Ashley & Matt's Brooklyn Wedding

Brooklyn Weddings are always so much fun, and Ashley and Matt's wedding was no exception. Ashley contacted me looking to have an very echo-friendly wedding.  So local, reusable, recyclable and DIY were key in this wedding. From the reusable bridesmaid gift bags, local Brooklyn Beer, and table runners made by Grandma, Ashley and Matt had the perfect wedding.  Held at Building 92 in the Brooklyn Navy yard, Parker Red Events catered with all locally sourced and grown food. We used all recycled paper and 100% soy candles on the tables. Nothing was left to waste, helping to produce as little garbage as possible for this teal and yellow wedding.  Thank you to the talented Studio A Images for the photos!

Briana & Rob's Eolia Mansion Wedding

We don't update our blog too often, because of course we are busy planning, but when we do, wow it's a beauty! We'd have to say that Briana & Rob are one of my all-time favorite couples. They are fun, sweet and so wonderful to work with. Rob is an accountant and Briana is a teacher. Their wedding was filled with sweet details personalized just for them; like chalkboards, little glitter clothes pins, tables number from math equations. My favorite detail was the head table number; the equation equaled "I <3 U"!

These gorgeous images were taken by the talented Abby Caldwell Photography at Eolia Mansion at Harkness Memorial Park. in Connecticut. Catering by A Thyme to Cook, Cake by Happy Cakes by Renee. Hair and Makeup by Larissa Lake Makeup. Stationary, flowers, linens, and planning by 5th Avenue Weddings & Events.

Check out Briana & Rob's sweet wedding video from First up Films: http://vimeo.com/72861372

 

Priyanka & Keith's Indian Wedding

Last Fall, I was so happy to be part of Priyanka & Keith's 3 day Indian wedding celebration. Their families were so welcoming and amazing to work with.  Of course, Candi's Floral Creations created all the wonderful floral arrangements and ceremony Mandap for the days filled with singing and amazing dancing. 

The main wedding day was held at St Clement's Castle with 250 of their closest friends and family. 
It was truly all about celebrating the union of their families and coming together to enjoy.
If you thought that 3 dress changes were a lot, try Priyanka's 5 dresses! This was one grand affair filled with nothing but love.

Details included custom saris for all of Priyanka's 9 bridsmaids, wedding invitations and wedding day paper, as well as fabric brought back by Priyanka's beautiful mother, Sashi from India.  Their days were filled with pinks, bright oranges, and bold reds accented with all white flowers.  Thank you to JCakes for the beautiful cupcake display, Naomi's Studio for the gorgeous makeup &  Preston Merchant for the beautiful images. Preston has created a photo essay of his 10 year journey among diaspora communities all over the world.  Please visit Preston's website and check out his work at:  http://www.prestonmerchant.com/indiaworld/photos/

Wedding Aisle

Indian Wedding at St Clement's Castle

Sangeet

St Clement's Castle, Indian Wedding day paper

French Destination Wedding-Lake Annecy

Abbaye de Talloires, Lake Annecy

Wedding season is beginning to start up again as newly engaged brides look to the web for inspiration. This past year we had some really beautiful weddings and more will be posted shortly. But I am finally ready to post my own wedding.  I was fortunate enough to have an intimate destination wedding in a beautiful hillside town in the French Alps at the Abbaye de Talloires in Talloires France.  Honestly, it's the most beautiful place I've been and I can't wait to return.  The Abbye is an old French Monastery set on Lake Annecy (the cleanest lake in Europe)  With that back drop, there is not much you have to do but enjoy the view. When we returned to the NYC we continued the celebration at STK Rooftop with just some of my husband's 200 cousins :)

As a New York City wedding planner, I tend to be quite busy and like to micro-manage things, what bride doesn't like to micro-manage :) With overseas destination weddings, sometimes you have to leave things up in the air, at least that's how I felt.  I had 7 of my friends from France helping me with the planning, yet I still felt like I didn't quite have a tight handle on things. In the end,  it was all that I could have ever dreamed of and more.

I walked down a chiffon rose aisle escorted by my eldest son, where we met our other 4 children, my sister the maid of honor and Walter, my husband's best friend since kindergarten as the best man. We shipped in gold crushed taffeta linens and added an ivory rosette linen as our centerpiece table accented with mercury glass, crystals and candles. Our intimate wedding of 30 people encompassed a large square so it was easy to see and talk with every one of our guests. To show our gratitude, each of our guest received a gift bag decorated with vintage lace and stuffed with a small bottle of wine, local cheese and French accented paper goods. Custom menu cards with a Swarovski crystal embellishments, gold chargers, mercury glass and ivory accents adorned the table.  Custom wish tags with a map of NYC showing where my husband and I met was marked with a red glitter heart. Our guests wrote us a special message on the tags and added it to the tree behind us. And of course any where else I could add a little bit of sparkle, I did- the card box and the glitter flag drink stirrers. :)  We ended our night with a beautiful pièce montée (French wedding cake) macaroons and a send off with our heart shaped sky lanterns.

First, I have to thank the amazingly talented group of people that helped me pull this off,  Abby Caldwell Photography and Keith Claytor of Time Frozen Photography are 2 of the most gifted, down to earth, feel good people I know. My photos could not have turned out more gorgeous!  Jeremy White, owner of Fairfax Films-cinematographer extraordinaire, well his talent speaks for itself.  I am so blessed and thankful for this team!

And now on to the video and photos:


French Destination Wedding, Lake Annecy, Talloires, France

Abbaye de Talloires, Lake Annecy

View from the Abbaye de Talloires

Blush and ivory wedding invitations, mother of pearl ring bearer box

Custom wedding shoes, blush and ivory wedding bouquet

French destination wedding

Rose chiffon wedding aisle with blush and ivory wedding flowers

Blush and Ivory French Destination Wedding

Ivory bridesmaid dress and grey suits

Blush wedding hair piece

Glitter drink stirrers and wish tags

Wedding centerpiece, wedding jewerly

First dance outside under the trees

Sky wish lanterns

Michelle & Ben's Connecticut Shoreline Wedding

In June I had the lovely opportunity to help plan Michelle and Ben's wedding. Michelle and Ben were a wonderful couple and had a perfect backdrop-the private Amdur residence and their perfectly manicured gardens situated right on the water in Niantic, CT.

Michelle had just moved to Connecticut and needed help putting together all of her ideas and making sure that the day went off without a hitch. Michelle was looking to have her Korean roots incorporated into the wedding, but not too much. A touch of vintage but still elegant, is the look Michelle was going for. Ben is a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy and wanted to make sure the lighting and music was perfect. Power Posse productions of course was perfect to bring in and take care of all of Ben's concerns.  They provided market light inside the tent and lighting around the area, along with the music for the entire event.

Michelle had 3 dress changes!  That in itself is a task all it's own :)  Her gorgeous traditional Western dress- Jim Hjelm from Kleinfield's, beautiful traditional Korean hanbok and a short reception dress from Saja. Michelle's perfect hair and make up was provided by Jennie Fresa.

We could not have asked for a better day for this backyard tented wedding. Catering was done by the impeccable A Thyme to Cook.  Ben added in a pickle bar with pickles provided by The Pickle Guys.  The cake by Felicia's Sweet Face Pastry Shoppe laid on top of our ivory rossette linen.  We also provided the burlap table runners and milk glass to help incorporate some of that backyard feel.


Since Michelle came in from NYC on the train to visit Ben, train stations became something that was important to them.  They incorporated the names of the train stations as the table assignments along with a vintage map for people to help find their way.  We helped pull together Michelle's elegant, vintage choices and a touch of Korean flair paired with signature floral arrangements from Hana Floral Design.  Please take a look and I hope you enjoy these wonderful photos by Stacey M Photography. You can check out more photos of this great wedding at Stacey's blog.

 

Connecticut Shoreline wedding

Vintage suitcase rentals, blush wedding bouquet by Hana Floral

Korean wedding dress, Hana floral bouquet

Baby's breath wedding chairs, burlap table runners

Amanda & Chris Vintage Inspired Vineyard Wedding

This past June I was contacted by a bride who is one of the most stunning red heads I've met and she has a personality to match.  Amanda was getting married, she wanted a vintage backyard style wedding with a family feel, but still romantic and fun just like the couple :)

That's were we stepped in.  Stonington Vineyards offered a perfect backdrop for this beautiful couple and special "Amanda" touches were added all over. From homemade poms to dad-made wooden cake stands.  Amanda rented our vintage plates, cups and cake stands. The bride made grey and yellow pom balls we hung to the tent ceiling and added in the lovely market lights.  We added in our burlap table runners, and simple arrangements placed in milk, amber and aqua glass, and a single stem of fern to each place setting.  Our wine barrel dessert buffet and bar, helped to add the finishing touch.

The Pita Spot offered up the most delicious vegetarian food we've had, along with NoRA Cupcake company serving vegan dessert!  Abby Caldwell of course helped to capture some of the most amazing photos.  Chris and Amanda were one of my most fun couples this year.  Congrats to you both and I hope you truly enjoy your first year of married life!

Custom vintage inspired wedding programs

Vintage wedding

Paper rosettes

Yellow and blush wedding flowers

Vintage dessert table

WeddingLovely Shingdig at Etsy Labs

So I'm not a big blogger.  What can I say.  I have a Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Blogger account.  If I spent all my time on the computer, I wouldn't  have time to do my job!

Well a few weeks ago, I had the lovely opportunity to help out with an event hosted by WeddingLovely blog at the Etsy Labs studio in Brooklyn, NY.  This place is amazing and we got to take care of all the details for the event along with some of the greatest people ever!  Thank you to Carrie Draghi Photography, Jeremy White of Fairfax Films, and X-Qquisite Flowers!

WeddingLovely is awesome to say the least, so check out the recap by FairFax Films and photos by Carrie Draghi Photography



Wedding Lovely Shindig . Etsy Labs . 5.21.2012 from Fairfax Films on Vimeo.