Amy and Sam - Le Parker Meridien, New York

Amy and Sam had a beautiful Fall wedding at Le Parker Meridien in New York City. They first met in grad school and literally have traveled the world together. Currently they are living in Budapest!

I swiped this picture form the venue's website but don't think it does the penthouse's view justice. It is seriously one of the best views of Central Park.

BORROW THIS IDEA: I love getting a local newspaper for the photographer to take a picture of the date and location. Also it's a great keepsake for your wedding scrapbook to see what was going on in the world on your wedding day. (This is the history major nerd in me)

The monogram for Amy and Sam Stewart is ASS! ahah For the invitations we just stuck with their first names. I love this couple's sense of humor though!

I mean, could not have been a lovelier day in October.

Mini callas and tulips are friends. They look great together and come in the eggplant and burnt oranges Amy and Sam wanted for their color scheme. Hatch Creative Studio does another amazing job on flowers!

A stroll in Madison Square Park...

...followed by a carousel ride in Bryant Park.

Parker Meridien has a great minimalist contemporary Scandinavian style that you don't really want to overload with heavy decor. Simple curly willow arrangements with hanging candles were all we needed.

This is still my favorite envelope!

BORROW THIS IDEA: We had extra blank invitation envelopes and we needed table number signs so we put 2 and 2 together and had the calligrapher write the table numbers on the extra envelopes. It was a great way to not waste those extra envelopes and incorporate the theme from the invitations into the wedding decor.

Amy and Sam went apple picking and actually got all these apples for us to use for creative seasonable escort card holders.

One last practice before the big entrance

The ever-popular photobooth is always a hit!

Wild Hibiscus Flowers were dropped in each champagne flute. It was really neat, the bubbles in the champagne caused the flower to open up and blossom at the bottom of the flute. This not only added a sweet taste and beautiful touch to the champagne but also was a nod to Sam's Malaysian heritage. Hibiscus are the national flower of Malaysia.

Specialty drinks are a hot trend, in this case it was a warm one! Warm mugs of apple cider were passed to guests at the end of the night with dessert. White mugs were regular spiced and Black were spiked with Rum.

We later rinsed and placed the mugs by the exit so that guests could take them as they left. I have never seen favors go so fast, seriously!

Ah! My favorite picture of them all. Amy and Sam snuck into the Parker Meridien's not-so-secret Burger Joint for a few quick snaps. Roey Yohai Photography really caught the moment!

Pretty Postage

Sticking an uncomplimentary stamp onto your envelopes can be like ruining the most beautiful cocktail dress with the wrong accessories. It can take a bit more time and effort to source the stamps and the cost will most likely be two or three times the regular value but it's so worth it in this planner's opinion.

HELPFUL TIP: Here are some ways of finding the stamps!

Hire someone. Many custom invitation designers will also offer the service of finding vintage stamps to finish off your envelope look. Soolip in Los Angeles (pictured above) will source the stamps for $15 -/+ per envelope.

DIY. There are a couple ways of finding the stamps yourself. 1) Ebay has tons of vintage stamps available and I've had great success of finding exactly what I need online. When you enter the search look for "stamps" then click on "United States" ==> "sheets" ==> "New." Most sheets are 50 stamps but read carefully to make sure you're getting the right quantity. 2) Find a local stamp store near you that sells a variety of older stamps. If you're in New York City try Champion Stamps. The cost will be more than finding them on Ebay but the benefit is that there's no bidding, waiting and shipping.

Remember to always always always weigh your entire envelope to see what the postage will be and if it is an oversized or square envelope find out what that extra rates will be on that.

Check out a few recent envelopes we've done:

These purple "B stamps" matched their beautiful envelopes perfectly. The postman asked me if these were for a royal wedding!

(Want to see what's inside?)

Minna Designs did an amazing job on these!

This envelope for a wedding in Lake Como, Italy we used the same jewel tones that were used throughout the wedding decor. Also we choose stamps that represented the couple and their wedding: a Jazz and Amateur radio stamp to showcase the groom's passion for music, an Italian hero Giuseppe Garibaldi for the destination wedding,...

Don't forget the rsvp envelope!

For a wedding for two opera singers I almost fainted when I found this stamp!

It was a perfect touch to the beautiful envelopes Bernard Maisner calligraphied.

I hope I've inspired you all to make the extra effort to finish your envelopes with the perfect postage! Remember, first impressions are everything!

P.S. Get your envelopes hand canceled (so the post office would manually stamp those round cancel stamps over your vintage stamps rather than running it through the machine and getting those wavy line things). It goes with the vintage look and your envelopes won't have a risk of getting damaged when being fed through the machine. It's free for the first 50 envelopes and then only 5 cents for every additional.

People.com Article!

I'm still coming off the high from last night (truly one of the most magnificent weddings Daughter of Design has ever experienced) but wanted to share this People.com article! Congratulations to David Miller and Sarah Joy Kabanuck!

"Il Divo's David Miller Ties the Knot"

More pictures to come!

Save the Date postcards - vintage city and state designs

BORROW THIS IDEA: One of my brides shared a link she found for vintage postcard Save the Dates so thought I would share it with you all. It's $99 for 100 4"x6" cards that you can personalize. Pretty good deal.

Otherwise if you have your own graphic file, I sometimes use Overnight Prints which is only $12.95 for 100 4"x6" cards.

HELPFUL HINT: Remember only send save the dates to people you really want to save the date! Don't send one to someone who is on our B list if you're not sure you're inviting them to the wedding for sure. It totally sucks when you have to explain that you have too many people that are coming now and have to retract the initial invitation you extended to them!

WeddingChannel.com article!

Check out our latest press piece on WeddingChannel.com on "Alternative Ceremony Ideas for Second Weddings!"

To see all Daughter of Design press check out our press page by clicking here.

You count!

Brides and Grooms, remember to include yourselves in the final guest count!

I often notice on my clients' spreadsheets that their names are not on the final seating chart or guest list. This happens at almost 99% of the weddings I work on. You want to eat too right? :)