Tiffany and Richard's City Chic Wedding

I must admit that I didn't think a random email from a woman in Hong Kong would result in the production of this spectacular wedding at 620 Loft and Garden overlooking Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick's Cathedral. It was just a little over a year ago that Tiffany emailed me, noting that she had read my blog (yay! yay! yay!) and wanted to discuss her New York City wedding. Those of you in the wedding industry can probably relate to the fact that I get some pretty unusual emails from overseas - everything from requests for business partnerships with companies in Qatar to inquiries about taking lump sum payments for weddings via credit card and then refunding the balance in cash (yeah, right!). So, it was extra delightful that Tiffany was serious about teaming up for a modern, chic, City wedding!

Working solely via email and Skype for most of the process certainly did have its challenges, but thankfully both Tiffany and I are serious night-owls so we could schedule our communications strategically despite the 13 hour time difference. We did have two opportunities to meet in person throughout the planning and design process, and on those occasions we powered through dozens of site visits, story boards, dress appointments and sample showings to yield all of the amazing details that united to be an amazing celebration for Tiffany and Rich.

If you Google the phrase "urban oasis" I think that this venue, 620 Loft and Garden, should be the top result. Where else can you find a sky-high, perfectly manicured garden adjacent to a stark, clean loft with million dollar views? I could have done nothing at all and this place would have been amazing, but that would have been no fun at all...

The ceremony took place in the garden which seats just 90 guests. The scale is small, but the impact is big, so it was important to do just enough to personalize the space without overwhelming it. We built a small arch of curly willow dotted with orchids and anchored it in a bed of flowers on modern white columns detailed with the couple's monogram. Ana Dolan adapted the custom pattern we created for all of the printed pieces for this wedding and designed beautiful program fans - which definitely helped on this hot, sunny day!







Guests found their escort cards inside the loft amidst a tray of crystals. Tiffany loves chandeliers and since we were unable to hang any in the space, I found these free-standing ones at Luxe Event Rentals. To finish off the home interior inspired look, I printed a wall art series using their customized lace pattern.





To soften the look of the loft, I added sheer curtains to all of the windows in the loft space using tension rods ("trick of the trade" alert: so easy and so cheap!) as well as covered the main focal point wall with soft white drapery that was swagged open at the entry points. A mix of long and round tables added interest and helped to nestle in all of the guests to the petite room.





Tiffany really liked my lucite stands, but she wanted them to have a little extra "something," so I added crystal strands for some sparkle and to enhance the look of the candlelight. All of the gold vases were brimming with peonies, spray roses and orchids for a look that was both modern and romantic. Hints of black added an edginess that nicely balanced some of the lace detailing on the menus, table numbers and other printed elements.



I've really been enjoying adding a little detail to the bride and groom's chairs, so I couldn't help but make these monogrammed chair caps to finish off the look.

[As a little side note, how AMAZING are my floral designers?? Brenda, Lori, Viktoriya and Gabrielle - I adore you and am endlessly grateful to have you on my team!]


Photos by Gustavo Campos

Tiffany and Richard were truly passionate about all of the details of their wedding which pushed me to think and re-think each aspect of their day. The end result? Spectacular. Amazing. Special. Just like the couple.

From the Vault: Adam's Bar Mitzvah

As I am putting the finishing touches on a Bar Mitzvah for next weekend, I was thinking about one of my very favorite Bar Mitzvah design projects from a number of years ago. Adam's celebration was at the legendary Tavern on the Green, which closed at the end of 2009, and while it was a phenomenal place for any celebration, it was not without it's share of serious design challenges... particularly when the Bar Mitzvah boy wants a Homer Simpson theme!


Whimsical escort table was placed outside the ballroom on the patio where cocktails took place. The colorful flower balls and wheatgrass hinted at the decor to come.

Tavern's decor was colorful and busy and just plain over the top - that's what made it famous. But, unless you intended to do something pretty simple there, it is quite a challenge to "blend," shall we say. In addition, most of the rooms had to be joined to one another, thus achieving an ideal layout was tricky. So, I had my work cut out for me. Not to mention... HOMER!!

If you've been reading for a while, you know how I feel about foam core centerpieces, so I wanted to come up with something that conveyed the theme clearly, but wasn't quite as overt as literally cutting Homer out of foam would be. I wanted it to be whimsical and fun, but still appropriate for adults since they made up more than half of the guest list. So, in one of my "wouldn't it be cool if..." rants, I thought it would definitely be cool to cut the characters out of colored acrylic. Their shapes are so recognizable that even without details it would be easy to identify the Simpson family and the acrylic would work with the best asset of the room - floor to ceiling windows - and allow light to pass through.



When I use so many bright colors, I like to do what I call "color blocking" so that tables are zoned mono-chromatically. This allows me to use a lot of color without making the room look too busy. For this party I used all of the graphic cartoon colors for the linens and the flowers and then kept the "Simpson Blue" reserved for the acrylic pieces.



The only place where foam core was a must was for the bar. We wanted to pay homage to Homer's favorite hang-out, so there was no way to go except to build a Moe's Tavern facade for Tavern's existing bar. Guests got drinks in glass beer mugs with a custom-made "Adam and Homer" logo (Adam's face was Simpson-ized!) and faux "Duff" cans were part of the display.



Because it is really not a party without a cool cake, the talented Cynthia Peithman of Cakeline designed this tiered confection featuring all of Homer's signature favorites... bowling balls, remote controls, Duff beer and, of course, donuts!


All photos by Lotus Photographers

Having never really been much of a Simpson's fan, I had to do some serious homework for this party... calls to old college friends and friends-of-friends helped quite a bit as did hours of tireless internet searches on everything Homer. You never know what sorts of interesting things you'll learn in this line of work...

Have a great week!