Working on Holidays

Holidays
Written By Ava Darcy

People sometimes ask us, as a small Portland wedding planner team, whether we mind working on holidays. The honest answer is… not really.

We actually like working. A lot. Given the choice between working and doing nothing, we will almost always choose working. Our daily life already brings us plenty of joy, creativity, and purpose through the weddings we help create across Portland and Oregon, so we do not feel like we need extra joy that only appears on holidays.

In a way, we celebrate when we work.

For us, holidays themselves do not carry a huge amount of meaning. The only ones that tend to feel special personally are New Year’s Eve and our birthdays. Everything else? If we are spending it helping couples celebrate their wedding day, that already feels like a celebration.

With that mindset, we set a few sentimental goals for 2026 alongside our financial and business milestones as a bespoke Portland wedding planner studio. A couple of weeks ago, we realized we had quietly achieved several of them:

⭐️ We were booked for a wedding on our own anniversary by a lovely young couple planning a beautiful dark renaissance wedding. That one felt especially meaningful to us.

⭐️ We were also booked for a Halloween wedding, helping an alternative bride design her dream celebration in purple, forest green, and orange. As lovers of dramatic aesthetics and non traditional weddings, we could not be more excited about this one.

⭐️ And finally, we were booked for a New Year’s Eve wedding in Oregon City with a stylish disco inspired reception. If you are going to spend New Year’s Eve anywhere, celebrating love, music, and a packed dance floor might just be the perfect place.

Personally, I have always believed that the way you spend New Year’s night sets the tone for the year ahead. If that is true, it seems like it is going to be a busy one for us.

Cheers to that!

Ava Darcy

Ava is the force that brings the Silk & Shadows aesthetic to life. With a background in community leadership, operations, and creative direction, she brings clarity and structure to even the most complex events. Her gift is turning a couple’s ideas into a fully realized visual and emotional experience that feels intentional from the first impression to the final exit.

She specializes in dark romantic and non-traditional styling, with an eye for rich textures, candlelit atmosphere, and immersive details. Her work combines elegance with mood, creating weddings that feel both cinematic and deeply personal.

As a planner and coordinator, Ava is steady, thoughtful, and endlessly organized. Couples often describe her as the calm in the storm. She believes great events come from listening closely, planning carefully, and caring about people as much as the details.

Ava leads every project with kindness, confidence, and a commitment to making the planning journey as beautiful as the celebration itself.

https://www.sspdx.com
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