From the Vault: Ines and Augusto

Since I did weddings long before the days of the blog, I thought I'd pull a few "from the vault" to share with you some of my favorites... and I'll start with one with a good story!

Ines and Augusto were married in September of 2005 at a relatively unknown venue on Long Island - The Nassau County Museum of Art. This is a gorgeous site with a wonderful collection of paintings and sculpture, so for those of you who are New Yorkers, it is definitely a great place for a Saturday drive! In any case, the museum is set on oodles of beautifully manicured acres with spectacular gardens and lawns perfect for a wedding reception. The site is relatively complicated in terms of catering and logistics, so definitely the reason to select this venue is for the gorgeous setting, particularly the facade of the museum building itself. So, lo and behold, when we went for a quick, unscheduled pop-in just 2 days before the wedding, you can imagine the bride's face when we pulled up to the front of the museum covered from top to bottom with scaffolding! Not an inch of the spectacular brick building was visible behind the scaffolding and mesh for a "routine building cleaning." I was told that it had just gone up one day before and was planned to be up for 3 - 4 months! Hmmmm... wouldn't a phone call have been nice?? Well, phone call or no phone call, consoling hysterical Ines was one of the most heart wrenching, challenging moments of my career. Would her wedding have been "ruined" by the scaffolding? Certainly not. But, it would have been far from what she imagined, and that is tough to swallow just 48 hours before her wedding.

For those of you who know me, you know that I am a pretty laid-back, calm gal. But, on this fine day in September, I let that venue manager have it. I mean all-out, don't-mess-with-the-wedding-planner-I-will-kick-your-ass-if-you-make-my-bride-cry-for-one-more-minute HAVE IT. So, the end of my very long story is that first thing the next morning (Friday before the Saturday wedding), workmen ascended upon that scaffolding and took every last piece down. Yup, every last ugly, unseemly piece and all the orange mesh that went with it. I even had my mother-in-law, who lives nearby the museum, sit there and watch them to make sure they didn't cut any corners since I couldn't be there myself.

Anyway.... after all the yelling was done and the scaffolding was gone and the tears were dried, it was a spectacular wedding. It was a sunny, gorgeous day that lead to a warm, late summer night and this Peruvian couple had a sizzling, Latin-flavored celebration that reflected their heritage and their love.

As a side note, once the wedding was underway, I had made my peace with the venue and we even said that we could work together again. I haven't had the opportunity to do another wedding at the museum, but, armed with a slightly tougher contract, I would go back, since, despite the need for the yelling, what needed to get done, got done... and with one or two whole hours to spare!


How gorgeous is the front of the museum??



The escort table was set in the formal gardens where cocktail hour took place



The dining tent in daylight



The tent after sunset

Photos by Sharon Schuster

Hope you enjoy this and my other vault extractions to come!

Hillary and Miles

The fall is always such a busy time that I find the whole season passes before I even have a moment to reflect on the beautiful events that we've done. Hillary and Miles were married in September and one of my all-time favorite New York venues, The Foundry. Their style is modern and clean with an affinity toward light colors, so the choice of venue for this couple created a clear juxtaposition with their personal aesthetics... and made a fun project for me! I was pleased to collaborate on this design with the lovely Marilyn of Belle Fleur in NYC.

Because we were using and re-using the same two spaces (the indoor Foundry and the outdoor courtyard) for different parts of the evening, my goal was to create a different look for each space each time guests re-entered it. Elegant draping masked much of the Foundry as guests arrived and entered the tent for ceremony. When they returned to the Foundry for cocktails, the draping had disappeared to reveal the beautiful brick work that is the Foundry's defining characteristic.



When guests re-entered the tent for dinner, richly patterned light created a magical atmosphere that gave a warm feel for the feast-style tables. The landscape of flowers and candles combined the sleek, modern look to which the couple was drawn with some more textural elements that connected the look to the rugged textures native to the venue.



For the evening's final transformation, guests re-entered the Foundry for dancing and dessert and were greeted with bold, rich colors and patterns which elevated the mood for hours of celebration into the wee hours of the morning.



Of course, no wedding would be complete without the inclusion of some fantastic late night treats. In addition to our fabulous "Custom Candy Shoppe" the bride and groom requested an appearance from New York staple Mr. Softee for a super-sweet finish to an amazing night. All of that on top of a drop-dead gorgeous cake from the one and only Sylvia Weinstock.


All photos by Christian Oth.