Neil and Karen Wedding

Rose Haven Designs - Making beach wedding dreams come true

Neil & Karen at Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach Oregon

Haystack Rock Wedding, Cannon Beach Oregon

white roses, dusty miller, babies breath, blue delphinium and scented geraniums

It was two months into planning our wedding and we had gotten nowhere. Neil and I were trying to keep our budget low and every venue we checked into was way above our price range. The free public park with the wonderful covered cooking area had no available dates open all summer. I was starting to feel a bit hopeless out about finding the perfect place for our wedding. Then we decided to look towards the coast and have a beach ceremony. I thought, great, this opens up all kinds of possibilities! After a trip to the beach and a bunch of time online, I still couldn't find a venue. I was discouraged and overwhelmed, and we were back to square one.

That was when Neil suggested we find a wedding planner. I thought he was crazy-- how could we afford a planner on our tight budget? He insisted that we check it out and he even made the phone calls. That was when we found Wren. I was impressed with her website and Neil was very impressed after talking to her on the phone. She immediately sent us an email explaining her service options and pricing. We were sold after seeing that first email-- she sounded like a lifesaver for us! I was amazed that she could help us with all the planning and arrangements, yet make sure her fee fell within our allotted budget. She set to work right away, quizzing us on our ideas and what we were envisioning for our wedding day. She took all the stress off of our shoulders, but still made sure it was OUR wedding. I hate making phone calls and inquiries, so she did it all! On the flip side, she wasn't at all offended if there was something I wanted to research and plan myself, and she was very careful about not stepping on my moms toes anywhere along the way.

We found a wonderful house at the coast for our family to stay in for the weekend and to serve as the reception location, and we finally set the wedding date. It was a long ways off, so we had plenty of time for planning. She was sure to touch bases with us on a regular basis to make sure we weren't worried about anything, even during the lulls in planning. She constantly reassured me if I was stressed, and put up with my (almost) daily emails for the first month, sending her link after link of potential houses to check out for the reception.

She offered up wonderful ideas and suggestions for everything from table arrangements and flowers to catering options, and in the end, she did it all, saving us a ton of money! She knows all about flowers and made me a beautiful bouquet that turned out prettier than I even imagined when I told her my flower preferences. She offered up herself and her husband as caterers after I told her our BBQ-style menu ideas. She shopped for all of the food, prepared it all on site and served it at the reception (my brother is still raving about the ka-bobs!). Wren made all the arrangements for rentals we needed for the reception.She set up the ceremony site, set up the reception site, set up the food, coordinated the time schedule for everything and cleaned everything up after the event.

We were truly blessed and honored to share our weekend with Wren and Ken.They made our special day memorable and stress-free.We really had a fun wedding day because everything was under control and we didn't have to worry about any details. Plus, they are really just NICE people.Our family and friends spent lots of time talking with them during the weekend and one friend even requested Wren's email just so they could keep in touch! We were happy to have them join us at an evening bonfire that night after the wedding, and we hope that they were able to relax and enjoy themselves after the two days of hard work they put in for us.

We just want to tell Wren again, THANK YOU SO MUCH!! We would truly recommend you to anybody planning their wedding or other special event. You know what you're doing, you are reliable, kind, and through it all, we knew you were just as excited about our wedding as we were!

Thanks again.

Karen and Neil Laksamana