Real Wedding: Stephanie & Chris at The City Winery

I love working at the City Winery and was happy to have another opportunity to do so this past November. Working with Stephanie was quite literally the most pleasant and easiest experience. She was clear on her vision, had few requests and allowed me creativity. The result was a warm and seasonal feeling throughout the winery.

 

Inspiration Photo Shoot: City Winery

I've been sitting on this beautiful inspiration shoot for awhile and decided it was time to share. I love the venue, the City Winery, is such a unique place to have a wedding. There is the option of the main space or the barrel room. We created this shoot downstairs in an equally beautiful room perfect for small dinner parties.

The images speak for themselves, a unique and fun twist on a classic New York inspired wedding.
Planning and design concept by Roey from Roey Mizrahi Events and photography by Allan Zepeda.

WEDDING TIPS: When should I book my floral designer?

We have discussed it before but the wedding planning process can be a daunting one. Knowing when to meet with and book your vendors is part of the challenge. Here's my advice and a bit from my friend and NYC wedding and event planner, Roey Mizrahi of Mizrahi Events.

Here are a few questions you may be asking yourself.

• When/how should you choose your floral designer? 
• When should you have your first consultation? 
• How long will it take to receive the first draft of a proposal? 
• How many revisions will be made before the final design? 
• When should you see a sample? 

The time table for choosing wedding vendors can be based largely on how early you begin the planning process but according to Roey, "based on the average year-long engagement, the florist, photographer and band should be researched and interviewed about 8 months before the wedding". I couldn't agree more with Roey as she points out that "interviewing floral designers allows clients to find a designer that no only matches their aesthetic and accommodates their budget but truly honors, and most importantly understands their vision".

A few more tips to on booking your florist:

• Already know of a designer with work that you love? Call them first and schedule a meeting.
• Don't know where to start? Ask around and get referrals. 
• Do some research and choose your top three to schedule a time to meet.

After you have scheduled your meetings gather inspiration so you can share what love, hate and everything in between with your potential designer. You should receive a first draft of a proposal within 7-10 days of your meeting. A follow-up conversation with one or two round of revisions and you should have a well defined creative vision to base your decision on.

Samples and fine tuning of the design will follow. Some designers require a signed proposal before the presentation of samples or will charge for it. In my case, when I charge for a sample (which is rare because I typically have a signed contract before that) I will deduct the cost from the invoice once the contract is signed.

You should be fairly confident that you are going to choose a designer before wanting to see a sample. You want your vendors to be straight forward with you in terms of pricing and delvierables so try not to "shop around" with no intention of choosing that designer. Nothing is worse than presenting a detailed sample to have your ideas taken somewhere else to be produced!

A good designer will present you with a portfolio and initial proposal to give you a true sense of their talent. Choose based on talent, creativity and experience BUT in the end, choose someone you TRUST. All the creativity in the world won't matter on the day of your wedding if you can't be confident that they will deliver on all of their promises.

Advice shared with Rent The Runway

I shared some advice over at Rent The Runway on how to choose flowers for all of your wedding related events. From bridal shower to the wedding you can design the perfect look. And once you choose the perfect look for your decor be sure to check out Rent the Runway to create your perfect look. They have so many amazing and beautiful options.

Check out the full post here.

Inspiration and choosing your wedding style

There are more resources than ever to find inspiration for your wedding design. From Pinterest and Lover.ly to the many amazing wedding and design blogs there is no shortage of inspiring designs. But when you are in the midst of planning how do you narrow down the choices?

Here are four tips to keep in mind:
 
 1. Choose the mood. Choose a feeling that you want to evoke throughout the day. Whether you want a grand and extravagant affair or a warm and intimate setting choose design elements that will reflect that feeling but keep the design of the venue in mind as well.

2. Choose a color palette. You can choose a combination of tones or keep it neutral with an accent color. The color doesn't have to remain the same throughout, it can vary in shades and composition for different areas. From ceremony, to cocktails and then to the dinner reception the palette can change slightly or even more drastically if you want to create a little more drama.

3. Personalize the day. This does not mean that your monogram needs to be emblazoned on everything. While you can use your monogram there are other ways to incorporate personal touches without being so literal. Tell your story, share your love and the things that you love to do as a couple. Any way to engage your guests and let them know a bit more about you as a couple is always a nice touch.

4. Edit. With so much inspiration to choose from it's important to edit, edit and then edit again. Don't try to incorporate every great idea you see. Once you choose the mood, create a central "theme" and stick with it. Enhance the look and personal touches but don't go overboard. Make sure the props and additional elements you choose make sense and compliment the look rather than distract from it.

Most importantly, have fun, make it yours and remember what it's really all about!
(I promise, the day won't be ruined if you don't have the perfect shade of matching paper straws.)

Real Wedding: Ashley & Doug

I love this wedding. The images speak for themselves. It's simple, classic, romantic and has all the right elements included. The ceremony and reception both took place at the NYIT de Seversky Mansion in Old Westbury, NY. The wedding took place last October during that freak snowstorm and even though it took me a while to get the images and even longer to post them it was definitely worth the wait.

 

 

 

All images courtesy of Christain Oth Studio

Real Wedding: Lorelei & Michael

Remember that freak October snowstorm we had last year? I'm sure that Lorelei & Michael will never forget the weather on their wedding day. Although they avoided the snow for their City Hall ceremony which happened just a few days before the day of the reception at the 3 West Club was a much different story. I really enjoyed working with Lorelei on creating the right look for her wedding, she came to me with great ideas inspired by her love of travel and work with the Peace Corps. She still had a world map that had traveled with her from place to place decorating her walls. We mounted that on foam core and used it for the escort cards. Lorelei gathered many travel themed props to use and I scouted a few more from the local flea markets. Gold mercury glass vases and metal bowls were used to hold the flowers. Each table had multiple vases and the props were used throughout.
I especially love the entrance display where Lorelei displayed wedding pictures of loved ones which was especially fitting since she wore her grandmother's wedding gown that had been redesigned to best suit Lorelei.

 Lorelei's bouquet was a mix of white ranunculus, white calla lilies, astilbe and gomphrena with accents of green lily grass.

 

 Entrance display with vintage suitcases, maps, globes and a vintage camera were combined with brown bottles and gold mercury glass bud vases filled with white tulips, green fern, anemones and gomphrena.

  Map of the world with place cards.

 Each table had a different assortment of travel props with flowers.

All photos courtesy of Karen Cunningham.

What worked best about this wedding was that the "theme" seemed effortless and was not too overdone or forced in any way. You can include your personality, your hobbies and interests, the parts of your life that you are passionate about without overdoing it. It's important to find the balance between a personal theme and "kitschy".