Cheers to a New Year!

Photo Credits (left to right:)
Connie Cupcake, The Contemporary Home, Sugar Paper, JCrew, Bethalee Photography, 100 Layer Cake, Barney's

Happy Holidays!

We wish our clients, vendors and friends the warmest wishes of the season.  Rest, reflect and get refreshed...enjoy your nearest and dearest.  We can't wait to see you in 2013!

Real Wedding: Katie & Rod at the St. Regis

 Katie and Rod are a super fun NYC couple who held their lovely celebration at the St. Regis in Washington, DC.  Not even the torrential downpour that day, which brought their terrace garden ceremony inside, could dampen their spirits.  I knew I was going to have fun working with Katie and Rod from the moment she started describing a Kelly Wearstler room design she liked.  When she told me that the groom was wearing velvet skull and cross bone slippers with his tux, it was just icing on the cake.  These two have great style!  The design sort of evolved from those velvet slippers - classic with a bit of an edge.  Another motif that was carried through the wedding details was a french bulldog icon.  It started with the wedding invitation suite (on the wax seal) and was carried throughout the escort cards, programs and welcome bag gift tags.  The funny thing is, Katie and Rod didn't have a French Bulldog...but she wanted one so bad, this was as close as she was going to get.  Well, guess what?  Halfway through the planning process came Porkchop - the cutest french bully you ever saw, and our official wedding mascot.

Photos by: Adam Barnes

Escort Card Display: Peach cards with the signature french bulldog logo, attached to blush ribbon with gold metallic clothespins

The centerpieces were all low with black candlesticks.  The flowers and candlesticks were in vintage silver platters and containers, many of which belong to the bride's mother.  Assorted brown glass bottles with chalkboard labels were used as bud vase accents.  I especially loved the skull and cross bones, and the one that says "FATE."

Half the tables were a black and white floral pattern, while the other half were a wide check.  Both tables were tied together with peach and gold rimmed china.

The bride would take a cheese plate over cake any day, so we proposed a cake made entirely of cheese wheels, with a fresh fruit garland!

The wigs we passed out on the dance floor were a huge hit!

A big thank you to our vendor team:

St. Regis Hotel, DC (Contact: Alicia Bell)

Adam Barnes Photography

Country Way Flowers

Sound Connection (reception)

Pop Culture Strings(ceremony)

Party Rental LTD.

DC Rental

Little Bit Heart (paper goods)

Hair By Remona

Blend Makeup

Featured in Grace Ormonde's WeddingSTYLE Magazine!

We were so excited to see our art gallery chic shoot make the last issue of the magazine, and so we were beyond delighted when Grace Ormonde's WeddingSTYLE Magazine contacted us last spring and invited us to design a table at The Anderson House in DC for their upcoming October tabletop issue.

Here is the shot they selected for the digital issue:

A big thank you to The Anderson House, the magazine's photographer - Ron Manville, Bill from Edge Flowers, Party Rental LTD. for place settings and Zoya Couture for paper products.  Chairs are all Strawberry Milk inventory.

Green with Envy: Pantone 2013

It's official - we're seeing green for 2013.  You may think green is only appropriate for Christmas, St. Patty's Day or the Wizard of Oz - but when paired with the right color, you can use it anytime.  We should be seeing the trend play out in fashion, interor design and weddings this year.  For weddings, we'd pair it with aqua in the spring or peach in the summer for an elegant southern soiree.  What color would you pair it with?

via Snippet & Ink

Also, check out our black and white art gallery chic shoot from this past year, which featured gorgeous emerald earrings and accents!

Becca & Brad's Industrial Romantic Wedding at the Four Seasons

My initial consultation for Rebecca Bronfein and Brad Raphael's wedding was not with Becca and Brad since they were living in L.A., but rather Rebecca's mother, Jessica (who I immediately fell in love with.)  While it's tempting for some mothers to take over and make their daughter's wedding everything they wish they had done for their own, I was truly amazed at how hard Jessica worked to keep Rebecca (and Brad's) vision at the focus.  She wanted this to be the most spectacular day of their lives, the day Rebecca had dreamt of.   It's extremely hard for someone who is used to doing events themselves (Jessica serves on the board of the Jewish Women's Federation of Baltimore) to completely hand the reins over to someone else.  Jessica did this flawlessly and gracefully.  She remained involved in the planning process and worked by my side on a lot of elements, but really allowed me to do my job.  Having that kind of trust/confidence/connection with your planner is very important! 

 After spending some time with Jessica in the beginning of the planning process, I was really looking forward to meeting the bride and groom...I heard lots of interesting things about them - Brad is a surgeon and Rebecca worked at the Museum of Contemporary Art in LA. When I finally met Becca and Brad, I was truly delighted.  Like mom, they are great people and make an amazing couple - refined, intelligent and elegant, but also super funny and down to earth.  (They have matching black framed glasses AND they high-fived at the alter - how awesome is that?  

I love a design challenge - and Becca certainly provided that at our florist meeting where she informed me that she really didn't want a lot of flowers.  At least not large, defying gravity, Preston Bailey-esque arrangements.  She wanted more unique objects and eclectic design elements than a room filled with tons of flowers.  Then Brad, the groom, informed us he did not like centerpieces that resembled trees or branches.  For a very large room that is a blank space and needed a transformation, it certainly got us thinking outside the box!

Since Becca did not like the idea of a floral chuppah, Becca and Brad compromised here - it was made of branches, yes, but with some strategically placed orchids.   And Brad did in fact, think it was gorgeous :)

Ombre petals in a lattice pattern went from blush, to cream, to white.

Cocktail Hour: a bit of a rustic/industrial vibe complete with custom bar made out of old mahogany doors, we wrote their signature drinks (such as the Moscow Mule) on the chalkboard top of the bar.  Herbs and flower buds were hung in lightbulb vases above the bar from a ladder arbor.

The Reception featured a lot of custom-designed decor.  A custom grey and cream striped dance floor, custom natural linen drum shades with chandeliers, burlap and string light band backdrop and a custom reclaimed wood plank hard stage skirt for the band were just a few of the focal points we created.  We had four different centerpiece styles, half the room was made up of mirrored square tables and half round tables with grey and cream linens.  The four corner tables were banquette seating and the three VIP tables around the dance floor were made of reclaimed wood with cast iron bases with floral chandeliers overhead.

One centerpiece style featured apothecary and bell jars with moss, succulents and artichokes.

To tie in the bride's career and love of art, the backdrop to the head table was a living modern art wall complete with boxwood frame - moss, succulents and rose heads created a graphic pattern.

Boxwood hedge bars on each end of the ballroom with custom Edison light bulb backdrop.

We LOVE a bride that knows how to have a good time and enjoy her own party.

EBE's 18 pc. band rocked the house!

I love this picture, for the obvious reasons.  You know you've thrown a good party when people are shaking a leg...and a cane.

Thank you so much to Mr. and Mrs. Bronfein, as well as Rebecca and Brad for allowing us to be a part of your very special day.  We had so much fun working with you all - and are happy to now call you friends.

I love before and after shots - here's the ballroom before everyone worked their magic: 

A HUGE thank you to our Vendor Team:

Photographer: Eli Turner

Videographer: Blue Sky Films

Venue:  The Four Seasons, Baltimore (Contact: Katie Shannon)

Band: EBE talent

Swank Lighting: pinspotting

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom: furniture/decor, uplighting, draping, ghost chairs

Makeup: Blend

Hair: Studio 921

Floral Design: Edge Flowers

Majestic Photobooth

DC Rental: placesettings + ghost chairs

La Tavola: dinner table linens

Officiant: Rabbi Sherman

Dress: Monique Lhuillier/Shoes: Manolo Blahnik
Day of Paper: Little Bit Heart

Planning/Design: Strawberry Milk Events (that's us!)