See the entire gallery here!

Karen has sooooooo many more amazing images on her blog!

From the beautiful bride … Sandeep and I met as freshmen at Cornell and were friends until we began dating our senior year. We were long distance for a long time, during which I lived in Virginia, Maryland, DC and Connecticut. Sandeep was always in New York. I finally moved to New York in 2007 after I finished grad school and Sandeep finished law school. We were engaged in Sept 2009. Sandeep had planned to propose on a drive up the California coast, but he had to cancel that trip because I had to fly to Paris for work. So Sandeep flew out there to meet me for a long weekend instead. He spent his first night in Paris scouting spots to propose. We went to dinner on a Friday night and then walked by the spot along the Seine where he had planned to do it, but teenagers were hanging out there, listening to reggae and smoking pot. So he walked us by his back-up spot, but a group of people were burning garbage and fighting there. (He swore later that these spots were much more romantic on Thursday night.) We ended up walking by the Louvre, and with all his plans up in smoke (no pun intended) he surprised me by I.M Pei’s pyramid in the Louvre courtyard. It was late at night and we were the only two there.

Photography: Karen Wise / Location: Angel Orensanz Foundation, Lower East Side, NY / Band: Dexter Lake Club Band / Video: Hart Pictures/ Chef: Jehangir Mehta of Graffiti restaurant/ Deb’s Sari: Simran, a sari boutique shop in New Delhi/ Dress Designer: Angelo Lambrou, a wedding dress designer in the East Village. He used saris and fabric from New Delhi and Binny Fashions, a store in Edison, NJ. Having worn her family’s traditional red sari for the ceremony, Deb picked saris (and flowers for her hair) that were traditional to Sandeep’s family for her reception dress. / Flowers: L’Atelier des Fleurs / Hair and Makeup: My Hair and Makeup/ Invitations, menus, programs, card table poster and all other printed items: custom designed by the couple (except for the save the date which was from a photo that Karen shot at their EShoot) and printed at Boxcar Press, the Center for Book Arts and Kinkos / Groom’s Indian clothes: Om Sari Imports in Murray Hill / Day-of Coordination: Sonal J. Shah Events/ Lighting: Roberto at Angel Orensanz

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Post tags: Angel Orensanz Foundation, Angelo Lambrou, Boxcar Press, Center For Arts, Dexter Lake Club Band, Hart Pictures, Karen Wise, L'Atelier des Fleurs, My Hair and Makeup, New York Weddings, Sonal J. Shah Events
Post categories: Cultural Beauty, Little Black Book Blog, Wedding Photography

See the entire gallery here!

Beth and Josh were married at St. Mary’s Church in Mount Vernon, New York. They celebrated in a gorgeous way at the Museum of the City of New York. All the details, from the tiniest to the most brilliant were captured in Karen’s terrific style …

Beth & Josh’s wedding was featured in Elle Japan! Check it out on Karen’s blog!

From the beautiful bride …
While Josh and I met over 10 years before our wedding at college in DC, it was after college in NYC where we dated and fell in love – and so it was where we wanted to celebrate that love! When I found the Museum of the City of New York I was thrilled – it wasn’t a ballroom but it wasn’t a blank loft either – it was beautiful, unique and held so many possibilities. One look at the terrace, gorgeous marble staircase, columns, and french doors combined with the magic of being surrounded by NYC culture and I was hooked! Josh quickly agreed. We wanted our reception to be more than just dinner and dancing – having exhibits for guests to enjoy was the perfect addition.

Excited, I threw myself into planning and a world of indecisiveness. Wedding blogs quickly became a source of inspiration (and obsession) and my list of ideas grew and grew. It was so easy to get lost in all that prettiness. Some advice to new brides to be – the blogs are great, enjoy them, let them get you excited, find ideas – but then step away from the computer and find YOUR wedding vision. You can’t bring every great idea into one wedding, so pick a few that you love and go with it!

My mom has mentioned to me that she never saw my struggle between my fun, different side and my traditional side more obvious than it was during wedding plans. That says it all – I wanted the best of both worlds! During the planning I focused mostly on fun and different, while my more traditional husband helped balance it out (as he always does – balances me!). From the very beginning we knew we wanted our wedding day to be personal yet fun, traditional yet unique. So we ended up keeping the ceremony more traditional and the reception contemporary. We were married in the church Josh grew up in with Josh’s Godfather as our priest, which made the ceremony very personal and special. Our cocktail style reception added a modern element and was something new for most of our guests. Everyone always seems to enjoy the cocktail hour most at traditional wedding receptions, so we wanted to have an extended cocktail hour instead of a formal sit down dinner. Guests ate, danced, mingled and enjoyed the exhibits when they wanted. And Josh and I did the same!

Style Me Pretty was my favorite source of inspiration throughout planning and I ended up finding or confirming many of my vendor choices through the Little Black Book – Karen Wise, James Abel, Kathryn Murray. NY Magazine Weddings was also a great source – where I found MCNY, Canard Inc, Amanda Shackleton. When picking our vendors it was important to us that we chose people who really care about their work and care about the couples they work for. We chose vendors for their kindness and responsiveness just as much as we did for their quality of service. Our photographer was very important to us. We wanted to be sure our day was well documented in a way that really represented the day, nothing forced or fake. Karen Wise’s photos inspired us over and over and after meeting her in person I knew she was a perfect fit. I had the most fun working with Kelven Book of Canard Catering. He was always very thoughtful, enthusiastic and excited for us and was always coming up with fun ideas to work within our budget and taste (mini ice cream cones and rice krispy treat pops were a big hit for dessert!). We used The Wedding Library as our day of coordinators and we wouldn’t have gotten through the day without them. They helped us with vendor recommendations along the way, created our very detailed day of schedule and kept the reception moving. We met with a few florists, but when we met with James Abel we knew our decor would be in good hands. He understood our color scheme and that we wanted lush, elegant, not very organic arrangements and ones that wouldn’t take over our small cocktail tables. We explained that we had three different spaces for the reception (the terrace, the downstairs for cocktails and dancing, and the upstairs for dinner). He very quickly came up with a way to incorporate our colors and favorite flowers with complimenting lighting, but still kept the feel of each space different, so our guests would be excited and intrigued as they moved around.

Our wedding didn’t have a specific theme, but it naturally took on a NYC feel due to the venue. Our Save the Dates had a NY theme, as did our guest book – a coffee table book “Cars, Culture and the City” which was an exhibit at the museum during our reception. Our colors were purple, green and white which we carried through the invitations, attire, flowers and decor.

I spent SO much time looking for the perfect purple bridesmaid dresses, but I didn’t really love any I found. I wanted my girls to wear dresses they enjoyed and felt pretty in. When we went shopping I told them I was open to them wearing different styles, different shades of purple, etc. I really didn’t mind if they weren’t “matchy matchy” To my surprise they ALL loved the same Priscilla of Boston dress. I loved it too, but wasn’t happy with the shade of purple it came in. We decided to go with the clover green instead and I am so glad we did. The girls all looked beautiful and picking that green helped the color scheme fall into place. And I was able to incorporate the purple with my fabulous Italian shoes! As for my wedding gown, I never would have even tried it on if it wasn’t for one of my bridesmaids, but I absolutely adored it from the second I stepped into it. My attire was completed with my “something borrowed”, the lovely little purse my grandmother used on her own wedding day 59 years ago and my “something old”, the diamond in my engagement ring which had belonged to Josh’s grandmother.

I absolutely loved our invitations. We ended up adding light green and white polka dot ribbon to hold the invitation set together in the envelope. We then used this as a starting point for other elements. Our ceremony programs, menus and place cards were printed on white card stock with purple ink in a font similar to that of our invitations. We added the polka dot ribbon to the menus to bring in the green and to coordinate with the invitations. We also had small ivory cups at the church holding dried lilacs for tossing. We wrapped these cups with a bow of the same ribbon. For the place cards, guest book note, and donation thank you note, we used silver picture frames to coordinate with the mercury glass vases our florist used. All the little details really came together in the end! And Josh was a HUGE help and very patient with me finishing all these little projects at the last minute.

Our wedding day turned out to be everything we wanted it to be and more. Of course some things went wrong and not all stress was averted, but the love and joy took over! All the planning paid off and the little details made the day pretty, but it was saying our vows in front of our family and friends and sharing our joy that made the day perfect. After all the wedding fun, we were off to Portugal and Italy to continue the celebration!

Photography: Karen Wise / Bridal Gown – Matthew Christopher “Imagine” / Traditional Veil – Moonlight Couture / Reception Veil – Sara Gabriel “Wendy” from Gabriella New York Bridal Salon / Bride’s Shoes – Butter / Necklace & Earrings - MMM Jewelry Designs / Bracelet – Swarovski / Bridesmaid Dresses - Priscilla of Boston Vineyard Collection / Bridesmaids’ Shoes – Kelly & Katie / Bridesmaids’ Jewelry – Ralph Lauren / Bridesmaids’ clutches – J. Crew / Flower Girl’s dress – J. Crew Crewcuts / Ceremony – St Mary’s Church Mt Vernon, NY / Reception – Museum of the City of New York – NYC / Planners & Invitations – The Wedding Library / Calligraphy - Kathryn Murray / Caterer – Canard Inc / Hair/Makeup – Amanda Shackleton / Flowers & Decor – James Abel Events / Church Altar Flowers – Creative Flowers / Rentals – Classic Party Rentals / DJ – popshop! Colleen Crumbcake /Cupcakes – Billy’s Bakery

We have another wedding from Karen coming up this afternoon. Don’t want to wait? See it here!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2011. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: James Abel Events, Karen Wise, Kathryn Murray, The Wedding Library
Post categories: Little Black Book Blog, Traditional Elegance, Wedding Photography

I think the best way to describe what it was like when Aaron and I met is that it felt like we had come home to one another. It may seem crazy, but we both knew we were going to marry each other after only two weeks. We managed to wait a year and a half before Aaron “officially” proposed, but we were permanent from the beginning.

I lost my job about six days before Aaron proposed, which was a really tough thing for me. I had a significant amount of time on my hands, which was a blessing in disguise. We decided to forgo the wedding planner, because if there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s planning.  From the outset, we knew our wedding had to be in New York City. We’re definitely NY city people! We found The Foundry online and, not unlike other things in our life, knew it was the perfect place for us. It read like our dream apartment: landmarked building, exposed brick, beautiful light, courtyard, ivy-covered terraces, and a phenomenal view of the 59th Street Bridge. Plus, the staff was incredibly accommodating and professional – they were so relaxed and totally on point with everything, knew a lot of the vendors we were deciding on and offered us advice on whom they had worked well with in the past.

I think one of the most difficult things we came up against was trying to figure out a “theme” for our wedding. It was frustrating, because everything is grouped into “themes” in the wedding world: urban, casual, classic, country, elegant, etc, etc. We didn’t have a theme!! We’re not “theme” people. We have very particular taste that can’t be categorized neatly, so instead of making everything fit together, we focused on finding the best (within our budget) food, music and “aesthetic” – when you have the best, it doesn’t have to all look the same, each part makes sense on its own.

Above all else, my husband and I love to cook and entertain, so we decided that our wedding had to be, essentially, the best party we ever threw. I found our photographer, Karen Wise, online and was enamored by the vibrancy of her photos. I mean, just look at the colors! Also, the way she makes posed pictures look journalistic is fantastic.

It was rainy and cold the day of the wedding, so we ended up doing the photos inside, kind of like a photo shoot and I absolutely love the way they turned out. The photos from the wedding are phenomenal – super colorful shots, beautiful shadowy black and whites, just plain awesome.

We are big time foodies and people know that about us, so our caterer had to be really special. We went with Naturally Delicious in Brooklyn because they offered menus that were seasonal, simple but perfect and above all else, tasted GOOD. We had Shannon McCormick as our go-to woman for everything at Naturally Delicious and also hired Shannon to be our week-of and day-of coordinator, which made everything so easy. I cannot speak highly enough of the fantastic staff Naturally Delicious provided us.

We’re kind of lucky when it comes to music – Aaron, a.k.a. Ming, is a professional DJ and record producer, so we kind of had our pick of DJs. Aaron DEFINITELY didn’t want a band, which helped save a significant amount of money, so, keeping in the friends “theme” we hired $mall Change to DJ the wedding. We also asked our friend Michael Lynch, a.k.a. Big Mike  (of American Idol fame) to sing as we walked down the aisle. Aaron and Mike are like “brothers from another mother” – they have worked with each other for several years and Michael and his wife Christa are regular fixtures at Aaron’s mother’s Thanksgiving feast (Mike makes a ridiculous mac-n-cheese), so it was extra special for us to have Mike perform.

Our Design Aesthetic …

We found a florist we really loved and let her do her thing. My mother was pretty vocal on florists, so we let her make the final call on Bridget Vizoso of THE DESIGNERS’ CO-OP. My two requirements were that one, there was not to be a single rose anywhere in the entire place; and two, COLOR. I described a “Bollywood meets NYC” color palette and Bridget graciously re-worded my vision to “gem tones”, which was precisely what I meant. Luscious, vibrant and unabashedly vivid was how I pictured the flowers, although I didn’t want anything traditional or obnoxious. And really, we just let Bridget work her magic.  When we walked into the Foundry, Aaron and I were floored by the amazing job Bridget had done – there was bittersweet draped from the balconies and over our huppah, riotously colorful bouquets on the cocktail tables, votives hanging in the vines and candles everywhere… and that was just in the main room. In the tent where dinner was to be served, the tables were simply gorgeous. A mosaic of flowers covered the tables, paired with antiqued votives and gold candelabras; bright table clothes and napkins; swathes of pink, saffron and orange cloth hung across the tent with large Chinese paper lanterns lighting the room. It was really the perfect décor for the Foundry and, when paired with the food and the music, created the exact ambiance we were trying to achieve.

What I am most proud of looking back at that night is that our wedding really was a total reflection of our life as a couple. That wasn’t too hard to manage because we knew we couldn’t compromise on the fact that we wanted our wedding to be a celebration of the start of our marriage. For us, that meant bringing together everything that is good and beautiful in our lives and sharing the night with the people that mean the most to us and having a few well-placed personal touches. In our program, we wrote a little anecdote/personal joke about each person in our wedding party; our officiant was a judge that has known me since I was a baby in my crib; and of course, we had Big Mike singing “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz when Aaron came down the aisle and “Could This Be Love’” by Bob Marley when it was my turn. We also made bags of our “marathon granola” for our guests to take home with them at the end of night. Aaron and I were running the NYC marathon three weeks after our wedding and we had been eating this homemade granola throughout most of our training, so we thought it would be fun to share part of our training experience with our friends and family.

I chalk it up to two things that made the night so fantastic: we hired great vendors – really nice people who are excellent at what they do and we tried not to interfere (too much) in what they wanted to do; and we were adamant about keeping the wedding traditions to a minimum and making the night, above all else, a great party. People still tell us what a fun time they had at our wedding and looking back, I don’t think we would have changed a single thing. Aaron and I are still both in awe about what an amazing night it was for both of us – everything really was perfect.

Beautiful!! Thanks so much to Jackie and congratulations to you and Aaron!! To see lots more from their wedding, take a look at Karen Wise’s fantastic blog ~ Part 1, Part 2.

Photography ~ Karen Wise, Floral ~ Bridget Vizoso, The Designer’s Co-Op, Wedding Coordinator – Shannon McCormick from Naturally Delicious Caterer, Dress Designer ~ Matthew Christopher from Gabriella New York Bridal Salon, Bridesmaids Dresses ~ J. Crew, Aaron’s Suit ~ Burberry, Hair & Makeup ~ Hatsumi Toshima, Officiant – Bruce L. Kaplan, DJ ~ Small Change, Special guest and friend of the couple, Michael Lynch a.k.a.”Big Mike” of American Idol was there too! He sang beautifully as the couple walked down the aisle

Another wedding filled with bold beautiful colors that we spotted on Karen’s blog was that of Anar & Dale in Alabama: Part 1 and Part 2. SERIOUSLY SPECTACULAR colors!

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Post tags: Chuppah, Gabriella New York Bridal Salon, Hatsumi Toshima, J. Crew, Karen Wise, Long Island City, Matthew Christopher, Michael Lynche, Naturally Delicious, New York Weddings, Small Change, The Designers' Co-op
Post categories: Little Black Book Blog, New York City Weddings, New York Weddings, Real Weddings, Traditional Elegance, Wedding Photography

click here for more gorgeous images of the NY affair

Our reception was held at Twenty Four Fifth, a carefully restored ballroom on lower Fifth Avenue near Washington Square Park. The room has a warm, inviting glow and is in the style of an old supper club with the dance floor a few steps down from where our guests sat. For music, we used Hank Lane Entertainment and a band called Fifth Avenue. They managed to keep our guests out of their chairs and on the dance floor for most of the night, which was fantastic.

All of our paper goods (save-the-dates, invitations, menus, programs, etc) were designed by a dear friend and helped to create and sustain a common look and theme from engagement to wedding day. For our wedding favors, my mother, sister-in-law and I baked hundreds of linzer cookies and packaged them in white boxes tied with silver ribbon. The idea of giving out homemade cookies appealed to us, so we turned our kitchen into a bakery for a day.

Our photographer was Karen Wise, from Karen Wise Photography, in Brooklyn, NY. She and her assistant, did a fabulous job documenting our day. She captured unforgettable memories that we will treasure forever. The bouquets and flowers at the chapel and reception were all done by Anthony Swick of Bay Bouquet in Tampa, FL. He and his two lovely assistants drove all the way up from Florida to help set the stage for our day. When we hired Anthony, I had a vision in my mind of how I wanted the flowers to look—neutral lavenders, greens, whites and creams with various textures—and he by far exceeded our expectations.

All in all, our wedding was an amazing, magical day that took a lot of hard work to coordinate but came together beautifully.

Vendors: Dress by Designer Junko Yoshioka from Mark Ingram Bridal Atelier / Bridesmaids dresses by J. Crew / Make up by Katherine Bouloukos / Scott’s suit by Ermengildo Zegna / Flowers by Bay Bouquet in Tampa, FL (Anthony Swick) / Hair by Sarah Martineau / Wedding Invitations and Paper Goods by Maggie Traidman /Photography by Karen Wise

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Post tags: Bay Bouquet, Best of 2010, Bridal Atelier, Ermengildo Zegna, J. Crew, Junko Yoshioka, Karen Wise, Katherine Bouloukos, magazine, Maggie Traidman, Mark Ingram, New York Weddings, Sarah Martineau
Post categories: New York City Weddings, New York Weddings, Traditional Elegance, Wedding Photography

click here to see the whole wedding in the gallery

We have lived in Manhattan for many years and decided that we wanted to show off our favorite parts of the city. We had a vision of elegant, classic New York with some modern twists as an underlying wedding theme. Thus, we began the search for the perfect places to showcase our city while also staying within a set budget. Scott attended undergrad at Columbia University, so we chose St. Paul’s Chapel for our ceremony. It’s a picturesque spot on campus surrounded by green grass and trees. Lucky for us, our wedding day was one of those spectacular New York fall days—70 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. The chapel is relatively small and felt intimate with our 170 guests and the sounds of a string quartet, Anthology Strings, led by Antonia Nelson, filling the air.

Scott and I both wanted to be sure that every one of our guests knew how much we appreciated their love and support not only on our wedding day, but also throughout our relationship. Our guests were thought about in every wedding detail—from giving out pink prosecco at the hotels to start the celebratory weekend to writing individual notes to each guest on their reception place card.

My dress was by designer Junko Yoshioka and I found it at Mark Ingram Bridal Atelier. It was the last dress I tried on and very different from what I was leaning toward, but its clean lines and detailed beading won me over. The bridesmaids and flower girl were outfitted by J. Crew. I was drawn to the graphite gray chiffon because it was a lovely neutral tone that looked great on all of them. They all wore the same chiffon material but chose from two different styled dresses. As a hobby, I make jewelry, so I made each of them a unique pair of earrings using green amethyst, smoky quartz, and gold to warm up the gray tone of their dresses.

Vendors: Dress by Designer Junko Yoshioka from Mark Ingram Bridal Atelier / Bridesmaids dresses by J. Crew / Make up by Katherine Bouloukos / Scott’s suit by Ermengildo Zegna / Wedding Invitations and Paper Goods by Maggie Traidman / Flowers by Bay Bouquet in Tampa, FL (Anthony Swick) / Hair by Sarah Martineau / Photography by Karen Wise

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2010. | Permalink | 28 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Best of 2010, J. Crew, Junk Yoshioka, Karen Wise, magazine, Mark Ingram Bridal Atelier, New York Weddings
Post categories: New York City Weddings, New York Weddings, Traditional Elegance

click here to see this whole gorgeous wedding in the gallery

Scott proposed at the top of the Soho Grand Hotel in New York City. It was the biggest surprise of my life and, as I reflect on that day, I realize I shouldn’t have been so surprised because I’m sure Scott wouldn’t have done it any other way. He hid the proposal within another surprise, his sister’s 30th birthday celebration, so I wasn’t the least bit suspicious. Scott and I have dated since high school and all along the way he’s been full of surprises, like asking me to his senior prom in a jar of mayonnaise. Immediately following his proposal all of our family and closest friends joined us on the rooftop for a party, and even a rainbow. This festive time filled with family and friends set the tone for our wedding plans; being surrounded by the people we love was key.

So much more to come.

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2010. | Permalink | 35 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Best of 2010, J. Crew, Junko Yoshioka, Karen Wise, magazine, New York Weddings
Post categories: New York City Weddings, New York Weddings, The Blog, Traditional Elegance

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2010. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Best of 2010, Junko Yoshioka, Karen Wise, magazine, New York City, New York Weddings
Post categories: New York City Weddings, New York Weddings, Traditional Elegance, Wedding Photography

No real wedding. Just really pretty pictures from Karen Wise!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Cupcakes, Honey, Hyacinths, Karen Wise
Post categories: Little Black Book Blog