Ines' Funky and Fun Birthday Surprise

This gig was just plain fun. When a great client calls and tells me that I can pick a cool place for a cool party and it just needs to look and feel cool, well.... that's just cool. It was a special birthday for long time client Ines, and her husband Augusto wanted to surprise her with a birthday bash (check out their wedding here). The only requirement is that it needed to be a venue with a view. With that in mind, there was only one choice for me - SoHi at the new Trump SoHo Hotel has the sickest view of New York that I have ever seen, so it was a shoo-in.



We put together a station-style menu for this relaxed party which means that tables would not be fully set with china, silver and glassware. This makes for a very important decor challenge: how to still make the table look interesting and full when, indeed, it is not full. The answer? A patterned tablecloth! A plain, solid cloth can look empty when there is not a charger plate, silverware, etc. so bringing in a cloth with pattern or texture provides visual interest in lieu of the other elements.



Since Ines and Augusto have small children (see one of their birthday celebrations here), they wanted to include their own kids as well as the children of their guests. To give them a little something to do while the adults were eating, we created a kids' craft table with stickers, crayons, pipe cleaners, wax sticks and other fun goodies. I also used a lower table and kids' chairs so that they would feel extra comfortable.



SoHi has very cool little nooks in the walls opposite the windows so we carried the floral concept through to add more color around the room. One of the greatest features of this space, though, is the honeycomb ceiling with color changing LED's which provides both color and texture.





You know it is not a party without a cake - and this cake rocked! My buds Leslie and Mark at Mark Joseph Cakes worked with me to translate the style of this party into this modern, square cake that was one of the biggest "wows" of the night.



All photos by Sharon Schuster

How do you feel about all the pink? It was definitely the color of the season at LLE, so stay tuned for more!

Sandy and Michael: A City Chic Celebration (Part 2)

Ready for more from this super-chic City couple? Let's take it from after the kiss...

Sandy was sure from the outset that she wanted color, but didn't want the wedding to be defined by a color (like "Hey, I want my wedding to be hot pink like Sandy's!"). For that reason, we gradually worked our way up to color, starting with warm neutral tones for the ceremony, followed by the addition of amethyst linens for cocktails and then a complete envelopment of color for the reception with rich amethyst and raspberry flowers and lighting. We maintained a neutral balance with silvery-champagne linens and chairs which created color consistency that started months before with their gorgeous mixed media invitations (letterpress AND engraving!) and continued through to the final element of the reception... the beautiful wedding cake.


Photo by Gustavo Campos


Photo by Gustavo Campos

The flowers were simple, but voluminous. The design was more in the pattern and color than in the arrangements themselves allowing for a very fresh, seasonal display featuring spring's best bloom - the tulip. The ballroom featured two types of tables and three total centerpiece designs: long rectangular tables featured a landscape of multiple small vases; many of the round tables had a collection of three high pieces, one of tulips, one of hydrangea and one of mixed orchids; the remaining round tables had a collection of six lower pieces, three larger mimicking the tall centerpieces and three miniature satellite pieces containing orchids and roses. Silver and gold wire accented many of the flower groupings and paired perfectly with the champagne and gold flecked silver table linens and runners.


Photo by Gustavo Campos


Photo by Spencer Lum, 5 West Studios


Photo by Gustavo Campos

Mark Joseph Cakes created this classically beautiful five-tiered cake reflecting some of the modern vintage elements of Sandy's dress. The soft and sweet outside was hardly a match, however, for the soft and sweet inside: a custom-designed Oreo flavored cake made just for this couple!


Photo by Spencer Lum, 5 West Studios


Photo by Spencer Lum, 5 West Studios

To send guests off with a sweet finish, we distributed Black and White cookies, a New York signature treat and Michael's very favorite cookie, as the wedding favor. My favorite part? The eleventh-hour inclusion of lyrics from the couple's first dance song on the back of the custom printed favor tag:

And when you kiss me
On that midnight street
Sweep me off my feet
Singing ain't this life so sweet
("This Years Love," David Gray)

What more is there to say?


Photo by Spencer Lum, 5 West Studios

Happy Royal Wedding Week! :-)