Connecticut Wedding by Candice Dowling
What do you get when you put an insanely talented event planner together with the daunting task of designing her OWN wedding. Well, you get this next featured wedding. A purely gorgeous, unbelievably romantic, hugely personal day with a bride that is literally glowing. Candice Dowling of Jubilee Events is one of our most loved Little Black Book members, planning and designing some of the most incredible New England affairs you’ve ever seen. And although I am sure that it was insanely challenging to design her own wedding style, the result was complete magic.
Being in the industry was both a blessing and a burden for me while Michael and I set out to plan our amazing wedding. As you can imagine, being constantly immersed in the loveliness of the wedding world posed unique challenges for me when it came to the look and feel for our wedding. Our color story rose out of my muse – my shoes – and my love for purple. Purple, gold, with pops of red and white. Another source of inspiration was the song my parents danced to at their wedding, Frank Sinatra’s “The Best is Yet to Come”. With these bits as our inspiration, we set out to plan the big day.
We met while living in Hartford, Connecticut – so it seemed only fitting to travel back there to be married. Hartford holds so many great memories for us and was the place where we fell in love. I wore a custom Modern Trousseau gown and was outfitted with all my lovely accessories by the girls at the White Dress. I wanted to walk down the aisle with something meaningful and secret sewn into my dress… “Live the life you’ve imagined.” There were special touches with me – a vintage hanky, my grandmothers pearl bracelet, and of course, my muse for our entire wedding. My Natalie Portman shoes.
Our ceremony was so incredible – our favorite part of the entire day. Our officiant was a close family friend who we’ve known for many, many years. She wrote the most beautiful ceremony that was partially inspired by the lovely writings of our photographers who had posted our engagement session with our love story on their website.
My shoes and the location of our reception really inspired the wedding. The G. Fox Department store was a major brand in New England and its headquarters were in Hartford. In fact, our bridesmaids dressed in little black dresses as that was what the women who worked for G. Fox wore to the department store. Our wedding reception was literally held in an old department store. While there were no more beauty counters or cash registers you can certainly feel the building buzzing with shoppers, smell vintage Chanel, or ride the original escalators. Our guests enjoyed vintage style cocktails in the mezzanine area which overlooks the large atrium we reserved for dancing. Our escort cards, with designs by Lilah Paper and calligraphy by Lisa Ridgely, where pinned to vintage black frames I ensconced with purple fabric. Guests left us notes and words of wisdom on vintage Hartford post cards, too.
Our florist, Jessica, created varying centerpieces and arrangements for dinning, using a variety of purple and white flowers. Our head table had flowers in eclectic containers down the center. It was absolutely stunning. We had over 50 tapper candles burning on the table as well. We chose to do a long, family style head table which I always recommend to our clients. On each table were bottles of Francis Ford Coppola wine – our favorite for obvious reasons! I can’t tell you how amazing it was to imbibe our favorite wine with our closest friends and celebrate our marriage!
We had the most delicious cake – chocolate and raspberry. I love wedding cakes, but for myself, I knew that I didn’t want anything traditional. I wanted something rich, architectural, and just plan delicious. Our four-tiered chocolate masterpiece, by Modern Pastry, was topped with handmade gold painted banners that Lisa calligraphed our inspiration… the best is yet to come. Our first dance was to Van Morrison’s Someone Like You, with a special line in the last verse…. “and lately I have realized, the best is yet to come.” After dinner we danced the night away and ended the evening on a high kicking note.
Planning by Jubilee Events / Wedding gown, accessories and attire by Modern Trousseau from The White Dress by the Shore, Clinton Connecticut / Makeup & Hair by Dana Bartone & Co. / Floral Décor by Jessica’s Country Flowers / Photography by Robert and Kathleen Photographers / Cinematography by Vantage Point Films / Ceremony Location by The Old State House, Hartford Connecticut / Reception Location by The Old G. Fox Department Store / Caterer by Marquee Events & Catering / Bridesmaids Gowns by White House Black Market / Cake & Confections by Modern Pastry, Hartford / Invitations & Paper by Lilah Paper / Calligraphy by Lisa Ridgely
48 Comments about “Connecticut Wedding by Candice Dowling”
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ok now my best of 2010 list has started haha
Candice - I am loving every word of your detailed write up and thank you for sharing all of these great ideas! "The G. Fox Department Store" must have looked great on your invitations! Such a cool idea for a venue...
The purple is gorgeous in every way. Beautiful wedding and love the shoes!
Candice - beautiful! Does anyone know where the inspirational shoes can be purchased? Thanks.
Amazing hair...and those shoes! Just perfect!
i want to find a wrap or shawl like her's to wear at my reception. any details on that piece or know where i can find something like it online?
I love the theme, I love the color, I love the perfume, I love the bride and groom, I love the cake. I love everything about this wedding. So amazingly beautiful.
I am absolutely in LOVE with the purple shoes. Just gorgeous!
check etsy for a shawl/bolero
I love purple! Love the shoes, the veil and the baroque frames!!
Yep, those shoes are a star. Gorgeous.
Loving the purple throughout! The shoes are fabulous.
Jessica, I would suggest Bozie on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/bonzie
Thanks all for the incredibly sweet comments! The shoes are Te'casan limited edition Natalie Portman named "Plath". I'm afraid they are not available anywhere! A pair may pop up on ebay but they are hard to find.
xxoo
The cake, the color, the hair-everything is gorgeous!
love the shoes! where on earth did you find them?? :)
Simply GORGEOUS! Loving all the purple.
The photos are exquisite! Thank you for sharing!
AAhhh, such beauty. Mike and Candice are so gorgeous. As usual, Candice really delivers on design. You have such a great eye for style.
Oh my the hair! The hair! The shoes! Sooo pretty.
Simply stunning! And yes, being in the industry can be both a blessing and a burden while planning for one's big event.
Her hair! And the ceremony space! And her shoes. It's all so elegant and fun and chic. Very stylish!
Gorgeous colors!! I am trying to decide on colors for my August 2010 wedding and this wedding may have sealed the deal for purple!
flawless....just like Candice!
Candace, you go girl! So proud to be a fellow I-Weddie with you. Your work is simply stunning. What a fab way for you to start the New Year.
And oh my gosh... i forgot to say: CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR MAIRWIDGGE. ;-) tHIS must be such an incredible high to not only see your own work on Style Me Pretty, but to have the wedding be YOUR OWN! hOW FUN is that?!? I loved reading your story. Thanks so much for sharing with us.
Oh, WOW. Her hair is AMAZING.
This wedding is oh so beautiful.
Love the purple details, and the gown is gorgeous!
Candace, I'm a wedding photographer in Seattle and grew up going to that G. Fox in Hartford when I was little. How fun that you got married there! Your wedding looks gorgeous, and those shoes!
I'll have to check out the store next time I go home. Thanks for sharing and Congratulations!
Gorgeous photos Candice! <3 <3 <3 all of them! :-)
Joann - what an incredible story!! I simply love hearing that. You MUST go while you are in town. Thank you so much for sharing your memories there!
oooh I am in LOVE...the flowers are amazing, but those shoes...they are a work of art:)
I think this is the most stunning, cohesive wedding I have ever seen! Beautiful!
YUM! The second I saw the shot of the brides hair I gasped and thought- this one's gonna be good! So refreshing to see the bright purple!
Where are the shoes from? Love everything about this wedding!
I heart this wedding. So love the purple and all of the elegant style.
Candace!!! What a wonderful surprise to see you here. What fabulous-awesome work. A huge, huge kudos to you, my friend!!
Daisy
Amazingly gorgeous! I wouldn't expect anything less from you Candice!! So many fabulous details! So glad your beautiful wedding is up for everyone to see!!
What a great wedding to start off the new year! I am in LOVE with the bolero on the bride in the reception shot! Where can I find that??
I was shopping today and saw some purple shoes and thought of you and your wedding and had to come back and look again. Truly beautiful and elegant.
This wedding is AMAZING!
where did her wonderufl veil come from?
Did you make the lavender boxes or purchase them (and where?). I love the idea of throwing lavender!!
So in Love with this wedding. I am gettimg married May 15 2010...wanted to know were you got the veil and bolero from?? Thanks!
Hi ladies~
The shoes came from Te'casan in the city.... no longer in business
The veil is from The White Dress by the Shore
The bolero is from bonzie on Etsy.com
The lavender boxes I made. I purchased favor boxes, cut the tops so they were open, put a pretty white dolie inside and placed the lavender on top. The lavender was purchased in bulk (still have a ton!!). Did you know when you step on lavender it releases more of its fragrance? It smelled BEAUTIFUL in there!!!
wow. i adore the whole look of everything! any way we can get a tutorial on how the hair was done???
Congrats Candice and everyone else - beautiful beautiful beautiful!!