Checkerboard Fusion Album: Inspired by Invitations, Part 1

I was endlessly honored when I was approached by national invitation and stationery company Checkerboard, Ltd. to collaborate with them on their newest collection of invitations and their newest innovation to accompany them.  The Fusion Album by Checkerboard is not only filled with beautiful wedding invitations but also what they call "Event Adjacencies" - items that accompany an invitation suite to carry the look of the invitation into the event itself.  This is, as Checkerboard says, is "The Future of Inviting."

It was so exciting to be a part of the creative process with the Checkerboard design and marketing teams, giving them insight into what my clients look for when creating the designs for their events, what types of products are absent from the "adjacency" market and how an invitation can become true inspiration for an entire event. I loved learning from their teams about the development process of an invitation suite and watching this album be built from the ground up... and then watching it launch into the hands of stationery dealers around the world at the National Stationery Show!

As a way to show stationery dealers and customers how the adjacencies worked to created a holistic event concept, my team and I produced a HUGE multi-day photoshoot at the Checkerboard headquarters in West Boylston, Massachusetts. Along with the Checkerboard team, we selected five invitation suites to use as inspiration for a wedding look.  Here's our first look... others to follow in coming posts!

The "Vast" invitation ensemble was our inspiration.

And this was the look we created!

 Printed tote bags with personalized hang tags are one of the Checkerboard adjacencies available.  Perfect for hotel welcome gifts or bridesmaids' thank yous. 

 Layered navy patterned plates were provided by Mikasa. Wave place cards and monogrammed favor boxes are featured - both available from the Fusion collection.

 Silk runners from Party Rental Ltd. ran crossways on the table adding contrast between the white linen and white napkin.  Personalized coordinating menus just lay simply on the plate.

Bright yellow spring flowers added a contrast color to the palette. We detailed the vases, candles and chairs with navy and white striped ribbon from our last nautical-inspired event!

A little tip on using your invitation for inspiration... you don't have to match everything to the invitation in order to build a design around it.  Allow yourself the freedom to add new pops of color (in this case, the yellow flowers) or other graphic elements (the wave on the placecards or the polka dots on the plate) to add depth and interest. Give your design a little room to grow and you'll be amazed!

Surprise Winter Birthday Soiree

With only a few weeks' notice, we were invited to create a glimmering holiday-inspired SURPRISE birthday celebration at one of New York's most storied restaurants. The guest of honor's favorite spot is the famed Four Seasons restaurant in NYC so we used some of the best qualities of the space to design a sparkling winter dinner party.

The "water table" escort display that I originally designed for Lauren and Nick was a natural fit for this party since the miniature pool surrounded by lush white flowers echoed the large, beautiful pool that stands as the centerpiece of the Four Seasons restaurant. 

The private dining room at the restaurant is defined partially by its large and dramatic Pop Art pieces. To counter that and create a warm and serene environment, elegant lighting was crucial. We washed the room in amber light and then used a candlelight colored pattern wash over the entire space to create a sparkly effect.

We mixed round and rectangular tables throughout the room to help the guest of honor and the host re-imagine a space that they had been to dozens and dozens of times. This is the best way to make a familiar space feel new again.

Simple white floral landscapes mixed with mercury glass finial trees integrated a nod to the holiday season with a simple festive design that was not overly feminine for the male guest of honor.

The host loved the antique silver chargers that the Four Seasons provides - they were the base of the silver and gold palette that we used for the entire event. Silver and gold was mixed throughout including the use of silver chairs and gold cushions and gold napkins with silver crystal napkin bands. 

Thank you to Judith Rae for these beautiful photos!

Trish and Rick: Destination Wedding TDF, Part 2

So, this windy, rainy gal named Sandy is hearkening memories of another nasty vistor not so long ago - dear, old Irene.  This time, I am lucky to be tucked in safe at home with my family and plenty of junk food, but when Irene came to town, it was a different story...

I started Part 1 of this wedding tale months ago before the mania of wedding season struck, but what a better day to finish it than when I am hiding out in my apartment with eleven different media sources comparing this hurricane du jour to the last one that pummeled the Northeast in late August of 2011.

In Part 1 of Trish and Rick's wedding at the beautiful Sagamore Resort on Lake George, you were witness to the glory of their Friday night welcome dinner.  Well, while the rest of the Northeast, and particularly all of our family, friends and colleagues in NYC were bracing for the worst storm in recent memory and canceling weddings by the dozen, we were bracing for.... the most fabulous, pristine, gorgeous Saturday of all time. Perfection. We watched the rest of the Lake George resorts clear out as hotel guests raced back to their hometowns to prepare their houses for the worst, but our team and the wedding guests settled in for a glorious day of outdoor events - ceremony, cocktails, tented dinner... and a late evening surprise. Lucky really wasn't even the word that day. Blessed was a bit more like it.

Trish's bouquet was composed of white dahlias and garden roses.

The ceremony overlooked breathtaking Lake George. The weather was so calm that the ribbon streamers we created didn't even blow in the wind as planned!

Ceremony program incorporated fonts and design elements from other printed pieces. 

Drink signage is so fun - coasters and bar signs provided info on the signature cocktail and drink flags used the monogram and anchor insignia.

Escort cards were embedded in a tabletop covered end-to-end with flowers... what you can't see here is that the flowers were arranged in thick pink and white stripes to continue the nautical/preppy vibe. 

The tent before dark... custom white dancefloor with huge monogram was the focal point and the ceiling was enhanced with 85 clear globes to create an ethereal sparkle.

And the tent after dark.  You can't really get a sense of how magical the globes really were, but I can't help but smile when I remember the bride's nephew entering the tent and saying "Wow! Look at all of those floating bubbles!"

We detailed the bride and groom's chairs with striped ribbon - the same ribbon used to create napkin rings at each place setting. The polka dot china from Party Rental Ltd created the perfect foil to the stripes. 

Custom upholstered lamps adorned half the tables and lush round centerpieces were on the others. 

The pastry chef at the Sagamore was remarkably ready and willing to mimic the design we painstakingly created with the bride and groom for their perfect nautical cake.

THIS was the late nigh surprise!  The best fireworks I have ever seen for a private event! Rick surprised Trish with a post cake cutting fireworks display over the lake and it was truly magical.

I'd be lying if I said the story ended with these spectacular fireworks.... there was, indeed, an awesome afterparty inside the Sagamore until about 1 AM.  At that is when Irene made her way to lovely Lake George. 

The rain continued through the night and into the Sunday morning brunch.  At 11 AM sharp (seriously - no exaggeration), the moment the brunch was scheduled to end, there was a "pop" and then the power was out throughout the whole hotel. It was strange and eerie - and kinda cool. Like there was some force that knew that 11 AM marked the end of this perfect wedding weekend. 

The story of how it took me and my team two days to drive home is for another post another time... we made it eventually - and if I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times... all's well that ends well. 

Special thanks to the amazing Sofia Negron for all of these photos and to David at Renaissance Floral Design in Albany, NY who was my production partner for this event.

Stay safe in the storm!

Trish and Rick: Destination Wedding TDF, Part 1

I cannot believe that Trish and Rick are almost ready to celebrate their first wedding anniversary and I'm just posting this now, but I assure you it will have been worth the wait! The scene was last August at the spectacular Sagamore Resort on Lake George where we transformed the iconic hotel into a truly customized and totally adorable nautical-meets-preppy inspired wedding for an absolutely fantastic couple.  Every one of their 150 guests traveled from a distance to be a part of this celebration full of warmth at the bride and groom's favorite vacation spot.  They had been coming to the Sagamore for many years to celebrate special occasions or just to have a weekend away, but because it was also the site for their romantic engagement, it was a natural choice for the wedding as well.

Both Trish and Rick loved navy blue and had a thing for nautical symbols, so we knew those elements would be the basis of the design.  Soon after we began working together, I visited their apartment with a few different color palette options. Without hesitation, Trish knew that hot pink was the perfect accent color, and from there, their wedding design was born. 

To get you started, I thought I'd give you a peek at their outdoor rehearsal soiree on the pool deck at the Sagamore overlooking the Lake. If glamorous camping can be called "glamping," I'd say this casual feast was definitely a "glarbeque!" Guests enjoyed BBQ and grill favorites at long picnic-like tables accented with tons of candle lanterns.

All photos by Sofia Negron

To set the scene, we strung patterned flag garlands along with mini lights across the space with poles we erected solely for this purpose.

Their signature anchor made cameos throughout the weekend, starting with the napkin rings and cocktail napkins at the rehearsal dinner.

What would a lakeside BBQ be without a s'mores station?

Guests could relax throughout the space on Adirondack chairs around fire pits... we were actually in the Adirondacks after all!

 

 
With such an amazing and special pre-wedding celebration, you can only imagine what's to come! Stay tuned....

Wish Upon a Wedding Comes to NYC

It is no secret that weddings are my true passion. If you told me twelve years ago that I would spend the rest of my life thinking about, dreaming about and fully immersed in the world of weddings - and never tire of it - I would have thought you were crazy. But it is true. I believe in the power of weddings and in the true value of expressing your love for another person for real, in public, in the environment of your choosing under any circumstance. It is a powerful moment in life and one that universally connects you to billions of people throughout the world and across time. I love to make pretty parties, but I am truly driven by the root of that beauty that lies far beneath the surface of flowers and fluff.

With that in mind, I am so proud and honored to announce that I have gathered a group of my most esteemed colleagues and friends and launched the New York City chapter of Wish Upon a Wedding. WUW was founded in 2010 as the first wish granting organization to provide no cost weddings to couples facing terminal illness or other life altering circumstances.  There are now 17 active chapters across the US and the New York City chapter is finally joining the ranks! Please, please, please take a moment to read more about Wish Upon a Wedding -  I know you will be as moved as I was by the couples that are being helped by my wedding industry colleagues across the country.

Hopefully some of you are wondering how you can help... there are lots of ways to make a meaningful contribution to WUW:

1. Spread the word! We want to be able to help as many couples as possible, but they need to know that this resource is available to them.  If you have connections with hospitals, houses of worship, hospice facilities, community groups or any other organization which may serve individuals who are facing life altering circumstances, please help make it known that WUW NYC is at their disposal.
2. Donate your time! If you provide a wedding related product or service (professional credentials and experience required) and you would like to contribute to a wedding wish, please send an email to newyorkvolunteer@wishuponawedding.org. Please note that your information will be added to a database and you will be contacted when a couple for whom we are granting a wish requires your services.
3. Send money! We have so much work to do and limited resources with which to do it. If you are able to assist with our fundraising efforts your donation will go directly to underwriting a wedding for a couple in need. Email me at newyorkpresident@wishuponawedding.org for secure online payment information or write a check made out to Wish Upon a Wedding (with NYC in the memo line) and send it to Wish Upon a Wedding, PO BOX 1141, Santa Clara, CA 95052.
4. Raise money! If you are getting married or know someone who is getting married, please consider donations to WUW "in lieu of favors." Our website offers information on how to do this and provides guest notification cards at no cost.
5. Become a sponsor! If you are part of a business or organization looking for a long-term partnership with a charitable organization, please email me at newyorkpresident@wishuponawedding.org to discuss how we can create a mutually beneficial and meaningful relationship.
6. Keep in touch! Follow our progress and updates on Twitter @WUW_NYC and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/WUWNewYork. 

I so appreciate all of the support we have already received and am looking forward to sharing with you the forthcoming journey to help New York area couples.

With gratitude,

Pow! Diego's 5th Birthday Bash

I can't lie... I am pretty much mortified that I have a backlog of awesome events from nearly a YEAR ago.  I can make excuses (busiest year ever! sold my house! new business projects in development! launching an industry charity!) but there really is no excuse except that I haven't carved out the time. I'm trying to change my ways... really.

So, here it goes! Let's turn back the clock to last August when I did yet another spectacular party for one of my long-standing clients.  You've seen Ines and Augusto's wedding, Ines' birthday party, Diego's 4th birthday, and now... his 5th!  Diego had not lost his love for all things superhero, so my challenge was to do a superhero party, but one that looks totally different than the one we did the year before. Spiderman was the star for birthday number 4, so I thought I'd mix it up a little bit by going retro. We didn't focus on any one particular superhero, but instead channeled a little bit of my inner Lichtenstein for a funky comic book inspired look.

There aren't too many instances in which a polka dot tablecloth and yellow chairs will do the trick, but this hot summer day was the one!  The combo made the party feel youthful and fun and it was engaging for kids and adults alike. Colorful, funky flowers in lime green vases were accented with comic book exclamations for added whimsy.

We did a killer dessert/favor station at Diego's 4th birthday, so we had to top ourselves with this one while not repeating the same components. So, I created a lollipop tree display with the birthday cake as the centerpiece.  I used a Martha Stewart tutorial to create the ribbon covered cones (kinda harder than it looks!) and inserted all sorts of pops (cake, lolli, cookie, etc.) into each of the cones on the table.  I once again called upon Cakes by Mona to create the world's cutest birthday cake for the world's luckiest kid.

There was tons to do to keep busy on this gorgeous summer day... swimming, bounce house, climbing wall - you name it! While the guests enjoyed the activities, they munched on popcorn and cheese puffs from these cute customized bags. Below: you can't go wrong with a pinata - and my favorite part of the day - a craft station at which the kids could make their own superhero capes and masks!

All photos by Sharon Schuster

I'm looking forward to more great celebrations with this wonderful family.  What else can we do for birthday number 6??

Thanks for reading!