I have always loved bringing people together to celebrate and make life long memories. After college, I got into corporate event planning and made the transition into wedding planning about 5 years later. I made the transition because I wanted to take my love for events and put it to use serving people, and making their life better in some way.
I started Your Perfect Bridesmaid in 2008, smack in the middle of the horrible recession. I was seeing couples struggle and I was seeing how stressful navigating the wedding planning process was on them. I just knew there had to be a better way to plan a wedding, so I launched YPB in hopes of helping couples by creating that "better way". Fast forward to today. I have spent the past 11 years pouring my heart and soul into our clients and their wedding day, and I am so thankful to still be here, doing what I love every day.
At YPB, we are driven by our beliefs. They are the backbone of our company and they guide us in how we do things. We feel it is these beliefs that stand us apart.
We believe every couple - regardless of budget - deserves the peace of mind that comes with having an experienced team of professionals by their side. We work hard to keep our services accessible to couples.
We believe the planning process, as well as the wedding day, should be fun and enjoyable. Our goal is that all of our couples feel relaxed and calm from “Yes!” to “I do!” knowing that they have an extraordinary team of planners and coordinators behind them every step of the way! Wedding planning doesn’t need to be stressful. In fact, it can (and should) be exciting and fun! Our goal is to give our clients an incredible planning experience and to make this entire process as enjoyable as possible.
We believe every wedding should be personalized and unforgetable.Our goal is to incorporate as much of your personality and personal style into your wedding day as possible so that your wedding feels like a beautiful representation of who you both are as a couple, rather than just a pretty “cookie-cutter” wedding.
We believe that having an amazing team is one of the keys to a successful event. We have spent the past decade developing close relationships with some of the best wedding vendors in the Portland area. With our "little pink book", we provide our clients a customized list of vendor recommendations based on their unique needs, style and budget.
We believe in transparency. We know wedding planning can be confusing enough that you don't want to any vagueness
We've got your back! We put a lot of heart and love into our clients' weddings. You become a member of our family and we fight very hard to deliver the absolute best for you. We wear many hats thru the wedding process. We are your cheerleader, your idea generator, your team captain, your etiquette adviser, family mediator, stationery proofreader, your nerve calmer, your sanity checker your go-to listener and re-assurer. We’ll support you and advocate for you as we guide you thru the entire planning process. We will also manage the wedding day from set up to tear down to ensure every detail is just as you envisioned!
communication,value,delivered product,professionalism,creative ideas,punctual
I honestly don't know how I would have pulled off such a perfect event without YPB, and specifically Carly. If you are hesitating to ask for help, don't do it! The best money spent. One of the things I loved was that Carly insisted that we don't do any of the work on the day of, including takedown. This was hard for me to accept, but it was so helpful to know that she was in control. We went with the biggest package (?) for our wedding and it was worth every cent. I loved the spreadsheet approach and Carly adding to the spreadsheet vendor ideas so that it cut out the research. JUST DO IT!!! Carly is direct and even if she disagrees with something, she is very respectful of letting you choose to do it your way. However, she is also respectfully direct and I often had blind spots that she helped me see. I highly recommend Carly!!
Ashley Wittwer from Your Perfect Bridesmaid is an absolute rockstar! From the moment we started working with her, she brought such a calm and organized energy to the chaos of wedding planning. She helped us nail down the timeline ahead of time and then effortlessly rolled with the punches when last-minute changes popped up on the big day.
Ashley handled vendor management like a pro - I didn’t have to lift a finger. She even coordinated my bouquet to be delivered offsite while I was getting ready, and I didn’t even have to ask! She set everything up exactly how I envisioned, and at the end of the night, she packed it all down and made sure it went home in the right cars. Truly above and beyond.
Because of Ashley, I got to actually relax and enjoy my wedding day knowing everything was under control. If you want someone who’s professional, kind, and makes your wedding feel effortless, Ashley’s your girl!
YPB (specific shout out to Matangi!!) can not be more highly recommended. Absolute the best use of part of your wedding budget! Not only are they communicative and organized (your own portal and spreadsheet trackers), they have so many resources and go above and beyond to make the wedding planning experience and wedding day as stress free as possible. There are two individuals the day of the wedding (extra thanks Guillermo in day of execution with Matangi!) Matangi seriously went above and beyond in every interaction, as well as completely matched our energy and goals for our wedding. Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
YPB was simply the single-best decision we could have made for our wedding.
Our planner, Katelyn Evans, EXCELLED at:
(1) Coordinating and managing our vendors, both local and not-at-all local
(2) Understanding our vision and transforming it into reality
(3) Navigating the complexities of a South Asian wedding (along with the specific needs for our families)
Early on in our wedding planning journey, we got quickly overwhelmed, especially because we were not nearby to our wedding destination. Katelyn hit the ground running with us from day one. She was our boots on the ground, meeting with vendors in person when needed and was an expert in keeping things moving no matter what the action item was, big or small.
A few particular difficulties that Katelyn navigated expertly:
(1) We struggled to pull together the decor based off our wedding vision. Katelyn realized that one decor vendor was not meeting our needs and worked overtime to pull together an order sheet that pulled decor from multiple vendors that matched our vision perfectly AND cut our decor costs by half.
(2) Katelyn accommodated our parents needs down to even the smallest requests, like making sweets available to guests at auspicious moments during the wedding weekend and even helping coordinate dinners outside of the wedding itself.
(3) Katelyn pulled together last-minute needs during the wedding weekend without a sweat, such as setting up umbrellas to provide shade during the wedding ceremony or last-minute hotel room booking adjustments.
The result was a multi-day South Asian wedding that was even better in real life than we could have dreamed of. Our guests LOVED (1) the decor, (2) the food, and (3) how organized and thoughtful each event was. Throughout the entire wedding journey, Katelyn remained extremely receptive to changes, incredibly attentive to detail, and our biggest friend and advocate.
We absolutely could not have had a wedding as sophisticated and beautiful without Katelyn Evans and the YPB crew!
- Shishir & Priya
Lisa Nguyen at YPB was absolutely amazing. We got married on an island outside of Seattle at a non-traditional wedding venue (private property) where we had to bring in everything. It took a lot of coordination and logistics, with over 180 guests, multiple vendors, full band - the works and Lisa and Kim handled it all in stride. Very grateful for their hard work in making our wedding go so smoothly. If you are looking for a day-of coordinator who is organized, communicative, and on top of it, definitely go with Lisa!