Weddings - Kitsap Wedding Expo - 2016

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PAGE 2

KITSAP WEDDING EXPO

FEBRUARY 12, 2016

It’s not your mother’s wedding cake anymore

By LESLIE KELLY

lkelly@soundpublishing.com

N

ext time you attend a wedding, don’t be surprised if when it comes time to cut the wedding cake, it’s a cup-

cake tree.

Yes, that’s right. Cupcakes are all the rage in what to serve as a wedding treat.

“It’s very trendy,” said Sue Boucher, who owns That Takes the Cake in Sequim. Besides selling cupcakes daily from her storefront, she also makes wedding cakes and cupcakes to order.

“There’s just so much you can do with cupcakes.”

And she should know. She’s been in the cake baking business for 30 years.

Originally from the Everett-Lake Stevens area, Boucher began her cake business after attending a cake decorating class.

“A friend at work wanted to go and nobody would go with her,” she said. “So I told her I’d go. She hated it and quit. I loved it and stayed with it.”

Boucher describes herself as not “really a cook.”

“I had an Easy Bake Oven when I was little,” she said. “But that was about it.”

About a year after she attended the class, a friend asked her to make her wedding cake. At that time she’d only done birthday cakes and party cakes.

“I told her ‘no way,’” Boucher said.

“Then she dared me because she knew I wouldn’t say ‘no’ to that.”

From that point on she was hooked.

A fall wedding called for an arrangement surround the bride and groom’s cake.

She operated out of a commercial kitchen near Lake Stevens until about five years ago, when she moved to Sequim and opened up shop there.

On average, she does about 150 to 200 weddings a year. Every day she opens the shop and offers a variety of cupcakes to the general public from 171 W. Washington St. (You can’t miss her place. It has a giant neon cupcake hanging over it.) In all, she offers 350 varieties of cake. Each cupcake has a filling and is iced. She also has a party room at her place when kids can have birthday parties and decorate their own cupcakes.

What may make wedding cupcakes so popular is that it allows brides and grooms to offer a variety of kinds of cake so that guests can make a choice what

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they want to eat. Also, cupcakes can save the couple on their wedding budget.

“They’re about a dollar less per guest,” Boucher said. “Mostly because they take less time to decorate.”

Choices include mini cupcakes to regular to giant. What couples choose depends on what other items they are offering.

“If there’s a full buffet, with other dessert options, then they’ll choose miniof cupcakes to cupcakes,” Boucher said.

Photo by Sue Boucher “If it’s a cake-only reception, they’ll want the regular-sized cupcakes.”

Giant cupcakes can be used as a special item when the celebration has fewer guests.

Cupcakes are often stacked to create a wedding cake-looking tree. There’s the option to have a 6-inch cake layer on top that the bride and groom can cut for photos, as is the tradition. Sometimes cupcakes are placed along the table and are marked with their flavors, fillings and icings. And there’s the option to offer such things as gluten-free cupcakes.

Usually, each cupcake is decorated to match the wedding theme, such as fall leaves for September weddings. The average wedding requires 125 to 150 cupcakes.

And often the brides and grooms will

offer take-home boxes so that guests can take their cupcake home, or take one to someone who couldn’t attend the wedding.

“It’s easier than taking a piece of cake home,” Boucher said.

Boucher’s husband, Paul, is the baker.

He has a culinary background. He gets up very early and bakes fresh each day.

Then as the sun rises, Sue goes into work and begins decorating the cakes an cupcakes. Sometimes, she’s there to the wee hours of the morning if she has a lot of cakes to do.

“It’s pretty much a 24-hour business,” she said.

They have from one to six employees, depending on the season of the year. The summer is the busiest with tourist traffic in and out of the store and weddings.

She travels as far as Seattle to Portland to deliver wedding cakes and cupcakes.

The most popular flavor is almond poppy seed with champagne or raspberry icing. Her favorite is a fresh pear brandy cupcake with buttercream icing and Bavarian cream filling.

But, she said, there are those who come in and just want “plain old vanilla.”

“For three years we had one customer that came in every day for a plain vanilla cupcake with no filling,” Boucher said.

“But we’ve finally gotten him to try some other things — to stretch his horizons.”

To contact her, email thattakesthe cake@hotmail.com, or call 360-565-6272.

FEBRUARY 12, 2016

KITSAP WEDDING EXPO

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Welcome to the 2016 Kitsap Wedding Expo

W

elcome to the 2016 Kitsap Wedding Expo. This annual bridal and wedding show is part of what makes Spring special in Kitsap County.

At the show, future brides and grooms can meander about the more than 45 exhibitors looking for just the right things to make their day special. Everything from venues, to caterers and cake bakers, to photographers and even ways to relax before, during or after the event. It’s all here and there’s plenty of time to look for it all.

Included in the Expo are fashion shows at noon and 2 p.m. on the main stage, sponsored by American Rose Bridal, with Flower Elegance, Olympic Farm Style Events, Advanced Rentals Party Store, and Gordon Sound.

At 1 p.m., Ranger and the Re-Arrangers will perform on stage in concert.

Doors open at 10 a.m. Feb. 20; the show ends at 4 p.m.

The following is a list of vendors who will be at the Kitsap Wedding Expo — and a little about what they say about their services: Sponsor: The Point Casino & Market Fresh Catering: www.the-point-casino.com.

Looking for a fun place to host your next party or event? The Point Casino offers a variety of settings to accommodate your event or function.

•Gordon Sound: www.gordonsound. com. Offering top notch DJ and rental

equipment. The largest event services organization on the Kitsap Peninsula with professional DJ’s and knowledgeable staff.

•Crescent Moon Catering: www. cres centmooncatering.com. Focusing on fresh local, seasonal, and sustainable produce. Eco-conscious approach to catering.

Twenty years of experience from around the world.

•Advanced Rentals: www.advancedrentalspartystore.com. Specializes in event and wedding rentals, tent rentals, and party supplies, making every celebration a success by helping you create the perfect atmosphere. Full service party and special event rental store, family owned and operated for more than 30 years.

•McCormick Woods: www.mccormick woodsgolf.com. Abundant and diverse event space can accommodate up to 300 guests. Offers a premier indoor/outdoor wedding destination.

•Unique Moments Photography: www.umphotography.com. “Let us tell your story.” Let us be part of your family, capturing all your special traditions and style. We believe in reasonably priced quality products to preserve your special day.

•Van Wyhe Photography: www.van wyhephotography.com. Award-winning and published photographers who give each couple the images that will bring them back to the beauty, passion, joy and fun of their wedding day.

•All Tide Up Wedding and Event Design: www.alltiedupwed.com.

Embracing a fresh and fun approach to planning. There is nothing more important than tailoring each moment to fulfill your every dream. Knowledgeable on the latest and best wedding styles to fit your ideal day.

•Costco Silverdale: www.costco.com.

See how you can save money on your wedding by shopping our products. Wholesale items that fit your special days needs.

Styles to fit every wedding day need.

•Essence Of The Thymes: www. essenceofthethymes.com. Food that excites the senses. Simply tell us what you want and together we can create a delicious menu that will fit your budget.

Customize your menu with our wide variety of expertise.

•Red Cedar Farms: www.redcedarfarm.com. Unforgettable experience with captivating country charm in a 100-yearold renovated farm with beautiful plush landscaping.

•Gold Mountain Golf Course: www. goldmountaingolf.com. Natural beauty and surroundings with both indoor and outdoor spaces, committed to making your event unique, distinct and memorable.

•Macy’s Silverdale: www.macys.com.

Wedding gift registry. Come in and let our knowledgeable sales staff help you find the perfect items for your new life together.

•Chloe Mosey Events: www.wedding plannerbremerton.com. More than 500 weddings in the last four years. We can help with everything from choosing

vendors in your budge to officiating your wedding. Professional event coordinating for any budget.

•Unique & Chic Event Rentals Design: www.uniquechicrentals.com.

Vintage and rustic decor rental. Let us help design your wedding exactly how you envision it. Our goal is to help you create a beautiful style and design that allows your unique personality to shine through while keeping your budget in mind.

•Julia Performs Your Wedding Ceremony: www.juliasweddings.net.

Voted in the top 10 in KING 5’s Best of Western Washington. I can design and plan your wedding that a unique couple will love.

•Rodan & Fields Skincare: www.ador maier.myrandf.com. Have the clear youthful skin you’ve always dreamed of for your big day. We are the fourth largest premium skincare company in the U.S . You will glow on your wedding day with a simple cleansing process.

•Acupuncture and Wellness Center, P.S.: www.acupuncturewellness.net.

We provide treatment for several different women and men’s health issues.

Discounted rates for initial consultations.

Fast, effective treatment with proven results.

•Mary Kay: www.marykay.com/jessica cawley. Hair and makeup just the way you want it for your wedding day. Choose from a variety of color pallets to make your perSee VENDORS, Page 6

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PAGE 4

KITSAP WEDDING EXPO

FEBRUARY 12, 2016

She knows everything about feeding guests

By LESLIE KELLY

lkelly@soundpublishing.com

A

nna Gordon grew up in a family where sitting around the dinner table every evening was important.

And that, she said, is where she learned about the “communion of food.”

“It doesn’t matter what the event, it’s about bringing people together to eat and enjoy each other’s company,” Gordon said. “And that’s just what I do.”

For the past four years, she has owned and operated Crescent Moon Catering from a commercial kitchen in Port Orchard.

With a staff of five in the kitchen and 13 servers, she caters events — including many weddings — from Kitsap County to Bellevue A summer wedding buffet set by Crescent Moon Catering. to even Leavenworth.

Her method is always the Photo by Crescent Moon Catering same.

Sometimes a friend or the parents of the “Whatever the event, and couple are there, but Gordon’s hope is that especially with weddings, I want the food the couple tell her what they want. to be a reflection of the hosts,” she said.

Gordon tells a story of a bride who was “At weddings, the food should be the overrun by a future mother-in-law during a favorite foods of the bride and groom, or consultation. things that mean something to them.”

The mother-in-law second-guessed She begins by sitting down with the every delicacy that the bride wanted to bride and groom for a consultation.

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serve. Gordon said she told the bride that this was her day and that she would make and serve what she wanted. Her choice was a Puttanesca pasta of seasoned vegetables and an optional mushroom cream sauce.

“At the wedding, the bride came up and gave me a big hug and said ‘thank you for saving my wedding,’” Gordon said. “And the mother-in-law said ‘Well, I guess I better taste this pasta that everybody’s talking about.’”

In order to be a successful caterer, you have to be passionate about weddings, said Gordon.

“They’re the bread and butter of catering,” she said. “Weddings are very emotional times and you need to be able to support that.”

After the menu is selected, there’s a tasting time when the bride and groom taste and make final choices for their big day. Depending on the size of the wedding and whether the food is served as sit-down meal, family style, a buffet, or with several “tasting stations,” prices can range from $15 to $25 per person. Costs of servers and other things like linens, china, set-up and tear-down, and taxes are on top of the cost per guest.

What’s been popular recently for wedding receptions, Gordon said, are taco bars. But they don’t look like what you would find at a local all-you-can-eat buffet place.

“My time working with chefs in L.A. was well-spent,” she said of her knowledge of Mexican and Latin food.

Her taco bars include fish tacos made with local salmon, flank steak that is marinated for 48 hours and then grilled, and pork that is slow braised in broth and then quick pan fried and then shredded.

She also has an option for fire-roasted Washington grown chicken that is shredded and topped with tomatoes and a green citrus flavor.

Accompanying the tacos is everything you would expect: an avocado salad, red rice, seasoned whole beans with chilis, corn tortillas, fresh salsa and guacamole, and a wild mushroom queso dip with chips.

“What’s so great about this (option) is that guests will mingle around the taco station,” she said. “Rather than if you have a formal sit-down dinner where no one talks to anyone except the person they are sitting next to.”

What’s also popular for wedding recep-

tions are pasta dishes and, of course, fresh salmon.

“People love their salmon — it’s a northwest food,” she said.

She can prepare meals for those with dietary restrictions and can offer special items, like the time she came up with a middle eastern Fezenjher, a chicken dish, that had a tie to the groom’s upbringing.

Food items that seem to be on the out this year are prime rib and pulled pork.

“People don’t ask for prime rib much anymore,” she said. “It’s just not that unique.”

And last year was a big year for pulled pork which she made so many times last summer, “I began to smell like pulled pork permanently.”

She and her staff are glad that has passed.

Gordon remembers cooking from the “Happy Pixie Cookbook” when she was about 14 years old.

“My grandma and my mother were cooks and they’d host the harvest festival every year where I grew up,” she said. “I was their little helper.”

She recognized her love of cooking, but studied to attend law school. She got sidetracked from that when she discovered acting and worked in theater productions in Los Angeles and Seattle.

Her husband has 28 years in with the U.S. Navy, and has been stationed in both California and Washington.

When in California, Gordon cooked and catered and was a personal chef. She learned from many notable chefs. She also was a chef for the Williams-Sonoma company. They returned to the Port Orchard area a few years ago and that is when she decided to open her catering business.

“I knew I wanted to get back into catering,” she said.

And, in the past few years, she’s catered at least two weddings per weekend from May to late September. She’s saved a reception that came right in the middle of a rain and wind storm that took out the electricity. And she’s saved a wedding cake that melted and fell apart in the hot summer sun.

Her mantra: “As a caterer, what makes us great is not how we cook. What makes us great is what we do when things go wrong.”

To find out more, go to www.crescentmooncatering.com, or call her at 360-7106817.

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FEBRUARY 12, 2016

KITSAP WEDDING EXPO

PAGE 5

Red Cedar Farm perfect for country setting In the next room, there’s an arcade with 20 vintage pinball machines, shuffleboard and a foosball table.

There’s plenty of acreage to stroll about, a horseshoe pit and a fire ring for toasting marshmallows.

Couples have the run of the place from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on the day of their wedding.

Depending on the season of the year, the rental fee ranges from $2,950 in early spring to $4,650 at mid summer. She is on site during the weddings, along with her husband, Gregg, sons Parker and Zack and her son’s girlfriend, Christie, who offers makeup and hair care on site for the A country flavor can be added to any wedding at Red Cedar Farm. brides and bridesmaids.

But the farm also can host elegant weddings.

Contributed Photo Sampson has a list of preferred DJ and the venues has a complete sound vendors including caterers, florists, photogsystem. Nearby is a bar that’s covered in old raphers, even bartenders. But she said she’s license plates. Above the ceiling is trimmed not opposed to using other vendors, if the with rusted mental and old wagon wheels bride and groom have another preference. that have been made into country-style chanAlthough parking is limited at the farm, deliers.

By LESLIE KELLY

lkelly@soundpublishing.com

I

t’s a far cry from the traditional big church wedding. But for some brides and grooms, Red Cedar Farm is just what they hoped for.

It’s a country setting, with a big rustic barn, decorated with lots of vintage signs, old pop bottles and antique pinball games.

There are even a few farm animals.

But it can also be an elegant setting with a place for an outdoor exchange of vows under a white arch on a beautiful lawn, a private bride’s quarters for getting ready, and tables and chairs to seat about 150 guests.

Although Red Cedar Farm has only been a wedding venue for the past five years, the Sampson family who operates it has lived at the farm for 30 years.

“We wanted to do this 10 years ago,” said Andrea Sampson. “But we had other things going on. Then, in 2010, we got serious and started remodeling.”

The farm has been named as one of the best places to host a wedding in western Washington. It’s available year-round, except January, February and November.

Sampson said they average 50 to 55 weddings a year. The farm is almost booked for the 2016 wedding season, with weddings on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from March to October. And they are already booking for the 2017 summer season.

“I love doing this,” Sampson said. “It’s a lot of work and people think I’m crazy. But when you see guests having a fantastic time, it makes it all worth it.”

Weddings can be held outdoors or indoors, if need be. There’s a heated barn for receptions that has space for guests and a dance floor. Music can be provided by a

there is a parking area down the road, about a mile, and there’s a shuttle bus as a part of the rental package.

Sampson’s advice to brides and grooms is to look for a venue that “fits your style.”

“Some people come here and they want something ultra modern,” she said. “The can tell this is not the place for their wedding. I’d say look at a number of places and choose the one you can see yourself in.”

At Red Cedar Farm, many couples decided to not do much additional decorating because there’s already a rustic decor to the place. Prior to the farm becoming an events venue, the Sampsons sold farm antiques.

Many are now used in the decor.

Gregg was raised in Iowa and Andrea was from California. They met in Montana and knew they wanted to raise their family on a farm. They relocated to the Seattle area and when they found the 25-acre farm 30 years ago, they bought it. Gregg had a career as a physical therapist, but retired in 2012.

Although they don’t think of themselves as farmers, they have had pumpkins patches and have 200 kiwi berry trees. They have chickens, 12 dwarf goats, a miniature donkey and two cows.

“They’re really pets,” she said. “But people expect to see farm animals when they come here.”

As for wedding stress, she leaves that to the family of the bridge and groom.

“We have the system down,” she said. “So this isn’t stressful for us. It’s really enjoyable.

It’s rewarding to see people so happy and having a good time”.

To find out more go to www.redcedar farm.com, or call 360-697-7770. Email the farm at info@redcedarfarm.com. Check the website calendar for open dates.

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PAGE 6

KITSAP WEDDING EXPO

Vendors

Continued from page 3 fect wedding day makeup. Knowledgeable make-up artists.

•Olympic Farm Style Events: www. olympicfarmstyleevents.com. Features rustic, 10-foot farm tables, barn doors and stylish table tops. Add the beauty and warmth of wood to your special event.

Great for outdoor weddings, intimate events, vintage park scenes or an elaborate affair.

•Kitsap Conference Center: www. kitsapconferencecenter.com. With indoor and outdoor spaces, picturesque views, and amazing service, there’s no better place to say “I do.”

•Elaine Turso Photography: www. elainetursophotography.com. Voted Best in Bremerton, Elaine offers a custom bridal boudoir sessions with every wedding collection. Ask about the Diamonds and Pearls package.

•Red Door Designs: www.reddoordesignsnw.com. Red Door Designs is here to make your day special and unique, offering a range of services to meet your needs.

•Third Wish Studios: www.thirdwishstudios.com. Specializing in custom handmade jewelry for brides and bridal parties. Using freshwater pearls, genuine gemstones and sawarski crystals.

•Nerium by Tracy Moralana.

•Pour Girls & Some Guys: www. pourgirls.com. Bartenders for hire, in the business for 21 years. Insured and licensed professional bartenders that will set-up, serve, and clean up your bar area with the beverages you provide.

•DJ Z Entertainment: www.dj-zenter

tainment.com. DJ Z Entertainment is a Kitsap County-based DJ company serving all of Western Washington.

•Jamberry by Jocelyn Goldschmidt: www.jamsbyjocelyn.jamberry.com.

Jamberry Nails wraps will revolutionize the way you look at manicures. No dry time or damage to your nails; 300-plus designs for the fraction of a salon manicure.

•Tinsel ’n’ Twine: www.tinselntwine. com. Wedding planning and table designs.

•Snapshots Photography: www. snapshotsportrait.com. Voted the Best Photographer of Central Kitsap for five years in a row.

•Saving Grace Wedding and Events: www.savinggraceweddingandevents.com.

“Let us be your Saving Grace.” Here to make your day as stress free as possible.

We handle the details while you enjoy your moment.

•Jolly Sienda Photography: www.jollysiendaphotography.com. Award-winning wedding photographer and professionals capture all the details of your special day for lasting memories.

•Life Long Dental: www.lifelongdental.com. Dedicated to patient education and ethical treatment and continuity of care. Strive to demonstrate care, skill and judgment to specific needs of the patients leading to growth and stability of our practice. Make your wedding day perfect with the perfect smile.

•Partylite by Maaren Stroble: www. partylite.biz Wonderful table centerpieces and parties to get your wedding started.

•Flowers on Moonbeam: www.wed dingwire.com. We make your flowers a forever keepsake with an extra touch using glamorous brooches.

FEBRUARY 12, 2016

•Guerrero Enterprises: www.weddingwire.com. Party bus and wedding services.

•Flower Elegance: fresh flowers, bridal jewelry. Kitsap County’s most unique and affordable wedding florist.

•Randy Kan: www.randykan.com.

Deluxe portable restrooms, luxury restrooms.

•Silverdale Geico Office: Call Silverdale Geico to start your policy and receive two free movie passes.

•London Blue Studio: www.londonbluestudio.com. The best in videography, video editing and cinematography.

Capture your special day and the memories forever.

•Silverdale Beach Hotel (Best Western Plus): www.silverdalebeachhotel.com. Banquet rooms, and hotel rooms for you special day.

•DJ Scott: www.askdjscott.com.

Named as one of the top 12 DJs in the nation.

•Rainer Photo Booth: www.rainierphotobooth.com. Our services include a green screen that can add any background of your choosing. Touch screen capability to add your email and electronically send your pictures, as well as receive a hard copy of your pictures.

•Olive Branch Events: www.olivebranchevents.com. Wedding and event planning with style •Celebrations by Amber: www.celebrationsbyamber.com. Officiate, day of coordination, elegant elopement.

•Mastermind Production: DJ services.

•Trophy Lake Golf & Casting: www. trophylakegolf.com. We are certain that our professional staff and premier service

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Publisher: Lori Maxim Editor and writer: Leslie Kelly Advertising Director: Donna Etchey Sales Representatives: Sharon Allen, Tawna Grisham, Jessica Martindale, Marleen Martinez, Bill McDonald, Ariel Naumann.

Production Manager: Bryon Kempf Sponsor: Gordon Sound Copyright 2016 Sound Publishing Inc.

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Your Special Moments...

is an annual publication of Sound Publishing. For information about upcoming special publications, call 360-779-4464.

Chloe Photography

W edding Season Port Orchard & East Bremerton

KITSAP WEDDING EXPO GUIDE

For a Truly Unique Wedding

Get Ready for

ns!

2 Locatio

will help you deliver a world-class event for all your guests to enjoy.

•Lora’s Le Garmache Catering: www.legarmache.com. We strive for open and continuous communication in making your event unforgettable •Castles Mega Store: www.castlesmegastore.com. Good selection of lingerie, bachelorette party favors and other adult novelties.

•Gierin Creek Event Services: www. gierincreekeventservices.com. Outdoor venue in Sequim that provides catering and floral services.

Home Made Café

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FEBRUARY 12, 2016

KITSAP WEDDING EXPO

PAGE 7

Music can make or break your wedding day

music.”

She began as an event DJ and since has focused on being a DJ at weddings. hen planning their weddings, “I tagged along to a couple of wedmost brides and grooms think dings and then I just began doing it on about the dress, the venue, the my own,” she said. flowers, the photographer and the food.

Gordon Sound offers a number of Music, and whether to have a dance, usupackages for weddings. For ally come after that. $750, a bride and groom But “DJ Amy O” can have a DJ/emcee for (Amy O’Shaughnessy) the ceremony and recepknows that the music is tion, and industry premium an important factor. sound system, wireless lapel “Music brings microphones,and dance it all together,” lights, all for five hours.

O’Shaughnessy said.

For $650, the same is “If you don’t spend offered for four hours for just time thinking about the the reception. Other packages music, it all won’t come include $450 for four hours together.” for parties, and there’s even a O’Shaughnessy has Do-It-Yourself rental service been a musician all for $150. (See details on their her life and has a backAmy O’Shaughnessy website www.gordonsound. ground in karaoke. com) “I love music and I’ve With every package, performed in bands for a Gordon Sound Event a long time,” she said.

“I started doing karaoke about four years Coordinator will sit down and pre-plan the event, helping couples to select their ago and I won a couple of $500 prizes.” music.

From her work as a karaoke singer, “We usually start by asking if the she met Sunny Saunders, who owns couple has a song,” O’Shaughnessy said.

Gordon Sound Events, Kitsap County’s “They usually do.” own entertainment and events producThat song is used for the first dance. tion company.

Current popular first dance songs are “Sunny asked me if I’d DJ for her,” “Lucky” by Jason Mraz and Colbie O’Shaughnessy said. “I was excited at Caillat, and “Thinking Out Loud,” by Ed the opportunity to showcase what I love,

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As for the general songs for the reception, “pretty much anything goes.”

“We try to find out what the bride and groom’s style is,” she said. “They can write down the names of the songs they want, or we can help with that.

Sometimes if we know what artists they like we can select similar music that they will like.”

In Kitsap County, popular wedding music is Top 40, pop and country.

“Usually there’s a mix, so that the music can be enjoyed by all the guests, despite their age difference. Wedding dances are all about creating wonderful memories for everybody who is there.”

That can include songs from the 1940s, 50s, 60s and 70s, 80s, and 90s, to appeal to the parents and grandparents of the bride and groom.

O’Shaughnessy usually brings thousands of songs so that she’s not stuck playing every song she has, incase the “vibe” of the reception goes in a different direction.

“If the guests seem to be liking on genre of music, I want to know I have more of it to play,” she said.

All the music is on MP3 files, which is different than how it used to be.

“Way back in high school when I did some DJ-ing, we’d carry big notebooks of CDs around with us,” she said. “Now all you do is type in the name of the song and the computer does all the rest.”

O’Shaughnessy has been singing since she was 3 years old. At age 9, she was asked to be in a school choir, sung a solo, and has been singing ever since.

She also plays guitar and is currently in a Christian rock band.

Being a DJ isn’t just playing music, however. It’s getting to know the guests, she said, to determine how to keep them dancing. And giving them a slow song once in awhile so they can catch their breath.

She stressed that the company has top notch sound systems and they are set up to match the size of the venue where the wedding takes place. The bride and groom can control how loud they want the music.

If the couple wants to offer guests karaoke, that can be added for a fee.

The most popular songs to play at weddings include “Brick House,” “Dancing Queen” and “PYT” (Pretty Young Thing) by Michael Jackson.

The most important thing about being a DJ is loving your work, she said.

“You have to love music and know your stuff,” O’Shaughnessy said. “That’s what’s at the heart of it.”

To find out more, call Gordon Sound at 360-692-2957, or email info@gordonsound.com.

PAGE 8

KITSAP WEDDING EXPO

FEBRUARY 12, 2016

Brides opting for flowing gowns this season

By LESLIE KELLY

lkelly@soundpublishing.com

I

t’s not the skin-tight mermaid-style wedding dress that’s catching brides’ eyes this season. Rather, they’re opting for dresses that are made of lightweight fabrics, are flowing, and have straps or sleeves.

And the majority are picking white over off-white, cream or ivory.

“There’s no one particular style or designer that’s popular this year,” said Lynanne White, owner of American Rose Bridal in Poulsbo. “But we are seeing gowns that are more flowing and not tight-fitting — and low cut backs and lots of lace.”

American Rose Bridal is an established Kitsap County mainstay when it comes to wedding attire. It offers a wide range of bridal gown styles and sizes and has everything needed to dress bridesmaids, grooms and groomsmen, mothers of the couple, and any children who have parts in the ceremony.

White said most brides who come into the shop try on six to eight gowns before making a decision. She has more than 200 in her shop and they range in price from $200 to more than $1,000. The average dress costs about $700.

“I’ve seen it go from six to eight dresses to some brides who will try on 20,” she said.

And it’s now common place to take a few selfies to send to mom or a friend who is helping make the decision.

“I’ve seen a little bit of the gold and silver,” she said, about a national trend toward metallic colors.

Some brides are wearing sparkling belts or ribbons tied at the waist to add the glam.

For bridesmaids, shorter dresses are what’s in.

“They’re picking shorter dresses, and hopefully something they can wear again somewhere,” White said.

And bridesmaids no An expert in what the bride’s are choosing, Lynanne White longer have to dress alike. says flowing gowns are all the rage.

Photo by Leslie Kelly White said brides will pick a color and have each When shopping for a wedding dress, bridesmaid choose a dress most brides bring along the maid of style that suits them. honor.

“That works as long as you get the fab“It’s not usually the mom or mother-inric from a designer,” she said. “That way law,” White said. “Many times the mother the color is the same rather than saying doesn’t live in the area. So the bride sends ‘just go buy a blue dress.’” pictures of the dresses she likes the best.”

The bride usually has four or five As for color, white wedding dresses are bridesmaids, and White said she’s not making a come back. dressing as many flower girls and ring “The past several years, the trend has bearers as she once was. been for ivory,” she said. “It use to be that “They may just be having the children white was a symbol of virginity. But now wear their own dress clothes,” she said. any bride who wants to can wear white, Grooms are opting for tuxedos that even brides that are getting married for aren’t black. White said they’re choosing the second or third time.” dark blue and gray.

Wedding party colors are running the As for the mothers of the brides, they rainbow, White said. Many brides are don’t want to look like the mother anychoosing shades of green. But other popu- more, wearing long satin dresses with lar colors are blue, purple, coral and pink.

short jackets. Instead they’re going for cocktail dresses that are shorter and make them feel younger.

“Now it’s the grandmothers (of the brides) wearing the long gowns,” she said.

The venue doesn’t seem to affect what the bride decides to wear, either, she said.

Long gowns are worn indoors and outdoors and even at weddings held in barns.

And brides and grooms are still personalizing their weddings by wearing unique footwear.

“The converse tennis shoes and the cowboy boots are still big,” White said.

One thing that White said she’s seen increase is the number of consignment dresses she has in her shop.

“And many of them have never been worn,” she said. “I had a dad come in here with two dresses. He said his daughter had a wedding cancelled at the last minute a few years ago, and then the same thing happened again.”

But, White said, the father told her there was a happy ending. The third time was the charm and his daughter is now married.

And she decided to keep that dress.

At the Wedding Expo, White will show some of her gowns. There will be two fashion shows and local women will model fashions from American Rose Bridal. To find out more go to www.americanrosebridal.com, or go to 19045 Highway 305, Suite 160, Poulsbo. Call her at 360-6979100.

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