Pretty weddings for everyone!

This was a really big week for weddings in New York. Huge. Finally, finally, finally New York State legislature has signed a bill that will allow same sex couples to marry. It is a wonderful time to be in New York and to work in the business of weddings, and the outpouring of excitement from every end of the wedding industry is exhilarating.

I am not much into politics and there are few political issues that ignite my passion, so I will not ever bring politics into my work or into my blog. I am, however, unendingly passionate about weddings. So, in the weeks and months leading up this monumental bill, many of my friends within the wedding industry have been asking how I might prepare my business for this big political change. How will I handle all of the gay couples that may be calling me?

So, when faced with the materialization of this big news and all of the questions about what I will do differently, I have been putting a lot of thought into it. What WILL I do differently when I get a higher volume of inquiries for same sex weddings?

Brace yourselves, because you know that I'm not one for holding back...

Nothing. I will do nothing differently.

I have been creating amazing weddings for amazing people, gay and straight, for nearly a decade. All races, all religions, all political affiliations and all cultures, in New York, around the country and around the world. I learn about people through the eyes of their weddings. I learn about their families, what they love to do, their favorite colors, foods, music and fashion. I learn about how and where they grew up and how and where they live now. I learn because I ask questions and then listen to the answers - and sometimes beyond the answers. I then take all that I have learned about my clients and I translate it into the most beautiful and personal event that I can. That is what event design is to me.

So, whether you are gay or straight, Hindu or Jewish, Armenian or Portuguese, if you call me I am going to do everything in my power to make you an amazing wedding. That is the bill I signed into law the day I opened my doors.

Let's hear it for New York...

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! :-)

Sandy and Michael: A City Chic Celebration (Part 1)

Every once in a while, I meet a couple, and in the first moment, just on instinct, I know just what their wedding will look like. In the case of Sandy and Michael, from our first meeting, I knew just what their wedding would feel like. It took us a while to meander our way to all of the perfect visual elements, but from day one, I sensed that my collaboration with this couple would result in an environment brimming with energy, excitement and that certain New York City je ne sais quoi. And, indeed it did.

It was exactly one year before that I had the pleasure of working with Michael's sister and her groom to create an amazing wedding at Cipriani 42nd Street, so I already had met Sandy and Michael before they were engaged. Then, I had barely packed away my files from Sara and Scott's wedding when Michael's mom called to let me know that the next family wedding was on.

After touring just about every NYC venue that could accommodate their nearly 300 guests, Sandy and Michael settled on The Altman Building, not far from their own Chelsea apartment. That set the scene for a wedding that was truly about who this couple is and how they live. Urban, but warm. Modern, but classically New York.

At one of our first meetings, Sandy searched for the words to capture her overall vision for the wedding. With exasperation, she finally blurted "I don't know... glowy" and that became the word to live by! Strangely enough, it was just the perfect amount of direction and now Sandy's word is a natural part of my design vocabulary. It is actually unusually descriptive of both a mood and a look... I love it!

The embodiment of "glowy" was manifested in the candle wall which I designed as a backdrop to the escort card display. The glass ghost table gave an impression that the cards were floating in mid-air and added to the allure of the glowing wall. This was probably my favorite detail of the whole day.


Photo by Gustavo Campos


Photo by Spencer Lum, 5 West Studios

The chuppah was composed of soft, sheer ivory fabric and accented with ivory and peach flowers and flanked with huge explosions of white cherry blossoms. (Insider scoop: those cherry blossoms were actually supposed to be at the entrance of the room, but during setup, my production team put them near the chuppah so they wouldn't get knocked over during load in. They looked so good, we left them there and added more cherry blossoms to the front. Thankfully we had just enough left over to make it happen!)


Photo by Gustavo Campos


Photo by Gustavo Campos


Photos by Spencer Lum, 5 West Studios

Sandy's bouquet was designed as an accessory to her Christos lace dress (as I believe all bouquets should be) which has a modern vintage feel. We used ranunculus, garden roses and sweet pea wrapped with lace from her mom's veil in perfect proportion to her petite frame and it looked like the flowers were sold with the gown! Of course, Michael's ranunculus boutonniere coordinated with Sandy's flowers. The bridesmaids carried peach tulips, ranunculus and roses which were a stunning contrast to their steel gray dresses (I'm working on a pic!).


Photos by Spencer Lum, 5 West Studios

Tomorrow... the reception and more fun details!

NewlyWish at The Wedding Party

Each year, hundreds of newly engaged women flock to The Wedding Library/Martha Stewart Weddings' Wedding Party event at the New York Palace Hotel, so, of course, my friends at NewlyWish wanted to make a splash and show off all of the fabulosity to be found through their boutique registry service. So, it was fun as always to collaborate with founder Amanda Allen to use some of the NewlyWish merchants' beautiful tabletop items to create a spectacular dinner table display. That was the easy part, though, since the challenge was how to show the diversity of merchandise that is available through NewlyWish - particularly those things that you wouldn't put on a dinner table! Luckily, inspiration from an upcoming wedding design dawned on me and I realized that we could style mini merchandise vignettes in simple white cubbies from Taylor Creative Props to give the brides a little taste of all of the many beautiful things that NewlyWish has to offer.

The look was bold and whimsical which made it pop in the busy room with many other wedding vendors on display - just what we hoped for! Once again, I am grateful that Amanda invited me to work with these beautiful items and style them into something unique and special. It was great fun to be part of their amazing success at such a prestigious event and I am already looking forward to our next project together!



The entire tabletop was inspired by these amazing black and white plates from Bobby Berk Home. They are bold and graphic and just downright fun, so I had to just go with it and make the whole table fun! Those black and white anemones, literally standing on end in a bed of hot pink roses, couldn't have been a more perfect fit for this look.



I layered a charger plate, dinner plate and salad plate to show off more of NewlyWish's merchandise, but also to have a perfect way to include the pink napkin in a way that would create contrast between the plates.



I had a really good time making these escort cards... I had that roll of cute black and white patterned ribbon in my ribbon drawer for at least two years, and was elated to finally have the perfect spot for it (shown around the centerpiece container as well). What can I say? Crafts make me giddy!



Adjacent to the dinner table display were the vignettes displaying all that NewlyWish has to offer.





Ever since my last NewlyWish styling gig, I've been obsessed with styling food, so I really wanted to make sure to show as many vignettes as possible with real food components to offer context to the merchandise.



As soon as I thought of the cubby idea, I knew that rolled towels had to be involved. Since my gym doesn't inspire me to work out, at least it inspires me to design!

All photos by Sofia Negron

I know you must be hungry to see some new wedding work on here, so sit tight... the season is upon us! Just a few more weeks til I'm in full swing and it will be weddings galore. Til then, let me know what else you'd like to hear about and see - I am always in need of some blog-writing inspiration!

Sara and Scott: Dramatic and Classic New York City Wedding

I have been dying to post these amazing pictures from Sara and Scott's beautiful March wedding at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City, but the time just kept getting away from me! Every one of the photos from superstar photographer Douglas Benedict was so gorgeous that it was hard to choose... I only hope that these selections can adequately convey the warm, glowing and romantic atmosphere in this landmark venue.

There was an exceptionally joyful vibe in the room that evening, which made producing this flawless wedding even more gratifying. Every once in a while I get a warm, fuzzy feeling from a wedding that I just can't shake, and on this cold and rainy night in Manhattan I was overwhelmed by it. My thanks to a beautiful couple and special family for inviting me to be a part of this day.

Enjoy!


This Oscar de la Renta dress is one of my favorites of all time. I love this moment in which Sara was nervously awaiting Scott's arrival.


This is a view of the ceremony in progress when standing at the entry. The chuppah was made entirely of cherry blossoms and created a cozy arch above the couple's heads. Unfortunately because Scott, his best man/brother and dad are all well over 6 feet tall, it was a bit of a squeeze in there!


A snapshot of the ballroom before guests entered for dinner. The centerpieces are made of yellow forsythia and purple vanda orchids with the tall pieces elevated on custom made acrylic stands. Hundreds of purple candles created an amazing glow in the room. Many thanks to my partners in crime.... and design... at City Blossoms for creating these magnificent arrangements.



Douglas Benedict works with light masterfully. I love how he captured the Old New York essence of the space in this shot.



Chocolate Blossom Cakes created this sweet and delicious masterpiece that coordinated perfectly with the decor. Inside, the cake included the couple's two favorite flavors - red velvet and carrot.



The escort table was transformed into the favor table at the end of the evening. My team created lovely favor boxes filled with French macarons - one in purple (violet flavored) and one in yellow (almond flavored) for a sweet finish.

Until next time,