful Celebrated Chefs Cookbook containing a signature recipe from each participating restaurant.  Once enrolled, every time you dine at a Celebrated chefs restaurant, 5% of the bill is donated to your chosen cause.  There is no special membership card or identifier required, simply use the same VISA, MasterCard or American Express that you use to enroll in the program, and the 5% donation will be automatically tracked and donated to the cause of your choice.

Hey Brea & Andrew, I think a special anniversary dinner is in order!

Brea & Andrew

We recently had the pleasure of visiting one of our fabulous 2007 couples, Brea & Andrew, at their lovely West Seattle home for a BBQ.  It’s hard to believe that its been nearly 2 years since their wedding!  We had such a great time catching up with this amazing couple.  Since their wedding took place before we had a blog, we thought we would use our get together as an excuse to post pictures from their lovely day. Thanks to Abie Wolfe Photography for all of the shots.

Brea and Andrew held their wedding at the picturesque Carnation Farm, which is now home to Camp Korey. The wedding took place in the garden, and the reception was held in the covered open air hippodrome.

The flowers were designed by Miki of Miki’s Flowers.  She created a look that went with the beautiful surroundings in shades of white, ivory, yellow, green, and brown.  To add a punch of color, the bridesmaids carried bright orange bouquets that popped off of their apple green dresses.

Tallant House Bakery provided a cake thats beauty was only surpased by its flavor!

We obtained a variety of styles of linens from BBJ Linen in shades of taupe, gold, brown, and chartreause.  Catering was provided by the always incredible Seasoned in Seattle.

It was a big hit when Brea and Andrew immerged for their first dance in completely new attire!  DJ Leslie of Seattle Parties provided musical entertainment that kept the crowd dancing all night long.  Andrews’ band, Sunderlyn, also played a set that had everyone cheering and on their feet.

We wish the very best to this couple as they approach their 2nd wedding anniversary!

Happy Anniversary Catherine & Dennis

It’s hard to believe how fast time flies.  Last year we had the pleasure of working with a fabulous couple, Catherine & Dennis. It was their one year anniversary yesterday so we thought we would post some pictures from their special day.

Catherine found her beautiful dress at the Bridal Garden in Kirland.  The inspiring floral in shades of red was created by Lea of Florarama Modern Design.

The ring bearer held a birds nest in lieu of a pillow and wore a tie and converse in the color of the day, red!

The ceremony at Sacred Heart Chapel at the Villa Academy glowed in candlelight.

The reception was held at the Palace Ballroom, with exclusive catering by Tom Douglas.  The night kicked off with a fondue course served at the tables.

In addition to the incredible floral, the look of the space was completed with custom linens from Aria Style and Choice linens.  We also washed the room with a warm glow with specialty lighting from Hollywood Lighting.

We worked closely with the couple and Jen of Jen of Jen’s Desserts to design a chocolate ganache covered cake that perfectly accented the evening, and tasted delicious as well of course.

The couple shares their first dance to Otis Redding’s “These arms of mine.”  Music entertainment was provided by DJ Leslie of Seattle Parties.  To ensure the dance floor remained packed and comfortable, flip flops were provided so that people could really kick off their heals!

All of the pictures (sans the ones that came out of the photo booth above, a surprise from Catherine to Dennis) are compliments of the fun, easy going, and talented Ron Henry of Ron Henry Photography.

More Baby News

Another one of our couples recently welcomed their bundle of joy into the world. As we mentioned in an April Post, one of our fabulous 2007 couples, Heide & Gerardo. got pregnant on their honeymoon.

The beautiful Stella Grace was born on 7/22, and her parents couldn’t be more thrilled. While she looks lovely in her Swedish Medical Center issued beanie, we know it won’t take long for her Nordstrom employee parents to make her the most fashion forward infant crawling on the catwalk!

The adorable Stella Grace

I’m sure Heide & Gerardo will tell Stella to look both ways before crossing the street.

Us with the couple in front of the Edgewater Hotel, where we are (shameless plug) the preferred wedding planner.

Baby Love

We are thrilled that another one of our fabulous 2007 couples is expecting a baby! Kristin & Erik are a fun couple who live on Capitol Hill with their rescue dog in a recently built eco-friendly townhouse that was featured in Seattle Magazine for its great loft style design and use of earth friendly materials. The couple got married at the no-longer-a-secret gem Pravda Studios in May of last year. They were drawn to the space for its similar loft feel and close proximity to their home.

While the couple didn’t want to go overboard with flowers at their event, they did want to invoke color. One night we were at their place having a design meeting to help them identify the look and feel they wanted for their event. We were sitting at their dining table looking out the window and great views outside. They talked about really enjoying the water and sunsets. I asked how they felt about blue and orange, representing the water and sky they appreciate so much about their surroundings. Looking around, we realized that their open loft home in its neutral palette with punches of color actually had quite a bit of the aforementioned cool and warm tones in it. And a look for their event was born!

Kristin followed an old tradition and wore her mother’s wedding dress. While the dress might have been perfect for her mother, it was a bit outdated, too large, and fabric heavy for her daughter. We took the dress to Fragile Fit where alterations magician Darcy removed the long sleeves, lowered the back, brought the length up and the waist in, and changed the neckline. The end result was absolutely stunning and for under $200 Kristin had a one-of-a-kind creation that made her mama proud!

Award winning Clare with Clare Marie Photography shot great images and contributed to the day’s laid back and comfortable feel. Dana with Dana’s Flowers provided fun, whimsical and artistic floral designs that complimented (but didn’t compete with) Pravda’s industrial look and the couples vision for the event.

In lieu of a traditional wedding cake, the couple had a wide range of tarts and tortes on hand from some of their favorite local spots, Ballard’s Café Besalu, West Seattle’s Sugar Rush Baking Company, and Capitol Hill’s Dilettante Chocolate. In addition, the favors were truffles from Seattle’s own fair trade organic superstar, Theo Chocolate. Trust us, not one favor was left at the end of the night, those truffles were a huge hit! It’s a good thing they had all those desserts to fuel the crowd, after all, the celebrated DJ Leslie with Seattle Parties had the crowd dancing all night long. That sugar came in handy!

We wonder if there is any chance of a blue or orange nursery? Congratulations Kristin & Erik!

2 newlyweds + 1 honeymoon = baby!

One of our fabulous 2007 couples, Heide & Gerardo, are having a baby. Shortly after their honeymoon they told us they were expecting. Our reaction was like many others, we started doing the math! Alas, the little girl on the way came to be on their honeymoon…the best wedding present they could ask for.

The couple had a wonderful wedding and reception last year at the iconic Edgewater Hotel known for its history, amazing waterfront view, and gorgeous chandeliers. They both work for Nordstrom, so as you might imagine, it was a stylish and sophisticated affair. Classic black and white served as inspiration for the event. The tone was set right away by beautiful custom invitations by Carly of Little q Designs. Their wedding photographers, Jen & Jody of Jen & Jody Photography took a picture of one of the ballroom chandeliers that served as the cover of the invitation with a design that still has people talking.

Rented Elegance decorated the space with beautiful floral & decor and even supplied extra gardenias for all of the guest tables for added embellishment and a wonderful fragrance. Touches of black ribbon carried through the event at candle bases, curtain tie backs, chair cover sashes, tied around the favors, and delicately placed around the layers of the delicious cake from Jen’s Desserts.

We know they can tie bows, now we’ll find out if they can change diapers. Congratulations Heide & Gerardo!

Here are some pics from their big day.

True Colors Events is now a preferred Wedding Planner for The Golf Club at Newcastle

We are very excited to announce that we have been added to the exclusive list of preferred wedding planners at The Golf Club at Newcastle. We have had the pleasure of coordinating weddings for some amazing couples at The Golf Club at Newcastle, and are honored to be on their updated preferred vendor list. The Golf Club at Newcastle was awarded “The Best Place for a Sunset Wedding” in the Seattle Bride “Best Of 2007″ by both the readers of the magazine and local vendors. Take a look at some of the pictures Jim Garner of J. Garner Photography took of Davina & Dallas last fall, and it is easy to see why The Golf Club at Newcastle is worthy of the honor!

When planning your wedding day, remember that you can’t change the time the sun sets (even when you are working with really great planners!). If you want to make sure and get some great sunset shots, make sure to do your research and know what time the sun will be setting, and plan events accordingly to ensure you can duck out for a few moments without interrupting the flow of the evening (the father-of-the-bride probably does not want to have his toast interrupted by the photographer hijacking the happy couple to accommodate the amber glow casting the sky). One great resource we use is the Wedding Planner on The Wedding Channel. At this site you can enter any destination and time of year to find out what time the sun is going to set, learn about typical temperatures and rainfall patterns, and other useful tips and information.

Hey sunset, say cheese!

Emily & Ben – Truly Original Invitations

Invitations are a great way to express yourself and give your guests a glimpse into what the wedding will be like. There are many options one can consider when looking for invitations. You can find them online, go to various retailers, visit a custom invitation designer, and sometimes we think even further outside the box. Last year we worked with a great Capitol Hill couple, Emily & Ben. Years before meeting, a mutual friend kept telling them that they were right for each other, but the timing wasn’t there. If Emily wasn’t in a relationship, then Ben was. Finally there was a time when both of them were single, and Ben went into the comic book store Emily was working in so he could check her out, cloaked by his anonymous identity (and he didn’t even have to wear glasses, because she didn’t know what he looked like!).

Of course they hit it off, and the self described “sci-fi, comic book geeks” had more in common than there love of the X-Men. The couple had a beautiful garden ceremony outdoors at the Woodland Park Zoo, followed by a sci-fi inspired reception at Pravda Studios, complete with a wedding cake topped with Phoenix and Spiderman action figures.

When it came time to do invitations, it was only natural that inspiration came from a comic book itself, the “All Wedding Issue” of the Superman comic book series, issue #86 from the 1960’s. We worked with graphic designer Renait Stephens to custom design incredible invitations, some for guests invited to the wedding and reception, and others just to the reception. This invitation project was one of our most original & rewarding of last year. On this Valentine’s Day we are reminded that love comes in all forms, even those of super heroes!