Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Green & White Hartford Country Club Wedding




A few weeks ago Blush designed a wedding held at the beautiful Hartford Country Club in West Hartford. The bride wanted a classic and elegant look, we used dark green Hydrangea, Garden Roses, Vendela Roses and Lisianthus to create the centerpieces.





Sunday, October 24, 2010

My Wedding!


This is a long overdue post but I have been so busy working on other people's weddings I forgot to post my own!

The gorgeous photos to follow were taken by the talented Denise Cregier.

Marco and I were married on July 24th at the Jonathan Edwards Winery in Stonington.
I think it may have been the hottest day of the year with temperatures in the 90's!! A rain storm threatened to rain out the ceremony but the sun came out just in time for my coordinator and all the staff to put everything back in place for the outdoor event. thank god! I had my heart set on having the ceremony in the vineyard!

We had our guests seated on wooden benches that were custom made for the Vineyard. Mason jars filled with Cafe Au Lait Dahlias, herbs and greenery hung from Shepherds hooks.


Our friend and musician, Eric Ieraci, played the Spanish guitar for the ceremony. It was perfect!
An Arch was covered with a Bay Leaf Garland with Midori Dupioni Ribbon streamers in shades of Blush Pink, Champagne and Ivory that swayed in the breeze.
The talented Jennie Fresa and Nedelyn Perry of Jennie Fresa Beauty Library did the hair and makeup for myself, my bridesmaids and my mom, which miraculously stayed put through the heat the entire night! My dress and veil was from the fabulous The Plumed Serpent in Westport and the girl's wore Calypso dresses.


My mom and I had spent months planning all the fine details of the day from every single bloom to the handmade signs labeling the food, favors and drinks. My mom made these gorgeous chalkboard signs that were scattered around the reception:
The Menu chalkboards were placed on the buffet stations. A Thyme To Cook prepared the delicious food with onsite grilling and all kinds of amazing summer salads.



Invitations were designed by Erin Napier of Lucky Luxe:

Marco and I wanted a laid back event where we could spend a fun evening with all of our family and friends, but of course it had to be beautiful too! My main inspiration for the whole wedding was the beautiful Cafe Au Lait Dahlia, a blushy pink large Dahlia that is only available for a short time during the year.



The fabulous Candice of Jubilee Events helped me sort through all my details and found me the gorgeous linens I was envisioning. She helped me put together the tablescapes I was dreaming about!


We had a mix of rectangle and round tables. A collaboration with Yumiko and the staff of Hana Floral Design helped to make my visions a reality! My wonderful flower salesperson Laura and I spent months planning my flower order to get just the right shade of blush pink and all the right textures to create the whimsical organic feel for the vineyard. I found these dark wood boxes that were the perfect addition to the tables.

For the long rectangle tables I found wooden plant crates that were filled with mason jars filled with a single variety of flower, to look as though just picked from the fields.
The round tables featured a single low wooden box filled with a mix of flowers in shades of pale pink, champagne with soft greens. Succulents and balsawood flowers added some interesting textures...





For cocktail hour I wrapped mason jars with natural twine with a sprig of Rosemary.

The gorgeous cake was created by Ana Parzych and featured a large handmade sugar Cafe Au Lait Dahlia with chocolate branches and handpainted leaves, it was absolutely stunning! (and delicious!!)




Nina Healy of Les Petits Presents made Out of Town bags for all my guests who were spending the night. They were adorable burlap sacks filled with m&ms with our dog, holly's mug on them (since she couldn't attend the wedding we had to include her somehow!!), Tylenol and water bottles (which Nina made custom Kraft paper stamped labels for), and Pizzelles, an Italian cookie handmade by Marco's mom!

Our friends, Don Fortin and Eric Ieraci collaborated with other area musicians to create a band for our wedding night, they were so much fun and everyone had a great time on the dance floor all night!
For our guests's favors we supplied a large wheel of Parmigian cheese with waxed bags for them to take a chunk home--a nod to Marco's Italian heritage and our love of cooking!


And as the night concluded A Thyme To Cook came out with these delicious miniature ice cream cones filled with Basil Verbena Sorbet, they were sooo good! and cooled everyone down after a night of dancing!

I couldn't have imagined a better day!!

Martha Stewart Bridal Market Party!

Photo by Shane Carpenter

This past week I was lucky enough to attend the Martha Stewart Weddings Party held at the Martha Stewart Corporate Offices in Manhattan! As soon as we walked in we bumped into Martha-- Definitely the highlight of the night!!

L to R: Me, Alicia Trotta, the one and only Martha Stewart, Beth Chapman of White Dress By the Shore and Candice Coppola of Jubilee Events

Her party had a white and gold theme and the decor was beautiful! The focal point was a huge chandelier of gold tinsel streamers hanging in the center of the space. The smilebooth had a tinsel background with containers full of gold confetti to toss when taking the picture.


Photo by Shane Carpenter


Following the Martha Party we headed over to the New York Library for The Knot Party! There was a enormous floral sculpture created by Preston Bailey of a bride designed after Monique Lhullier Gown, there were thousands of White Hydrangea, Phaelonopsis Orchids, Roses, it was Amazing!
The Bride's accessory was 2 white carnation poodles--notice the crystal leashes!!


It was a great night with the ladies from the White Dress by the Shore, Jubilee Events, Carla Ten Eyck and Tony from Datura A Modern Garden !!