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From the bride… Our wedding was my dream combination of my past, present and future. My husband and I met in ski academy high school in Vermont but fell out of touch for over 10 years before we literally ran into each other on the streets of Manhattan, where we were both living. We fell in love with each other as friends and then he became the love of my life. Our photographers were also friends of ours from high school. My bridesmaids are the family I found when I moved to the big city from Vermont. The wedding was in Watch Hill, the town where I want my grandchildren to play on the beach in, as my cousins and I did as children.  The gorgeous church across from the Ocean House holds memories of my grandparents and now my wedding. I was left my grandmother’s engagement ring after she passed away, and my husband also was given his grandmother’s ring when she passed away.  I wore them both along with a cross given to me by my parents on a chain my husband gave me before the wedding.  It was a way to have our loved ones that could not be there close to our hearts. I feel so blessed to have this wonderful town in my life and it was the perfect place to get married.  

The theme was inspired by the colors of sea glass.  The focus was on having a wonderful weekend.  Incredible food, bright and sunny drinks and amazing company made it the best weekend of my life.  

Special thanks to Carla from Elements Flowers who was not only an amazing help with the flowers but everything else we did, and to Geoff who made sure our photo booth was a huge success! We custom-ordered our frames from Etsy after trying for a month to find cute photo booth frames and I was thrilled with the result.  The bridesmaids’ dresses were custom-made by the extremely talented and sweet Katie Ermilio. Our parents were the most amazing support team during the entire wedding process. It was amazing to have our wonderful parents, incredible friends and beautiful memories made during our sunny wedding weekend in Watch Hill, Rhode Island.

Wedding Photography: Lauren + Abby Photography / Flowers: Carla of Elements Flowers / Wedding Planning: The Bride’s Family / Ceremony: Watch Hill Chapel in Watch Hill, Rhode Island / Reception: Ocean House in Watch Hill, Rhode Island / Photobooth: Photobooth Planet (401-316-1423) / Wedding Invitations: Mr. Boddington / Save-the-Dates: Julie Holcomb / Wedding Dress: Oscar de la Renta via Bergdorf Goodman / Shoes: Christian Louboutin / Earrings: A Gift from the Maid of Honor / Bracelet: Borrowed from the Groom’s Mother / Bridemaids’ Dresses: Custom by Katie Ermilio / Bridesmaids’ Shoes: Halston Heritage / Flower Girl Dress: Ralph Lauren via Saks Fifth Avenue / Photobooth Frames: Custom by 2DogsWoodWorking

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Post tags: 2DogsWoodWorking, Bergdorf Goodman, Blue, Christian Louboutin, Elements Flowers, Halston Heritage, Julie Holcomb, Katie Ermilio, Lauren + Abby Photography, Mr. Boddington, Ocean House, Oscar De La Renta, Photobooth Planet, Ralph Lauren, Rhode Island, Saks Fifth Avenue, Watch Hill, Watch Hill Chapel, White
Post categories: The Blog

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From the bride… Our wedding was so much fun! So wonderful! It was definitely a New York “moment” for me, and I think our guests felt that way as well.  I am originally from Oklahoma, so I had friends who had never been to the city, as well as family from Colorado, Texas, Wisconsin and California. We really wanted our guests to experience the city and also one of our favorite things to do — eating — so we decided to have the reception in a restaurant, The Harrison. We had the wedding on a Friday night so that guests could enjoy the remainder of the weekend in NYC. The wedding was held at Grace Church Cathedral. It is a very old church in New York with beautiful details. It was under construction at the time but we really wanted to host the wedding there as it was special to us. Kind of funny side note… After the honeymoon, we attended service there, and the renovations were complete and scaffolding was down. I shed a tear and Dan said, “I know why you are crying — it wasn’t perfect like this for the wedding?” He was right, but we decided scaffolding and all, it was a wonderful ceremony. We had the reception at one of our favorite restaurants, The Harrison. We filled the entire restaurant including their private room downstairs. 

Guests stayed in various hotels in the city. Two days before the wedding, we had a driver that drove my friends and I all around the city to drop off the “welcome” bags. I was set on making sure we had welcome bags although there were 12 different hotels to stop at. It ended up being a really fun day and I think everyone was surprised. The bags included small New York treasures and a note that had ideas for things to do “up and down New York.”  (We used the children’s book Up and Down New York as our guest book and guests signed the pages. It’s now a coffee table book for us!)

One of my favorite moments was when the girls were all ready and stepped out of the Greenwich Hotel where we stayed and people stopped and clapped. And then they wanted to see our shoes. At the ceremony, my dad stepped on my dress as he stepped back to sit down. Everyone laughed. During the planning process, I became nicknamed ‘High Octane’ because I was always doing something, never sitting down. And “Keep Calm and Carry On” became our regular tag line.  I included KCACO band-aids in the bridesmaids’ kits the day of.

Wedding Photography: Jenny Ebert Photography / Event Design: Jillian Clark Designs / Ceremony: Grace Church / Reception: The Harrison / Wedding Reception Flowers: Rountree Flowers / Calligraphy: Love, Jenna / Wedding Invitations: Bird & Banner / Wedding Cake: Duane Park Patisserie / Wedding Gown: Oscar de la Renta / Bride’s Sparkly Shoes: Jimmy Choo / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Marc by Marc Jacobs / Junior Bridesmaids’ Dresses: J.Crew Wedding / Bridesmaids’ + Junior Bridesmaids’ Shoes: Nina / Bridesmaids’ Bracelets: Lee Angel “Henna Silk Ribbon Cuff” via Anthropologie / Hair + Makeup: Face Time / Frank Sinatra Music: Steve Maglio / Wedding After-Party: The Bubble Lounge / Rehearsal Dinner: Gradisca / Rehearsal Dinner Invitations: Patricia Voto / Rehearsal Dinner Place Card Paintings: The Bride’s Father /

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Post tags: Angel Lee, Anthropologie, Bird & Banner, Black, Duane Park Patisserie, Face Time, Grac Church, Gradisca, Gray, J. Crew, Jenny Ebert, Jillian Clark Designs, Jimmy Choo, Lee Angel, Light Green, Love Jenna, Marc by Marc Jacobs, New York, New York City, Nina, Oscar De La Renta, Patricia Voto, Rountree Flowers, Steve Maglio, The Bubble Lounge, The Harrison, White
Post categories: New York City Weddings, New York Weddings

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Let’s keep this pretty party going with their video from Portal Films, shall we?

From Melanie of  Photography by Melanie Mauer… Elizabeth Lary and Steve Kirsch were married this fall on the Glen Lary estate here in Lexington. The estate itself has been in their family for generations and was the perfect thing to bring the couple to Kentucky for their wedding. They are from Los Angeles (Manhattan Beach) but planned a glamorous country wedding here in the Bluegrass to enjoy being surrounded by friends and family. Elizabeth is charismatic and extraordinarily talented! The groom is her perfect compliment, calm, level headed and subtle. The couple are now back in LA, but soon to transfer to NYC.

From the bride… From the first time I first set foot on the grounds of our family home, I knew that this would be the ONLY place in the world that I would ever get married. Steve and I met in Miami, Florida fresh out of college and have spent almost every day together since. After a stint in Germany, New York and a cross country move to California, he proposed after we got home from a magical Michael Bublé concert. Down on one knee, with our house full of roses, my favorite champagne and our dogs. Nothing could have been more magical. Being a corporate event planner by trade, planning my own wedding seemed to fall right into place. I already had the perfect venue and the perfect groom, which made the rest easy. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a hopeless romantic who lives my life vicariously through fairy tales and romantic comedies. That being said, I knew that our wedding would have to encompass all of the above. From our “Father of the Bride”/”The Notebook” style venue to the twinkling lights above our heads, a band that was to die for and a groom that stood by my side throughout the entire process, it was the most magical night of our lives. Friends and family flew into the Blue Grass state from all around the country to celebrate our magical weekend. Horse racing at Keeneland, bourbon tasting and a wedding at our family home tied everything together into the perfect Kentucky weekend. All of our Lexington vendors and friends that we met through the planning process went above and beyond the call of duty to help out a California bride with her dream wedding. All invitations and printed materials were designed by a wonderful friend and assembled over nights of wine and laughter. Gift baskets were from the heart and wedding favors tied into our family history. All in all, our wedding was my piece de resistance and a weekend that hopefully no one will ever forget. 

Wedding Planner: The bride / Day-of Coordination: Always Planned / Venue: GlenLary Estate (family home) / Photography: Photography by Melanie Mauer / Florist: Crist Creona Designs / Cake: Martine’s / Rentals: Purdons / Catering: DaRae & Friends / Cinematography: Portal Films / Dress: Oscar de la Renta / Belt: Carolina Herrera / Shoes: Stuart Weitzman / Hair & Makeup: Tara Ferrell (tarabracayle@gmail.com) / Band: Simply Irresistible / Hair piece: Alisa Brides / Cake Topper: Mudcards / Paper: Cheryl Humphreys (cheryl310@mac.com) / Design: Joe Richardson ofHubbuch and Co.

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Post tags: Alisa Brides, Always Planned, Carolina Herrera, Cheryl Humphries, Crist Creona, DaRae & Friends, GlenLary Estate, Hubbuch and Co., Joe Richardson, Kentucky, Lexington, Martine's, Mudcards, Oscar De La Renta, Photography by Melanie Mauer, Portal Films, Purdons, Simply Irresistible, Stuart Weitzman, Tara Ferrell
Post categories: Casual Elegance, The Blog

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From The Youngrens…Kent and Jacqueline’s classic, yet dramatic ballroom wedding was a chic New Year’s Eve black tie affair at the Four Seasons Resort, The Biltmore, in Santa Barbara, CA. Newport natives Kent and Jacqueline were looking for that wow factor when it came to their Southern California wedding – without having anything cheesy or cliche. They wanted a big party that focused on fun and entertainment – the most important thing to them was to celebrate with friends and family in a beautiful setting, while dancing all night long!

With the help of Rebecca of Imagine Weddings and Special Events and Andrew of Couture Flowers, this wedding oozed elegance and FUN as Kent and Jacqueline along with 200 guests rang in 2011 with a dramatic bang. This wedding was an all out New Year’s Eve party complete with over-the-top reception decor, a dramatic Oscar de la Renta gown, sparkly Jimmy Choo heels, and a crazy midnight celebration led by the funky live band, Soulville. They used tons of large silver Christmas ornaments throughout the reception decor to blend the warmth of the Holiday season with the glamour of New Years’ Eve, lined the enormous head table with larger than life trees, and embellished the table settings and bouquets with glitzy buckles. Everything about this ballroom wedding said classy and elegant, but over-the-top modern dramatic.

Wedding Photography: The Youngrens / Wedding Cinematography: Artisan Productions / Floral + Event Design: Couture Flowers / Event Planning: Imagine… Weddings and Special Events / Ceremony Location: Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church / Reception Location: Four Seasons Resort, The Biltmore / Bride’s Shoes: Jimmy Choo / Wedding Dress: Oscar de la Renta / Music/Band: Soulville / Transportation: Santa Barbara Trolley / Hair: The Studio Agency / Make-up: Tomiko Taft / Wedding Cake: Four Seasons Resort, The Biltmore / Lighting: Ambient Event Design / Rentals: Classic Party Rentals

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Post tags: Ambient Event Design, ARtisan Productions, California Weddings, Classic Party Rentals, Couture Flowers, Four Seasons Resort, Imagine...Weddings & Special Events LLC, Jimmy Choo, New Year's Eve Wedding, Oscar De La Renta, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Trolley, Soulville, The Biltmore Santa Barbara, The Studio Agency, The Youngrens, Tomiko Taft
Post categories: The Blog, Traditional Elegance

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From the Bride…I had a general vision of what my wedding would look like years before I even met my husband PJ. The three words that best describe my concept are rustic, homey, and country. Driven by that theme, our first stop was the dress. It was the first dress at the second bridal shop and I immediately fell in love with it. After the dress, everything just fell perfectly into place.

My Mother-in-Law suggested the venue, and after our first trip out to the old school house the decision was made! We wanted to do most of the wedding preparations ourselves, which meant enlisting all of our family members and close friends to help out. We all spent many nights cutting fabric pendants, tying mason jar labels, filling bird seed into wax paper bags, and stamping invitations. None of this would have come together without my incredible mother. Her vision, creativity, and ambition took the whole wedding to a new level. Her creations were so successful that she has since started her own event accessory business online. She took on the challenge of creating anything I saw in other weddings and ended up making them even better than the originals!

July ninth came way faster than anticipated! The day itself had the same mystique – an incredibly speedy-long day. From the moment I got up the excitement had me bouncing out of my body. I thought I would bust out of my skin when PJ picked me up to go to the temple! The rest of the day was a wonderful, magical
blur. From the warm welcome of our temple ceremony, to the groomsmen tossing PJ into the air (multiple times), to the amazing schoolhouse ring ceremony and reception! We really couldn’t believe how perfectly it all came together. My mom nearly cried with joy when the school bus drove up with the first load of guests. The celebration was incredible with over 350 loved ones in attendance. We had an amazing time hugging friends, laughing, and dancing the night away. At the end of a perfect day we rode away on our yellow tandem bike.

We were truly blessed with a wonderful day and with amazing friends and family that came early and
stayed late to make it all possible! It was the ideal start to our lives together and we couldn’t be more thankful.

Wedding Photography: Ken Kienow Wedding Photography / Bouquets + Boutonnières: Alamo Flower Co / DJ: Donald Blair of Denon and Doyle / Table + Chair Rentals: Chairs For Affairs / Ceremony Venue: LDS Oakland Temple / Ring Ceremony + Reception Venue: Danville One Room School House / Hair: Lauren Jones of Salon 4062 / Make-up: Aubrey (Bride’s Sister/Bridesmaid) / Wedding Dress: Oscar De La Renta via Glamour Closet / Dress Alterations: Janene of Janene’s Bridal Boutique / Bridesmaid Dresses: Anthropologie / Bridesmaid Cardigans: JCPenney / Event Flowers: Lenny Robinson, Katie + Holly, Friends of the Family / Event Accessories (from the flower garland to the cake topper and everything in between): Terri O’Connor (Mother of the Bride) / Sandwiches: Dominicos Delicatessen / Wedding Cake: Sweet Adeline

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Post tags: Alamo Flower Co, Anthropologie, California Weddings, Chairs for Affairs, Danville One Room School House, Denon and Doyle, Dominicos Delicatessan, Glamour Closet, Janene's Bridal Boutique, JCPenney, Ken Kienow Wedding Photography, LDS Oakland Temple, Oakland, Oscar De La Renta, Salon 4062, Sweet Adeline, Terri O'Connor
Post categories: California Weddings, Do-It-Yourself Inspired

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From the Bride…Eric Laurtis took the most beautiful pictures of our wedding July 24th, 2011 at the Wequassett Inn in Chatham, Massachusetts.  

Buzzie and I met six years ago, and fell in love during our first summer spent together in Cape Cod.  Our families both have homes in Cape Cod, so when we got engaged it was a no-brainer that we would want to be getting married in the Cape.  My wedding was planned by me in New York city, with the help of my family with all the details. The Wequassett Inn was the most beautiful colorful, and perfect backdrop for our wedding, so I wanted to keep the flowers and the rest of the wedding all shades of white.  

My Aunt, Diane Valle had owned a flower store in Boston growing up, and though she retired from that she so generously offered to do my wedding flowers.  We spent countless hours looking at magazines for inspiration, and also wanted to celebrate the natural beauty and flowers that are at the Cape.  

I am a buyer at Saks Fifth Avenue, so I was obsessed with finding the perfect dress and bridesmaid dresses. My dress was Oscar de la Renta, I tried on the runway sample, 1 week after the spring 2011 collections walked, and ordered that dress immediately.  I scoured the marketplace for the perfect bridesmaid dresses, and finally picked those amazing Notte by Marchesa bridesmaid dresses off the rack. I then searched for the perfect mother of the bride dress for my mother and found the most amazing green Monique Lhuillier dress. 

My grandmother painted small paintings of flowers to give away as wedding gifts as people left.   My wedding couldn’t have come out more perfectly, and we had the most amazingly beautiful evening of celebrating love and family!

Wedding Photography: :e: - Eric Laurits / Floral Design: Diane Valle / Ceremony + Reception Location: Wequassett Resort and Golf Club / Invitations: Ceci New York / Bride’s Shoes: Jimmy Choo / Wedding Dress: Oscar de la Renta / Bridesmaid Dresses: Notte by Marchesa / Mother of the Bride: Monique Lhuillier / Wedding Cake: Konditor Meister /Makeup: Dani Wagener

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Post tags: Cape Cod, Ceci New York, Daine Valle, Eric Laurits, Jimmy Choo, Konditor Meister, Massachusetts Weddings, Monique Lhuillier, Notte by Marchesa, Oscar De La Renta, Wequassett Inn and Resort
Post categories: Cape Cod Weddings, Casual Elegance, Massachusetts Weddings

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From the Bride… Matt and I met during our first year of school at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. We are both originally from Ontario and after a few years in Vancouver, we decided to make the move back to Ontario to be closer to our families. We were engaged on June 23rd, 2010 and the wedding planning began!

The selection of the location for our wedding was one of the most important aspects of the planning process for us. We knew we wanted to have it in a place that was significant to the both of us and somewhere that we felt reflected us as individuals and as a couple. We decided to choose my family cottage as it is a place where we have shared many unforgettable times with friends and family. As many guests had travelled from far distances, we extended the wedding celebrations over the weekend and held a casual bonfire and BBQ on the Friday night before the wedding. We were lucky to have gorgeous weather and guests enjoyed summertime patio drinks and food including “Smore Love” brown paper bags which contained all the fixings for roasted smores. We really enjoyed this extra time we spent visiting with our guests and it facilitated guests meeting before the actual wedding day.

Matt and I both agreed that we wanted to create an event that was as much “like us” as possible and we wanted all of our guests to genuinely feel our gratitude towards having them there. We decided to DIY as much as we could which included hand making all of the invitations, the programs, the table seating cards, the place cards as well as painting wooden signs that were displayed throughout the cottage property. We made our invitations from scratch and the illustration on the cover was inspired by our cat named Ernie who we had adopted together. The picture of the three of “us” naturally developed into our wedding logo which we incorporated into various other elements such as personalized water bottle labels and stickers that appeared on the guests welcome gifts. Having a “wedding logo” was an amusing way to further personalize our wedding and tie everything together. In keeping with a cottage themed wedding, we made the table seating cards from small pieces of wood that we engraved with a wood burner we had purchased at an art store. Each guests name appeared on one side and the table number they were seated at on the flipside. We also hand painted small rocks with guest’s names that were placed at each place setting together with the menu we had designed and printed ourselves. The wooden signs we made from wood we found on the cottage property and then painted them with various words such as “Ceremony”, “Lake” and “Dancing”. We loved how the wooden signs turned out and felt it was a simple, inexpensive and fun way to add creativity to the event.

Guests were served a signature welcome drink as they arrived and gathered at the ceremony location while upbeat summer music played in the background. My arrival to the wedding ceremony was a bit unconventional and something that my dad and I had been planning since the minute I got engaged! My entire family is passionate about aviation (my dad, my brother and I are all licensed pilots) and with some thoughtful planning my family and I were able to fly-in to the ceremony by floatplane with my brother as the pilot! It was such an incredible experience to see all of our guests below as we flew over and I know it is something we will never forget. Overall, I think we were able to incorporate many aspects into our wedding day that reflected our passions and interests in life which we believe helped to create lasting memories that we (and hopefully our guests!) will never forget. After it was all over, we both reflected and agreed that if our guests had left our wedding with a smile on their face having felt as much sincerity and love as we did that day, then we had truly accomplished what we set out to do in the first place. I know I can safely say that we are still smiling.  Thanks to Melissa Samborski of One Fine Day Event Planning & Design Inc. for her professionalism, commitment and incredible attention to detail. Also, thank you to Gillian Williamson and her team from Ikonica for their amazing photography work and to Sinful Treats for creating the delicious cupcakes.

Photography: Gillian Williamson of Ikonica Images / Event Planning: One Fine Day Event Planning & Design Inc. / Ceremony and Reception Location: Muskoka Cottage / Shoes: Oscar de la Renta / Dress: Anne Barge / Bridesmaid Dress: Amsale / Cupcakes: Sinful Treats

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Post tags: Amsale, Anne Barge, Canada, Ikonica Photography, Muskoka Cottage, One Fine Day Event Planning, Oscar De La Renta, Vancouver
Post categories: Canada Weddings, Casual Elegance, Ontario Weddings

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From Shira Weinberger…Suzanne and James are a super elegant couple. For the shoot Suzanne decided to wear an Oscar de la Renta beautiful dress with matching shoes and a Jimmy Choo purse. She is a fashion editor for Above Magazine and a well published freelance writer. James is currently a very high end event planner who hails from Sydney, where I learned during the shoot he was a popular child star in a lot of Australian commercials. As such, they were both a delight for the camera and intuitively knew how to pose for pictures and embrace the moment and each other.

I pieced together only tidbits of their whirlwind romance, but it was one that found Suzanne racing off to Australia to be with James when he could no longer remain in the States, as well as one of James racing back to the States to build his new life with Suzanne here.

And the mesmerizing setting was perfect for their portrait session- an abandoned magical palace in Manhattan- that will very soon be converted to a luxury hotel. It is a building that I had walked past numerous times without ever venturing into or wondering what was inside amidst its construction, work permit signs, and padlocked door. It is a reminder that in life and love, some of the most beautiful things sit right in front of our noses, if only we care to open the door and explore.

Photography: Shira Weinberger / Dress: Oscar de la Renta / Purse: Jimmy Choo / Suit: Etro

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Post tags: Engagement Sessions, Etro, Jimmy Choo, New York Weddings, Oscar De La Renta, Shira Weinberger
Post categories: New York City Weddings, New York Weddings