Before and After!

Not every event has the luxury of a million dollar budget or anywhere near that especially in times like these. On several occasions we've worked with clients who have "champagne tastes on beer budgets" but no matter we always do our best to come up with creative and smart ways to stretch that penny. Here are a couple of before and after pictures of rooms where we really used our brains, resources, and two hands!

A college faculty lounge

Before:

After:
Before:
okay you caught me, really after the after during breakdown but you get the idea!

After:
HELPFUL TIP: Lighting and table cloths, lighting and tablecloths - these items make the most impact in a room. I'm no financial advisor but I do know this, invest in decorations that visually take up the most surface area and which cost the least per square inch if you think about it.

A backyard tent

Before:After:
BORROW THIS IDEA: In the same idea of going for the items that cover the biggest surface, we chose a colored astroturf over the standard black to add to the room decor. Also the very affordable pink napkins ($0.60 each) helped to bring a pop of color to the tables as do the very economical paper lanterns. Also we had a few extra table cloths so we turned them into curtains - aren't we resourceful :). I felt like Scarlett O'Hara but opposite. In some cases we'll even get cheap yards of fabric and pin them directly over unappealing existing curtains. Oh I spoiled the next case!

A mess hall

Before:

After:
BORROW THIS IDEA: We pinned $1/yard red fabric over the not-so-wonderful-print curtains. The venue liked it so much that they asked if we could leave it up. We were thrilled we didn't have to climb the ladders and unpin them :)

HELPFUL TIP: Before you borrow this idea, make sure your venue is cool with you pinning into their curtains.

Buck Wedding Dress Sale - 10/21/09, NYC

One of my lovely staffers, Yena, forwarded this onto me so now me to you:

10/21 Wedding gowns and bridal accessories from Monique Lhuillier, Ulla Maier, Jenny Yoo, Peter Langner, and more are deeply discounted at the Housing Works Bride on a Buck Wedding Dress Sale. A Monique Lhuillier gown is $1,500 (originally $6,200) and veils are $250 (originally $1,000). Other bridal vendors, like the Cake Diva and Adorn Brides, will also be attending. Housing Works Gramercy Thrift Shop, 157 E. 23rd St., nr. Lexington Ave. (773-454-2865); 10–7.

Swank Sample Sale

Sarah Joy and David featured in NY Times Vow Section!

Yay! I'm so thrilled for my clients who were the featured couple in today's New York Times's Vow section.

Check it out: http://www.nytimes.com/pages/fashion/weddings/

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!