Laura and Eric - Studio 450, New York

So many New Yorkers flock to warmer climates in the winter but Laura and Eric who live in South Florida turned down their sunny December and headed north for a real winter wedding in NYC. Oh the grass is always greener!

To this day, this is still one of my favorite invitation sets. It has the art deco vibe of South Beach but mixed with the contemporary cleanliness of their NYC loft wedding.
Invitation set by Atelier Isabey.

The bride's vintagesque ensemble.

The bride MADE and WORE her own hairpiece out of all vintage brooches, fabrics, feathers and other textiles. She made one for each of her bridesmaids as well. They were beautiful. You like? Well you can get one too! Laura went into business after her wedding.
Check it out: Make Merry!

Photographer Heather Waraksa found this coffee table book in the hotel room and very artistically laid the jewels for this amazing accessory photo shoot.

Laura knows how to make love to the lens. Keep scrolling, you'll see what I mean.

Vintage from head to toe

Boys have to get ready too

Eric waits to see his bride for the first time

They meet!

You can't take pictures of subways and Flatiron in Miami, now can you.

Their out-of-towner guests loved the venue, Studio 450. People seriously could not stop looking out at the view.

DO have your friends officiant your wedding

HELPFUL TIP: Remember your officiants are a big part of your ceremony AND ceremony photos. I always check in with officiants to make sure they'll be nicely coordinated. Maybe suggest a pink tie for that pink color story wedding.

DO write your own vows

DO kiss like you mean it

BORROW THIS IDEA: Laura and Eric not only hung pictures of their families but even had their close friends who recently were married share their photos as well.

HELPFUL TIP: If you are displaying photos, sometimes it is nice to convert them all to black and white so they look a little more uniform and not so mumbly jumbly of a million uncoordinated colors.

From the escort cards to the menus to the table numbers, Laura designed and printed a matching set of dotted paperie to go along with her invitation set.

Totally classic white loft wedding!

HELPFUL TIP: I just lied to you. It's not white actually, though that's how most would describe it. It's really ivory. For all of those who think they want a black and white wedding, what you really may want is a black and ivory wedding. White can be too stark and ivory has a richer, creamer more upscale look to it.

HELPFUL TIP: Table top decor was kept clean, simple, modern, and very cost effective by using budget saving items like CB2 candlestick holders that are about $2 each and tall trumpet vases filled with water (free) and a small candle.

HELPFUL TIP: Rectangular tables are great for many reasons: 1) They, to me, are more contemporary and more appealing to the eye 2) You sit closer to others at the table than if it were a traditional round table so that they can chat with more people. 3) The surface area of empty table space that you need to decorate is smaller than a round table with a gaping center and so you can get away with doing less decor and save there.

Studio 450 offers existing white lounge furniture and metal coffee tables so all we did was add a few throw pillows to bring in our colors and soften the room.

HELPFUL TIP: T.J. Maxx, Ross, Marshalls,... all of these places are great places to hunt for a few accent pieces or throw pillows at a fraction of the usual price.

Small packages with a note that read "Warm Greetings" were filled with tea bags, sweet treat, and a note from the couple. We placed those on an entry table that was filled with vintage bud vases, framed photos and look close, a dotted linen. Tall curly willow branches stood behind the table with hanging votive candles.

Laura and Eric still reside in Florida but I'm hoping they make their way back up North permanently one day!

Also check out their wedding that had a big feature on Style Me Pretty:

First post: Laura and Eric on Style Me Pretty1
Second post: Laura and Eric on Style Me Pretty2
Third post: Laura and Eric on Style Me Pretty3
Fourth post: Laura and Eric on Style Me Pretty4
Fifth post: Laura and Eric on Style Me Pretty5

New York Youth Symphony Benefit Concert - Carnegie Hall + NY Althetic Club

This past Fall we had the pleasure of helping the New York Youth Symphony with their annual Benefit Concert. Unfortunately the decor budget was seriously limited but with help from our friends from Hatch Creative Studio and Paratore Audio-Visual we were able to maximize the budget and really convert the ballroom into a very warm, inviting reception.

The concert was a dual performance of Tchaikovsky and Duke Ellington's versions of the Nutcracker Suite. I love-love-loved hearing the jazz interpretation side-by-side to the classic holiday favorite. I had to download the sheet music for "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" right when I got home!

Our program shout out!

These kids were so talented. If you didn't look too closely to see how young they were you'd swear it was the New York Symphony.

Sigourney Weaver was the guest presenter at the concert. At the reception she introduced herself to me, "Hi, I'm Sigourney." In my head I said, "I know!" but I politely responded back, "Hi, I'm Annie" instead. She's incredibly elegant and gracious.

Thanks to Hatch who loaned us some of their amazing mercury glass vases and candleholders. It MADE the look. Also much thanks for helping us order the flowers wholesale. That saved us big time!

We kept the cost of flowers down by only adding a few buds to each cluster of candles.

HELPFUL TIP: Just so you know though, candles aren't always the cost saver; they can cost just as much as flowers. The only reason this worked for us was because we were able to borrow all the containers.

We filled all the window sills with candles and small clusters of flowers. As the sky dimmed the view was enchanting. We also added matching amber uplights between the windows to reinforce the glow of the candles and to fill up the room with a warm feeling.

We kept costs down by using inexpensive flowers like roses and lisianthus. The glass containers were $2.99 each from IKEA.

My BFF, Sigourney's table :).

All in all, it was a total success. The NY Athletic Club event manager said that in the several years they've held this event, this year's was the nicest he's ever seen it. What a huge compliment :) Everyone from the Board of the NYYS were incredibly happy as well but I wish we had more of a budget to work with... so everyone, please support and donate to the New York Youth Symphony so next year I can really go wild with the decor :)!

Willy Wonka Surprise Birthday Party - Dylan's Candy Bar, New York

Who says candy parties are just for kids?

I worked with the birthday girl's wonderful husband who wanted to throw her a surprise 40th birthday party. Her being the world's biggest candy fiend, it was only fitting that we held the event at Dylan's Candy Bar in NYC.

For the invitations, I had these custom Wonka Bar candy wrappers designed and printed with "Find the Golden Ticket" and "Win Invite to Meredith's Surprise 40th Birthday Party!" splashed on the front. I wish I had a picture of the back nutrition label because we made everything 0 calories and 0 fat but 25 grams of protein. If only...

Inside each chocolate bar, guests found their golden ticket that won them admission to the birthday celebration. Invitation was signed by Mr. Wonka himself. True story.

Dinner and sweets were catered by Avents Catering who offers amazing menus straight from the kitchens of David Burke.

Yes, of course we had his famous lollipop cheesecake. Too perfect for this candy themed party!

For decor, we made our own vases out of jolly rancher sticks, wheat grass and orchids. Sticky but cute :)

One of my favorite parts of the party was collecting old photos and favorite stories about Meredith from her friends and family and assembling them in this scrapbook for her to keep. I, of course, only got to meet Meredith the night of the party, it being a surprise to her and all, but I felt like I knew her before that night. I only hope one day that I am lucky enough to have a scrapbook filled with such fun and lovely memories of my own.

Now, sorry to always be the black rain cloud but there was a lot of candy consumed that evening. I just wanted to make sure no cavities resulted from that party (liability issues, you understand). So guests were also given a cute teeth cleaning voucher for $50 off if they mentioned the birthday girl at the dental offices of Dr. Diane Deidan, whose office was just a block away from Dylan's (well not that we expected them to go immediately after or anything. Just saying.). She's the best, you watch DVDs through these eyeglasses during your procedure. Appointments are never long enough. Anyhow, the cards read:

You've had a lot of sugar tonight.
Maybe you should come see me?

As guests left they were each given an empty pail with a custom sticker that read "Sweet of you to come." Guests were then allowed to roam around the 2 story candy-shop and fill it with whatever their sweet tooth desired. They were like adults in a candy shop!

Photos by Joanna Wilson Photography

New York Magazine Wedding Event - 4/7/10

For information

For tickets

Carole Tanenbaum - Vintage Jewelry

I'm in love with this hairpiece from Carole Tanenbaum's Vintage Jewelry Collection. I would love to see more of these style pieces come back in fashion!

Here are some other pieces I spied:

Google's wedding document templates

Google has come out with wedding document templates. I didn't end that sentence with an exclamation mark on purpose. I like the concept they're reaching for and I'm sure it'll develop and improve as it is used and they receive feedback from users but I'm going to be honest, I think it's a little inadequate for them to be launching already. I think they need to advise a few more people who have been in the trenches of planning.

Here is my feedback:

Guest List
+ You can easily send out an address form for your guests to fill out that goes right back to your spread sheet and address book
+ You can add and customize the template as you wish.
- But you need to use Google contacts or gmail to easily use this feature.
- For the address form you should have two cells for first name and last name. It will make sorting a million times easier
- Their "elegant" themes for the emailer are not so elegant. Google, remember this is for a wedding not a weekend bbq.

Budget Estimator
+ I like this for a quickie overview.
- But of course for each couple it's different; what counts most and where do they want to invest their budget more? Are you foodies? Big on decor? Gotta have that dress?

Budget
+ This budget is a great check list of the little things you will have to consider for your wedding and budget: aisle runners, guest parking, childcare...
- It's a bit micro for my tastes. I'm all for being detailed but I think for a budget sheet this breaks out the cost of each category a bit too much.
- They spelled altar as "alter"! I know, I'm just being my type A self right now.

To-Do
+ The cells automatically change color depending on what stage you're at. If you're in "progress" it's yellow, "late" pink,...
- I thought they would add some standard to-do's for starters but it's a clean slate for you to fill in.

Venue
+ ... I can't think of anything positive to say
- That's all that's important? How many hours and cost for what - site, per person, minimum f&b? What about capacity? Oh man, Google, call me. My venue research sheet has about 50 more questions that you can borrow some from.

Photographer, Cake, Dress, etc.
+ I suppose these are a good start but...
- ...user beware! There are tons of more questions to ask.

Music List
+ It gives a general idea of a few places you will need music.
- They should also add a "do not play list"

Photo List
+ It's a good explanation for couples wondering what a photo list is and gives good general suggestions of groupings

Wedding Day Time line
+ Good overview for someone who wants to know the general flow of a wedding.
- This is somewhere that I like to get super micro on the timing and details. But that's why our time lines average about 10 pages and that's single spaced people.