Our Story

Carmen’s Story

Once upon a time, there was a little girl with two very special grandmas.

Every morning, as the little girl’s mother went to work, her Grandma Molly would wake her up, make her breakfast, dress her for school, and shuffle her off in just the nick of time.

When she visited her Grandma Donna, she toured the beach and the fair, ate tapioca pudding and chateaubriand, and watched back-to-back movies at the local theater.

The little girl loved both of her grandmas very much. She spent many an hour with them, doing all sorts of old-fashioned things she didn’t even realize were old-fashioned. She learned to sew and cook. She ironed hankies and hosted tea parties for callers. She watched Lawrence Welk, mastered Gin Rummy, and played dress-up with stockings and gaudy clip-on earrings.

Then, when the little girl grew up, she found herself analyzing e-commerce trends for a change-management consulting firm. She longed to do something more creative, something sweeter, something more in-line with who she was and where she had come from.

One day, she had a bright idea.

Kara’s Story

Once upon a different time, a not-so-little girl moved out to Portland for reasons she couldn’t quite put a finger on – she just knew she had to head out West.

She, too, had a grandma who took care of her while her parents worked. From her, she learned to cook Croatian food and dance traditional folk dances. She would sit for hours and look at old sepia-colored photos of her Grandma Annabelle posing in beautiful dresses, and on very special occasions, her Grandma would open her hope chest and bring out her wedding dress.

Six months after moving to Portland, this not-so-little girl got a job as a sales rep for a rather large global company. Although it afforded her certain freedoms, her heart was never truly in it, and she waited patiently for the day she would find something she really loved.

One day, she came across a small boutique and met another bon vivant and started working with her for trade. You see, she loved supporting local businesses, and she felt she had found a kindred spirit. It was only after more time had passed that she realized the other girl was also a wedding planner.

And then, it happened.

Ella’s Story

The first girl opened a special events business in Southeast Portland where she could help other girls plan their celebrations. Honoring the ladies of her childhood, she named her business Ella after her Great-Grandmother Marcella and dedicated it to all the fine women – grandmas, mothers, aunts, sisters, cousins, and friends – who help give little girls big dreams.

A few years later, the second girl received a message out of the blue asking her to join Ella Events. The moment she knew she could finally quit her corporate job and follow her heart, everything just seemed to fall into place.

And from then on, they both proceeded to create many more happily ever afters.