It’s totally natural for Katy Kippen to be making jewelry. Her grandfather was a jeweler and she comes from a family that is always creating. Katy herself remembers making jewelry at the age of 6 or 7. I first saw Katy’s company, Grayling Jewelry, at a Crave Portland event in December and I was really impressed.

Katy and I met up a few weeks ago to chat about jewelry and Grayling’s plans to foray into the wedding market. “With wedding jewelry, I feel like you either end up with really cheap stuff or you spend a fortune,” she said. She’s recently been commissioned to do some bridesmaid jewelry and a jewelry set for a bride, and it makes perfect sense to her that people looking for a custom option would come looking for someone who can craft something totally original.

Grayling’s collections are unique, combining elements from ancient cultures, paleontology and even architecture, which are some of Katy’s interests. Growing up, she lived in Germany and South Korea and both of those experiences opened her mind to a whole range of inspiration that’s a little different than what she usually sees.

Katy is pictured above in her workshop space, which is full of tools and boxes of her grandfather’s old stones, some of which are unique and rare. Her family is proud that she’s giving these stones new life in her jewelry collections.

Grayling takes custom orders and features seasonal collections on Katy’s site (click here). An online shop will be launching sometime in the future.

Thanks, Katy, for being so fun to meet and hang out with. I can’t wait to work with you in the future!

You remember Sunday, right? Blue skies, warm afternoon? It was the perfect day for Bridgeport Village’s first-ever bridal event, so we headed down to soak up some sun and check it out. I thought I’d share my favorites from the day.

Portland Bride & Groom played host while lots of vendors set up in the main gazebo and in individual stores throughout. It was fun to walk around and check out who was waiting to share in each store. There were also tons of samples (cake and chocolate and wine) to be shared.

I’ve gotta say — this place always photographs well. Those pink trees are going to be in full bloom in about three weeks, and I can’t wait to get back to see them in all their glory.

This phenomenal cupcake display was living inside Crate & Barrel, and it was provided by Sweetest Thing cupcakes. They were so cute!

I think my favorite all day was Megan from Fieldwork. She was super nice, and her flower arrangements were impeccable. She uses vintage containers to anchor her arrangements, and they were full of style. The above and below photos are of her work.

Megan displayed her work inside Silverado Jewelry, which is a new shop in Bridgeport Village — go check it out! They have tons of great local and nearby jewelry designers. It’s been awhile since I’ve lusted like that over some gorgeous and unique jewelry.

It’s so fun to be rounding the corner toward wedding season! I can’t wait to see these vendors and more this year as I work on a big collection of wonderful weddings.

I was so excited when I heard that the girls from the Dress of the Month club were planning a new dress — and that they wanted me to photograph it! Even cooler, their model this month is Eliza Sohn, a fellow photographer who sometimes photographs the girls’ monthly dress too. Check out the color oozing out of this spring-inspired shoot on a sunny beautiful Northwest day!

I was so excited when I showed up this glorious morning to see bright colored flowers and an amazing white frock perfect for springtime.

A collection of Eliza’s vintage cameras were just the icing on the cake.

I love her hair — the styling was done by Brianna at Wallflower Salon, who always rocks.

If this shoot doesn’t make you want to go frolic in a field of flowers, then I don’t know what to tell you. This is as springy as it gets.

Thanks, Dress of the Month ladies, for being so much fun to work with! I can’t wait to see what you come up with in April.

A KISS album, that is. Trust me when I tell you that you want one. I’m offering these albums in all of my wedding packages this year because I feel it’s important to have something real to hold and touch and remember with.

This one, with all its sassy hot pink leather, is mine. It’s a sample that I’ll use to show to clients this year, and it features the lovely, bright-colored wedding of Shannon and TJ, this past September.

The albums are thick and luscious, with the softest leather you can imagine. My sample album is a 10×10-inch model with lots of upgrades, like extra spreads. The entire album was designed by me, too.

Look at all those colors! These albums come in red, brown, pink, white, navy blue, lime green and black.

After all that, they come wrapped in these pretty slipcovers and they’re ready to share. I love them, and just wanted to share! Get ready, 2010 couples, for your very own!

My parents used to get Harry and David’s fruit-of-the-month club when I was a kid. It’s a cool concept. That’s why I was so psyched when my friend Arwa told me about Dress of the Month Club. It’s not really a club, but a new custom-designed dress every month from Liz and Kirsten, the minds behind this project.

Last weekend, I got together with Liz and Kirsten and their latest creation, just debuted for February: the Laura Elise dress. We took some photos of their friend and model Laura, and of course the beauty that was this dress. I think it’s gorgeous — if you want one of your own, you just have to ask (click here!)

It’s so energizing to me to work with other female business owners in this town — there is such a wealth of originality and promise. The Dress of the Month club ladies paired up with Brianna of Wallflowers Salon in NW, too — what a great team!

In case you’re wondering, brides, I did ask — and the Dress of the Month Club has done some work on bridesmaid dresses. If you’re looking for something you just can’t find, these might be your gals. If one of their custom designs isn’t the perfect thing, try their Dress-o-Matic feature!

Thanks, Kirsten and Liz (and Laura!) for being so fun to work with and for inspiring me on a Saturday morning. I can’t wait to see your next creation!

My new friend Elizabeth rocks. We met recently at an alumni event for our high school, and it’s crazy that we didn’t know each other before, because she and I totally click. Elizabeth has her own wedding coordination business, Elizabeth Ann Events. I talked with her recently for her two cents on wedding coordination and what she loves about her job.

“I loved planning my own wedding and I think weddings are such beautiful, mysterious events,” she told me. That’s what led her to wedding coordination, and she loves that they’re happy events with time-tested traditions and lots of excitement.

We met up at one of my new favorite Portland haunts, Lovejoy Bakers — I couldn’t help myself in there with all that yummy light. We had lots of fun.

Elizabeth’s advice on whether to hire a wedding coordinator is this: they can save you money and a whole lot of stress. “I can help brides find good vendors in a certain price range, as well as saving guests, the wedding party and parents a lot of heartache.”

Elizabeth wore these red shoes when we met — and on her own wedding day a couple of years ago! I knew we must have been kindred spirits, since I wore red shoes (reminiscent of Dorothy’s from The Wizard of Oz) on my own wedding day.

Elizabeth offers day-of wedding planning (the most popular choice), consultation plans and full-service wedding coordination. If you’re interested in working with someone I trust, feel free to get ahold of her through her Web site (click here). Thanks, Elizabeth, for being so classy and fun to photograph!

I have been so inspired by the Portland business community’s efforts to raise money for the Haiti relief efforts that I’m jumping in too — through Jan. 31, anyone who books a wedding package will see 5% of their purchase go straight to MercyCorps and their work in Haiti — that’s from $120-$210 per couple.

It’s moments like these we’re reminded that we’re all people and that banding together makes me feel so hopeful about what people are capable of.

When you work at weddings, you meet other people who work at weddings. That’s been a really fun part of this job. Way back in July, I met Annie after Stefanie and Marc’s wedding. We got together a couple of weeks ago to get some new photos for her, and they’re so fun!

Annie Chen is a floral designer and she owns her own company, called Floral Sunshine. She prides herself on being a versatile floral designer with really clean, modern designs. They’re unique, but they’re not too out there, she said, she loves working with challenging flowers like calla lilies as well as classic choices, like roses.

One of Annie’s favorite things is when brides let her decide about which flowers to use. “It’s less restrictive, and it gives me the opportunity to use fresher flowers.” However, she said she’s very good at tracking down specific flowers if a bride knows what she wants.

One of the benefits she sees to using an independent floral designer versus a retail floral shop is that brides know exactly who is making their bouquets and centerpieces. “When you use a floral designer, you pay for the benefit of a designer’s touch,” she said. “But with me, the difference is that they’re not paying as much.”

Annie is looking forward to another wedding season on the horizon, and said she can’t wait to hear from couples getting married in 2010. To contact Annie, visit her Web site or call her at 503.706.6286.

It’s the time of year when wedding planning is on the brain, which means it’s also the season for bridal shows. I go to a few each year to stay up on the trends and to meet my fellow wedding vendors and The Art of Weddings in Portland is a fun one because it’s so small. I went late last week armed with my camera so I could share what I found — some really beautiful stuff, plus the itch to plan my own all over again. Check it out.

The girls running Punch are not only effortlessly cool, the vintage details at their booth drew me right in from the front door of the show. If their weddings look anything like their booth, these are the people to talk to. Below, part of their table featured Miss Zumstein Cakes & Desserts (so cute!)

To say that I have a girl crush on Sarah Seven would be a bit of an understatement. She’s cute, she’s peppy and her designs are absolutely, breathtakingly gorgeous. If I was a little savvier back when I got married, she would have been my go-to gal. Sarah specializes in one-of-a-kind, limited run and custom order gowns and dresses, plus special occasion wear.

The Armory building (home to Portland Center Stage) was such a perfect spot for this show — I love the lobby there and how open everything is.

Sometimes, wedding cakes are really beautiful and taste like cardboard. Sometimes, they’re delicious and they look like crap. None of the cakes at this show had either of those scenarios happening. I think if I had to pick a favorite, I’d say the super-perfect creations at Allison Kelleher’s Cake Design were stunning — below is vanilla raspberry and it was absolutely mouth-watering.

Below left was a close runner-up for me, plus the definite hands-down winner for cutest business name: Le Cookie Monkey. Amber Darrington from Le Cookie Monkey was so sweet and seemed like she’d be a complete delight to work with. The photo below on the right is some flower arrangements by Studio del Fiore, which did really cute stuff at the wedding show and seemed really versatile.

I also wanted to mention Duchess Clothier, whose hipster suit combos would be perfect for just about every Portland groom I know (check out their cool vintage frame display below right) and Westcoast Event Productions, who had several tables around the show set up in awe-inspiring colors and linens and dishes that all made me swoon.

Thanks for coming along to the wedding show with me! I know some of you are planning weddings and I thought it’d be helpful to see what sort of cool vendors there are. My biggest recommendation to you brides is to find vendors you get along with and want to spend time with — that’s what I’ve found is key for a real chemistry (and some new friends!) while you’re planning that wonderful wedding.

So I came back a little earlier than I’d planned to the blog to wish everyone a happy new year! I’m so excited for what the new year is going to bring for Sara Gray Photography, and I wanted to share some of those plans here so you can all look forward to it with me. (Here’s Eric and I in our Christmas photo this year).

More quality, less quantity: I’ve been blogging five days a week here on the blog since April 2009, and after having a few conversations with readers, I’ve decided that I’m going to cut back my posting in favor of more in-depth, high-quality posts. In 2010, I’ll be posting twice a week, which will give more of you the chance to see my work for longer before it’s buried under other posts. Those two weekly posts will be longer, featuring more photos and more details about the great people in them. If you’ve got things you’d like to see on the blog, don’t hesitate to let me know!

Weddings, weddings, weddings: I’ve set as a goal for Sara Gray Photography to photograph 25 weddings in 2010. I’ve already got a few on my calendar, but not all of them! How can you help me reach that goal? Tell your friends who are getting engaged (70% of engaged couples make it official over the holidays, so you probably have a few engaged friends now!) and if they book, you get a fun referral gift from me.

So you want to be a model?: I’m revamping my senior rep program this year, and I’ll be announcing that in late March on the blog. If you’ve got friends who are high school juniors (or you’re a high school junior), let them know about the blog and the program so that they can save money on senior photos, plus be able to earn cool free stuff by recommending their friends and classmates.

2009 was a great year, and I’ll be sharing next week on the blog about the wedding ideas that inspired me over the last year. But I’m also looking forward to what 2010 will bring!