Click here for the FULL wedding!

Let’s keep this pretty party going, shall we? This video by Kiss the Bride Films is a must see…

From Liesl of Photo Pink… The lovely Kristin and Peter were married April 10, 2010, at The Foundry in Long Island City, New York. Their wedding theme was “Vintage New York City.” The Foundry was beautifully decorated with white and pastel pink flowers, candles, and vintage-style string lights. The bride wore a custom-made Jason Wu dress with vintage-style hair (she looked like Lana Turner!) They had an awesome surf and turf grill cocktail hour, and their cake was incredible with huge feathers that swayed in the breeze. Instead of a guestbook, the couple had vintage postcards that were to be filled out with well-wishes by the guests and placed into a vintage suitcase.

Wedding Photography: Liesl Henrichsen + Konrad Brattke of Photo Pink / Wedding Venue: The Foundry in Long Island City, New York / Flowers: Martin Jobes Design / Wedding Cinematography: Kiss the Bride Films / Catering: Benchmarc Events by Marc Murphy / Wedding Cake: Cake Alchemy / Wedding Dress: Custom by Jason Wu, Friend of the Bride / Shoes: Miu Miu / Suit: Hugo Boss

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Post tags: Benchmarc Events by Marc Murphy, Black, Cake Alchemy, Hugo Boss, Jason Wu, Kiss the Bride Films, Konrad Brattke, Liesl Henrichsen, Long Island City, Martin Jobes Design, Miu Miu, New York, Photo Pink, The Foundry, White
Post categories: New York City Weddings, New York Weddings

Click here for the FULL wedding!

From the bride… Andrio and I have covered a lot of ground in our relationship. We met while both living in Seattle, started our relationship commuting between Philly and New York and finally got engaged on the same Manhattan rooftop where we shared our first kiss after I relocated to New York. We knew we wanted our wedding to be a celebration of the two of us and the things we hold most dear. With Andrio’s family near Portland, Oregon and mine from outside of Detroit, planning a wedding in either of our hometowns felt too far removed from the other’s roots. We opted to host the event in New York, our current hometown, and use it as an excuse to bring everyone together and give them a little taste of the things we love most about being New Yorkers.

Both of us being designers (Caroline is a textile designer in the fashion industry and Andrio is a graphic designer), we wanted to find a space that would allow us to put our own special spin on the look and feel of the day. We wanted an event that was intimate, casually sophisticated and filled with warm candlelight, wonderful wine and food. The venue also had to allow dogs, as we wanted our long-haired dachshund, Marlow, to act as ring-bearer for the ceremony (he literally dragged the flower girl down the aisle on the day of). When we discovered The Foundry in Long Island City, we knew we had found our spot. From the beginning we agreed to keep the color palette very simple — just shades of white, ivory and gray to soften the New York industrial interior of The Foundry with rustic elements to remind us of the Oregon Coast where Andy grew up vacationing and we have shared many happy trips to together.

Both of us coming from very close-knit families, Andy and I knew from the start that we wanted to create our reception menu to pair with wines from The Grade Cellars, a vineyard owned and operated by my uncle and aunt in Napa Valley. We were able to create a menu that perfectly complemented their wine by working with Shaun Roberts at Great Performances. Great Performances has a farm in upstate New York that they source a lot of their produce from. We were proud to be able to feature locally-gown produce in our wedding menu as well as food from other local vendors such as Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, Brooklyn Roasting Company Coffee and Tom Cat Bakery (which is actually located right across the street from The Foundry — talk about fresh bread!). Shaun also helped to include some additional personal items into the menu such as serving mini lumpia (a traditional Filipino snack since Andrio’s family is from the Philippines) during the cocktail hour as well as helping us recreate the famous Pecan Pie Sundae from Buttermilk Channel, our favorite Brooklyn restaurant. My father said that the only thing wrong with the wedding was that it ended too soon. Our wedding day was without question the best day of our lives and when I look at these images I am so happy to see that everyone had as good a time on our wedding day as we did.

Wedding Photography + Photo Booth: Jenny Jimenez / Day-of Coordination: Amanda Diamondstein-Cieplinska of Stellina Events / Wedding Venue: The Foundry / Florist: Sarah Rhyanen of Saipua / Catering: Shaun Roberts of Great Performances / Hair: Christa Thomas of Cutler Salon / Makeup: Lauren Iavarone / Wine: The Grade Cellars / Wedding Stationery Design: Andrio Abero, The Groom / Wedding Stationery Printing: Studio on Fire / Wedding Gown: Marchesa via Gabriella Bridal Salon / Bride’s Shoes: Lanvin / Bridesmaid Dresses: J.Crew / Bridesmaid Corsages: Ban.do / Bride + Bridesmaid Bracelets: Katherine Sturgis / Braided Bridesmaid Belts: DIY, The Bride / Groom’s Custom Suit: Martin Greenfield / Groom’s Shoes: Rachel Comey / Groomsmen Suits: J.Crew / Men’s Ties + Pocket Squares: Rag & Bone + Sid Mashburn / Wedding Bands + Bride’s Earrings: Conroy & Wilcox / Ceremony Music: The Chapin Sisters, Friends of the Bride / DJ: Mandy Graves of 74 Events / Cake Designer: Kate Sullivan of LovinSullivan / Cake Toppers: Lil Cake Toppers / Officiate: Catherine Bordeau of Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture / Hotel: New York Athletic Club / Transportation: Carey Transportation / Ice Cream: Van Leeuwen / Coffee: Brooklyn Roasting Company / Bread: Tom Cat Bakery

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 60 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 74 Events, Amanda Diamondstein-Cieplinska, Andrio Abero, Ban.do, Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture, Carey Transportation, Catherine Bordeau, Christa Thomas, Conroy & Wilcox, Cutler Salon, Dana Tanamachi, Gabriella Bridal Salon, Gray, Great Performances, Ivory, J. Crew, Jenny Jiminez, Kate Sullivan, Katherine Sturgis, lanvin, Lauren Iavarone, Lil' Cake toppers, LovinSullivan, Mandy Graves, Marchesa, Martin Greenfield, New York Athletic Club, Rachel Comey, Rag & Bone, Saipua, Sarah Rhyanen, Shaun Roberts, Sid Mashburn, Stellina Events, studio on fire, The Chapin Sisters, The Foundry, The Grade Cellars, White
Post categories: The Blog

From the Bride… We married on 09/10/11 in NYC and had another reception on 11/11/11 in Taipei, Taiwan for family and friends who weren’t be able to come to New York to celebrate with us. We wanted our wedding to be a blend of everyone and everything we love from New York and Taiwan, and of course, to ensure everyone would have a great time. We fell in love with The Foundry, a metal foundry in the 19th century, as soon as we saw it on their website because of its old brick walls and beautiful ivy. The space aligned perfectly with our vision: historic yet contemporary, industrial yet organic, urban yet romantic, simple yet glamorous. It was the ideal venue for what we had in mind. We selected our colors: purple, lilac, gray, gold and bronze. This color scheme was infused through everything used in the event. We wanted to put as much effort as we could to make this event special, so we designed all our invitations, programs, menus, photo booth logos and favors by ourselves with a drawing of Brooklyn Bridge as our wedding logo on them. I also made all the wreaths for the flower girls. We knew we wanted some special details in the space to make it unique, so we asked the florist to create a structural yet organic piece using drift wood and flowers to hang in the main space, and we used fresh leaves as escort carts. We also used drawings of landmarks in NYC instead of table numbers. We picked ghost chairs to give the space a modern vibe while incorporating drift wood into the centerpieces to give a soft and organic feel. Our favors in New York were candles with different traditional Chinese symbols to represent our roots.

For our second reception venue in Taiwan, we fell in love with the ballroom in the Palais de Chine Hotel. With the neo-classical design concept, the ballroom has copper draping ceiling with 18 chandeliers. For colors, we used royal purple as the main hue and mixed with the deep blue and red of Taiwan. Everything was very classic and glamorous.

The most amazing and fun experience was with our cinematographer, Mr. Jose Ortiz, who flew all the way to Asia to shoot our reception in Taiwan. We went to different places that represent Taiwan for shooting the day before the event. It was raining, but we all had a good time. Through the lenses, Jose can see the world differently in an artistic way. The best part was Jose not only edited all the images from our wedding day in New York and the shooting we did in Taiwan, but also did a same day edit video using images from our Taiwan reception to make a trailer! All of our guests were wowed by the trailer and asked for more! We were very glad to have this special experience working with Jose in two different countries. We had many people coming from all over the world in both events to celebrate with us. With the loving support of our family and friends, our wedding was a magical experience!

NYC Vendors — Cinematography: Jose Ortiz Films / Wedding Photography: Xavier Munguia Photography / Floral Design: Petal Design Studio / Venue: The Foundry / Wedding Dress: Monique Lhuillier / Bride’s Shoes: Christian Dior / Groom’s Tuxedo: Gucci / Bridesmaid Dresses: Alfred Angelo / Wedding Cake: Black Hound New York / Caterer: Thomas Preti / Rentals: Party Rental Ltd. + Taylor Creative Inc. / Photo Booth: IncrediBooths

Taiwan Vendors — Wedding Cinematography: Jose Ortiz Films / Wedding Photography: Oscarshoots / Floral Design: CN Flower / Venue: Palais de Chine Hotel / Reception Dresses: Tadashi Shoji + LinLi / Wedding Favors: Baggu

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Alfred Angelo, Baggu, Black Hound New York, Christian Dior, CN Flower, Gucci, Jose Ortiz Films, Linli, Monique Lhuillier, New York, New York City, Oscarshoots, Palais de Chine Hotel, Party Rental Ltd., Petal Design Studio, Tadashi Shoji, Taipei, Taiwan, Taylor Creative Inc, The Foundry, Thomas Preti, Wedding Video, Xavier Munguia Photography
Post categories: Destination Weddings, Wedding Cinematography

From the Bride… We married on 09/10/11 in NYC and had another reception on 11/11/11 in Taipei, Taiwan for family and friends who weren’t be able to come to New York to celebrate with us. We wanted our wedding to be a blend of everyone and everything we love from New York and Taiwan, and of course, to ensure everyone would have a great time. We fell in love with The Foundry, a metal foundry in the 19th century, as soon as we saw it on their website because of its old brick walls and beautiful ivy. The space aligned perfectly with our vision: historic yet contemporary, industrial yet organic, urban yet romantic, simple yet glamorous. It was the ideal venue for what we had in mind. We selected our colors: purple, lilac, gray, gold and bronze. This color scheme was infused through everything used in the event. We wanted to put as much effort as we could to make this event special, so we designed all our invitations, programs, menus, photo booth logos and favors by ourselves with a drawing of Brooklyn Bridge as our wedding logo on them. I also made all the wreaths for the flower girls. We knew we wanted some special details in the space to make it unique, so we asked the florist to create a structural yet organic piece using drift wood and flowers to hang in the main space, and we used fresh leaves as escort carts. We also used drawings of landmarks in NYC instead of table numbers. We picked ghost chairs to give the space a modern vibe while incorporating drift wood into the centerpieces to give a soft and organic feel. Our favors in New York were candles with different traditional Chinese symbols to represent our roots.

For our second reception venue in Taiwan, we fell in love with the ballroom in the Palais de Chine Hotel. With the neo-classical design concept, the ballroom has copper draping ceiling with 18 chandeliers. For colors, we used royal purple as the main hue and mixed with the deep blue and red of Taiwan. Everything was very classic and glamorous.

The most amazing and fun experience was with our cinematographer, Mr. Jose Ortiz, who flew all the way to Asia to shoot our reception in Taiwan. We went to different places that represent Taiwan for shooting the day before the event. It was raining, but we all had a good time. Through the lenses, Jose can see the world differently in an artistic way. The best part was Jose not only edited all the images from our wedding day in New York and the shooting we did in Taiwan, but also did a same day edit video using images from our Taiwan reception to make a trailer! All of our guests were wowed by the trailer and asked for more! We were very glad to have this special experience working with Jose in two different countries. We had many people coming from all over the world in both events to celebrate with us. With the loving support of our family and friends, our wedding was a magical experience!

NYC Vendors — Cinematography: Jose Ortiz Films / Wedding Photography: Xavier Munguia Photography / Floral Design: Petal Design Studio / Venue: The Foundry / Wedding Dress: Monique Lhuillier / Bride’s Shoes: Christian Dior / Groom’s Tuxedo: Gucci / Bridesmaid Dresses: Alfred Angelo / Wedding Cake: Black Hound New York / Caterer: Thomas Preti / Rentals: Party Rental Ltd. + Taylor Creative Inc. / Photo Booth: IncrediBooths

Taiwan Vendors — Wedding Cinematography: Jose Ortiz Films / Wedding Photography: Oscarshoots / Floral Design: CN Flower / Venue: Palais de Chine Hotel / Reception Dresses: Tadashi Shoji + LinLi / Wedding Favors: Baggu

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Post tags: Alfred Angelo, Baggu, Black Hound New York, Christian Dior, CN Flower, Gucci, Incredibooths, Jose Ortiz Films, Linli, Monique Lhuillier, New York, New York City, Oscarshoots, Palais de Chine Hotel, Party Rental Ltd., Petal Design Studio, Tadashi Shoji, Taipei, Taiwan, Taylor Creative Inc, The Foundry, Thomas Preti, Wedding Video, Xavier Munguia Photography
Post categories: New York City Weddings, New York Weddings, Wedding Cinematography

Click here to see the entire gallery of images!

From Jen Huang Photography…Allison & Chris wanted a modern and romantic wedding, that played off the feel of fall. Poppies & Posies executed their vision beautifully with gorgeous fall inspired terrariums mixed with mushrooms, succulents and moss. Their wedding was held at the Foundry in Long Island City NY, an industrial setting juxtaposed against green ivy growing on the walls, with a view of the Queensboro Bridge off Manhattan. Allison & Chris were laid back and wanted their wedding to reflect an intimate style and subtle beauty. The large string lights set the mood for a fun dance party separate from the tented reception. The whole night glowed brightly despite the rain drops!

From the Bride…It was important to us to find a space that was raw enough to make our own, yet also stand beautifully on its own. We found beautiful places with a locked wedding aesthetic, and loft spaces that gave us the freedom to create our own wedding, but the Foundry offered the best of both worlds. The space is meticulously preserved, the staff always accommodating our sudden desire to show up, and we loved the way the light came through the skylight and large glass doors at the rear.

After our initial choice in the space choosing our caterer, flowers, photographer and DJ came from heavy research from numerous blogs trying to perfect our aesthetic. Their work and their attitudes about the work they did, heavily influenced our decisions to choose them. We really wanted something that reflected the time of year without being a fall themed wedding. We identified with the aesthetic that we saw in all our vendors, and thought in the end it really reflected our own personal taste.

In the end we were so happy to have worked with all these wonderful people and everything went so perfectly. We really couldn’t have asked for a better day.

Wedding Photography: Jen Huang Photography / Venue: The Foundry / Floral Design: Poppies & Posies / Wedding Dress: Watters / Bride’s Shoes: Kate Spade / Music: Les Loups DJ / Wedding Cake: A Simple Cake / Catering: Sage Events / Film Work: Richard Photo

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2011. | Permalink | 10 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: A Simple Cake, Jen Huang Photography, Kate Spade, Les Loups DJ, Long Island City, New York Weddings, Poppies and Posies, Sage Events, The Foundry, Watters
Post categories: Casual Elegance, The Blog

Click here for more inspiration in the full wedding gallery!

Jeff is a writer and I’m a writer/editor, and we run an off-off-Broadway theater company here in NYC, so we are both very expressive, and we have a ton of amazing close friends who we were able to involve in the wedding. We wrote our own vows, used off-the-beaten-track readings with a lot of meaning to us (Hemmingway and Tom Robbins), hired a guitarist-cellist combo who played instrumental versions of our favorite songs and even arranged “our song” for me to walk down the aisle to, and used design elements that included typeface to reflect our love of the written word. My friend and bridesmaid Catherine (an award-winning book cover designer) created our invitations, my “maid” of honor Dave (who is a fantastic photographer) set up his camera and created an amazing time-lapse film of the wedding, and our wedding party and friends showed up early to decorate the venue. All of our guests (there were only 70) told us that we created an intimate, personal, beautiful day — which is exactly what we wanted.

We are producers, so we didn’t hire a wedding planner; we did it start to finish. My DIY projects included hand-sewing my veil (some of the material I used was from my mother’s wedding gown), making paper flowers for the hors d’oeuvres trays, creating combination favor boxes and escort cards, creating our “guest book” consisting of a big vase and cards along with a shadowbox sign asking guests to sign a card and drop it in, putting together displays of childhood photos for me and Jeff (replacing a slideshow), and making paper cut-out streamers to out of papers of different colors and typeface patterns (a play Jeff wrote, a book we love, etc.) to hang in the photo booth. (I can quickly create step-by-step instructions for these if you guys want them.) I also used Etsy a lot for projects I couldn’t do — from Etsy we got our bird boutonnieres, adorable cake topper, paper numbers which I glued onto cardstock for the table numbers, wooden typewriter keys I used for the escort cards, and Jeff’s custom-made cufflinks.

We used independent local vendors from Brooklyn, Queens and elsewhere around NYC who we fell in love with, and tried to stay far away from cookie-cutter wedding shops. My favorites were our florist (who created green, white, and black arrangements for us) and our DJ (who perfectly mixed indie rock in with pop favorites), but everyone  else was incredible as well. I’m listing them all at the end of this email.

Wedding Photography: Allan Zepeda / Wedding Photography (Second Shooter): Judith Rae / Wedding Venue: The Foundry / Catering: Seasons Distinctive Catering / Florals: Rebecca Shepherd Floral Design / Musicians: NY Ceremony Music / DJ: Andy Anderson / Cake: Nine Cakes / Photobooth: Shootbooth / Bride’s hair: Jennifer Lusardi

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2011. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Allan Zepeda, New York City, The Foundry
Post categories: Brooklyn Weddings, Contemporary, New York Weddings, The Blog

click here for the full wedding gallery!

From the Bride…It was a year ago this month that Matt proposed.  One would think that after dating for five years that I would know exactly what I wanted. There was no question that I wanted something smaller than the traditional Indian wedding and that we needed to incorporate parts of both of our cultures. We realized quickly, that if were going to have people make the trek to New York (I am from California and Matt is from Illinois), we better have a fantastic venue, great food, and lots of dancing.

Once we walked into The Foundry, everything fell into place. The venue is beautiful, an industrial oasis just outside Manhattan.  Its architecture and ambiance speaks for itself. We used their suggested vendor list and quickly recruited the dream team that would help make our wedding the most memorable day of our lives.  We needed to find a DJ that could easily transition between the horah, bhangra, and west coast rap.  The answer—DJ Gaza. As a good friend said months later “the best wedding DJ ever.”  My feet still hurt from dancing the night away.

Our caterer, Yen Ngo with Real Food Catering, not only designed a wedding menu that met all of our needs, she was, for all intents and purposes, our wedding planner. She helped our ever-evolving vision come to fruition (including indulging us in our hot sauce station).  She also introduced us to our florist, Melarosa, who knew exactly what I meant when I said I wanted flowers that I could not buy at the corner store and a focus on texture.   The bouquet could not have been more perfect.

Finally, Karen Wise, the amazing photographer. I wanted someone who still worked with film and knew that The Foundry was not an easy venue to shoot and shoot well.  She made it look easy and made everything look beautiful. We look through our pictures and still cannot believe how she captured our special day.  We did not have a videographer, but I can feel the moment we were pronounced husband and wife and the emotion in my father’s speech just from looking through the hundreds of amazing photographs. Thank you, Karen! Wedding planning is far from easy in a place like New York City. With a patient groom and fabulous vendors (and the internet) you can have and do anything you want and truly make your wedding your own.

Photography: Karen Wise / Flowers: Melarosa / Event Design/Planning and Catering: Yen Ngo, Real Food Catering (Indian Food-Chola) / Ceremony and Reception: The Foundry / Invitations: Bride and Groom / Bride Shoes: Butter / Grooms Shoes: Allen Edmonds / Bride Dress: Melissa Sweet / Groom Suit: Ermenegildo Zegna / DJ: DJ Gaza

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2011. | Permalink | 13 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Allen Edmonds, Butter, Ermenegildo Zegna, Karen Wise Photography, Melarosa, Melissa Sweet, New York City, Real Food Catering, The Foundry
Post categories: Contemporary, New York City Weddings, New York Weddings, The Blog

{click here for more from this completely and totally fabulous wedding}

Originally my fiancé and I had wanted a destination outdoor wedding, but then decided to have our wedding in New York, which is where we met and now share an apartment together. We wanted a mix of a city wedding and the beautiful outdoors and found the perfect place to have our reception and ceremony at The Foundry, a restored industrial space in Long Island City. It had a beautiful blend of city with the factory feel and a view of the Queensboro Bridge and also the lush green courtyard. The weather that day was gorgeous and we were married in the ivy-lined courtyard surrounded by an intimate gathering of our closest friends and family, all while the two flower girls were blowing bubbles. We chose greens and blues as our color scheme, which was reflected in the different colored bridesmaid dresses and the paper pom-poms, which the bridal party decorated the bridal suite with earlier that morning. Our florist helped incorporate the outdoorsy feeling throughout our wedding by making the indoor area green and airy by lining the indoor railings with smilax and arranging the tables with succulents and vintage jars and vases filled with blue and green flowers.

To us, having an unforgettable menu at our wedding was extremely important. We had one of our favorite restaurants, Blue Smoke, caterer our wedding with BBQ. During our cocktail hour guests snacked on sliders, deviled eggs, sausages and smoked lamb while taking photos with instant cameras. Guests sat down at long tables with burlap runners made by the bride’s mom, dishtowel napkins, place cards written out by the maid of honor and table numbers stuck to BBQ sauce bottles. Guests chose their dinner entrees from a menu designed by the groom’s best man, who also created the letterpress invitations. There’s nothing more fun than eating ribs and mac & cheese in fancy wedding clothes! The cake was a delicious combination of red velvet cake and nutella frosting and was topped with gumpaste succulents. Throughout the night, our dog had a great time walking in and out of the tables looking for any leftovers! After drinks and dancing, our guests finished the night with monogram-stamped takeaway boxes of bite-sized cupcakes, whoopee pies and cookies as favors.

Photography: Wayne Yuan / Venue: The Foundry in Long Island City, NY / Florist: Denise Fasanello Floral Design / Caterer: Blue Smoke / Cake: Alice’s Tea Cup / Desserts: One Girl Cookies / Wedding Coordinator: Sook Yee Yeung / DJ: Cat Hartwell / Invitations and paper goods: done by the Bestman /Wedding Dress: Vera Wang / Shoes: Christian Louboutin / Hair Accessory: Jennifer Behr / Suits, bridesmaid dresses and flower girl dresses: J Crew / Hair and Makeup: Hatsumi Toshima /

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2010. | Permalink | 25 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Alice's Tea Cup, Blue Smoke, Cat Hartwell, Christian Louboutin, Denis Fasanello Floral Design, Hatsumi Toshima, J. Crew, Jennifer Behr, Long Island City, New York Weddings, One Girl Cookies, Sook Yee Yeung, The Foundry, Wayne Yuan Photography
Post categories: Casual Elegance, New York City Weddings, New York Weddings, Real Weddings