A Modern Photo Shoot at the Loading Dock in Stamford, Connecticut
At the beginning of April I flew back into the US from Paris fired up about the incredible shoot I had collaborated on with Robert and Kathleen Trenske and Beth Chapman. I had a few days to switch out my luggage from cute Parisian clothes to long, flowy summer dresses as we geared up for our trip to Costa Rica! In between, we planned a Style Me Pretty Inspiration to Reality shoot. Yeah, I know– are we nuts or what?! In fact, we left the Style Me Pretty shoot and headed straight to the airport for Costa Rica!
I’m so excited to share this shoot with you, which was featured on Style Me Pretty in three separate posts which you can view here: part one, part two, and part three. It was an honor to put together this modern, sleek, minimal, citrus inspired shoot for our friends at Style Me Pretty. The caliber of shoots that they feature are incredible and we are so grateful to be among them! The inspiration board for our shoot was designed by Style Circle member Lena.
I love this board– mostly because it is such a departure from my own personal style. We all loved the minimal feel of the board, the citrus and bold colors. We took that as our main source of inspiration and set out to design a shoot with our incredible team! Speaking of, here are the talented and creative folks who made this shoot possible:
Photography: Carla Ten Eyck Photography
Flowers: Datura: A Modern Garden
Event Design: Jubilee Events
Event Planning: Jubilee Events with help from 14 Stories
Model Styling, Dresses and Accessories: The White Dress by the Shore
Reception Location: The Loading Dock
Hair & Makeup: Dana Bartone & Co.
Catering: Jordan Caterers
Cake & Confections: Ana Parzych
Invitations: Gus & Ruby Letterpress
Shoes: Zappos
Furniture Rentals: Taylor Creative Inc.
Ring Bowls, Place Cards, Ribbon, and Thank You Notes: Paloma’s Nest
Edible Champagne Flowers: Wild Hibiscus
Tableware, Glassware & Chargers: Party Rental Ltd.
Our color story ranged from bright white to orange, green, yellow, with hints of pink. We were inspired by the chandelier at The Loading Dock and integrated some of that sparkle in beautiful details and accessories– like the gorgeous jewelry and accessories from The White Dress by the Shore. Dana Bartone, inspired by the sleek makeup and styling of the model in our inspiration board, created a beautiful bun for our bride Kate. I love how her hair is so defined and slightly retro! The bouquet hanging in the chandelier and held by our bride, Linsdsay, was made of white miniature phaelonopsis orchids with lily grass.
Paloma’s Nest created wooden thank you cards for our couple that doubled as favors. They were tucked in glass line envelopes! Our bridesmaid, dressed in a lemon shantung frock from Chic by the Shore, carried a bouquet of trachelium, aspidistra and fresh cut limes , created by Datura: A Modern Garden.
I had SO much fun designing this tablescape along with Tony of Datura. It was a real challenge for me, personally, but I absolutely love the crisp and modern outcome! We used a ghost table from Taylor Creative Inc., as the basis of our design. Tony created a STUNNING centerpiece of curly willow branches known as “the cyclone” that grew out of the table and into the ceiling of The Loading Dock. It was accentuated with shades of orange clementines, blood oranges, and sweet valencia oranges. Tony wove in eucharis orchid’s into the tablescape for a touch of femininity and a pop of white. Each place setting had an orange glass charger with white frosted place settings. We submerged white frill tulips into the champagne glasses (one of my favorite details!) and also used them to top our clementine place card holders, which were created using wooden rings by Paloma’s Nest.
The paper suite was created by Gus & Ruby Letterpress. They decided on a clean, minimalist design that made use of the bright citrus color palate and hard, architectural lines of the industrial venue in white, orange, and grey with a hint of green. The paper suite was completely letterpress, including the cute citrus elements that we garnished our drink display with!
Tony of Datura created a citrus garland for our brides made of clementines, blood oranges and limes. The second bouquet, carried by Kate, was made of wedding belle daffodils with aspidistra. The menu cards on our table, also by Gus & Ruby were letterpress in orange ink and noted the delicious menu, as crafted by Jordan Caterers.
The ring bowl, an intrinsic part of the inspiration board was also by Paloma’s Nest. It was edged in gold and had our couple’s initials inscribed on the face. Our maid, Kelly, switched from a papaya colored jewel necklace by The White Dress by the Shore and into a custom designed necklace by Datura made of green hypericum berry, amber and minature phaelonopsis orchids.
The white leather couch was from the furniture collection at Taylor Creative, Inc. Ana Parzych created the White Tahitian Vanilla cake layered with Passion Fruit mousseline. It was finished in swiss meringue buttercream and vanilla fondant. Ana created fondant-molded pearls and hand-sculpted sugar lilies.
Jordan Caterers created a menu based on our inspiration board with sea infused menu items such as seared tuna, shrimp, scallops, lobster. They infused citrus in both color and flavor of the entrees and our cocktail bar, made up of key lime martini’s and passion fruit prosecco. We submerged edible wild hibiscus into some of our cocktails, too!
The AMAZING silver shoes with flower embellishment are from Zappos.com… our absolute FAVORITE website for shoes!
And a few behind-the-scenes images of our lovely and delightful photo shoot crew! Thanks to all for your creativity and hard work. It was such a pleasure collaborating with you!
xoxoxo
A Wedding Story: Eric & Lisa in Mystic, Connecticut
On September 5, 2009 I had the absolute pleasure of coordinating the wedding of Lisa and Eric. They are such a sweet couple who chose Mystic Aquarium as the setting of their incredible fall inspired wedding. Lisa and Eric were the kind of couple who incorporated a lot of meaningful details into their day, and as their coordinator, it was such a joy to see their love story come to life!
They’re day was captured by the talented and funny John of Prestige Barkley Photography.
In the early morning Lisa and her gorgeous ‘maids spent the first part of their day enjoying beauty at the Red Door Spa. By late morning, they were sipping champagne in Lisa’s suite at the Mystic Hilton. Lisa’s maid of honor and sister along with her mom got her into magnificent ivory Pnina Tornai gown (purchased at Kleinfeld). Lisa’s satin gown was full of gorgeous ruching and draping of fabric and had a corseted bodice. She wore her mother’s vintage earrings and necklace. Her maids wore beautiful Alfred Angelo floor length satin gowns in a burnt orange color.
In my conversations with Lisa she’s told me that Eric loves to create special things for her– so it was no surprise that he put together a handmade book for their wedding day and wrote in it a message to his bride. How sweet and romantic is that?
Diane Gaudett created the floral decor for the day, and designed these beautiful fall inspired bouquets with orchids, calla lillis, roses, and branches. They were so beautiful!
The ride from the Hilton to St. Patrick’s Church in Mystic was an exciting one for Lisa and her parents as Eric waited with his best man and Father Brian. At 2:15 p.m., once the bridal party had been sent down the aisle and the groom emerged at the alter, the organist began to play the slow intro to Cannon D. A ton of light flooded into the church as the two large wooden doors opened and there stood Lisa, escorted by her parents down the aisle to her awaiting groom. This is the moment I love the most about a wedding. Jessica and I watched through the door’s stained glass windows.
Once they were pronounced husband and wife it was time to head over to Harkness Park. We had prepared several dozen glasses of champagne in their party bus for the 20 minute ride!
At 5 p.m guests began to arrive at Mystic Aquarium for Lisa and Eric’s reception. The cocktail hour was held outside in the atrium known as “Arctic Coast” overlooking the beluga whale tank. It is such a beautiful setting and so unique. Jazz music courtesy of their amazing band, In Transit. Guests got into interact with the beluga whales and toward the end of cocktail hour, Lisa and Eric escorted the penguins out to great their guests!
The dining and dancing portion of the reception took place in the lower aquarium area which is surrounded by sea creatures swimming around in enormous tanks. It was the perfect back drop!
Diane Gaudett created branch centerpieces for each table, which consisted of curly branches, orange orchids, and hanging votives. They were so beautiful and really, really complimented the cool glow of the tanks. Lisa kept the table linens light with a beautiful ivory underlay and gold / soft brown overlay.
The amazing Ana Parzych created an absolutely stunning cake with two nuzzling sea horses as the topper. Sea horses were a reoccuring theme through out their wedding– in the program, on their escort cards, and nestled on top of their cake. Seahorses are known to be monogamous to one another after they experience courtship, and so they are such a fitting detail to weave into a wedding held at an aquarium.
Once they were introduced as the new Mr. & Mrs. they danced to “Home” by Michael Buble… so romantic! Guests enjoyed a delicious spread put on by Ocean Blue Catering. Once dinner was over it was time to kick it into high gear– and let me tell you– In Transit did NOT disappoint. I can safely say that they were one of the most talented bands I have ever seen!!! They sang everything from motown to the black eyed peas. And as you can see, guests thoroughly enjoyed themselves!
At the very end of the evening guests gathered out front and sent the couple off in style with a sparkler send off. The new Mr. & Mrs. Krause took off into their married life, headed for their honeymoon in Hawaii!
Lisa and Eric — It was SUCH a pleasure to be apart of your wedding. Thank you for letting me be a small part of your family’s personal history. I wish you all the joy and happiness that life has to offer! Congratulations!!! xoxox
A Wedding Story: Harris & Soulaf at L’escale at the Delamar Hotel, Greenwich, Connecticut
Once again, this fabulous event was documented and photographed by Carla Ten Eyck with cinematography by Vantage Point Films.
After their beautiful ceremony, Harris and Soulaf’s family and friends gathered on the avenue in Greenwich at L’escale at the Delamar Hotel. L’escale is the most fabulous French restaurant I’ve been to in Connecticut and has such a quaint and luxurious atmosphere. Their chef has been on Iron Chef not once…. but twice! And I can assure you his culinary delights that evening were just as delicious as you would imagine. Their staff is beyond amazing and every detail of Soulaf and Harris’ big day was executed flawlessly! Guests sipped cocktails and ate bite-sized hors’dourves on the patio overlooking Greenwich harbor. Their escort cards were created by Lilah Paper and displayed on a beautiful purple lamour linen. Mini arrangements in antique silver urns adorned the cocktail tables.
After cocktail hour guests were invited into L’escale’s dining room to enjoy a sumptuous meal especially selected by our couple. Each table was draped in gorgeous purple linens with towering centerpieces by Jessica’s Country Flowers. Full of crystals, lavender and ivory roses, antiqued hydrangea and submerged orchids. Satellite arrangements flanked their centerpiece along with a flurry of candlelight. The custom menus were created by Lilah Paper and sat on top of a lavender napkin and antiqued silver charger. Each guest also received a silver box filled with delectable Munsons Chocolate Truffles — a Connecticut favorite! Our dear friends at Ice Matters also carved this incredible ice luge with their monogram and a design from the couture invitations that Lilah Paper created. The entire room was lit by the talented Rob of AfterHours, who also DJ’ed the entire evening.
The new Mr. & Mrs. Grannick enjoyed their first dance amongst their family and friends. Their incredible… and I mean… INCREDIBLE cake was created by the talented Ana Parzych. It was a five tier masterpiece with a custom monogram. On top were the most beautiful purple sugar flowers!!! Just when you thought their wedding couldn’t get any more beautiful…. after dinner… belly dancers!!!
My girl Laura Jordan of Jordan Dance is unbelievable. Not only she is drop dead gorgeous, but this girl can shake her hips like no ones business!!!! Her and her partner put on a 25 minute show that surprised everyone. They were AMAZING!!! After their standing ovation it was time to join in, dance, and spend the rest of the evening celebrating!!
After tossing her bouquet, Harris and Soulaf left in a gorgeous rose petal send off for their honeymoon to Hawaii. Thank you so much for allowing me to be part of your incredible, one-of-a-kind celebration!! It was sincerely an honor and a privilege.
Thank you again to Carla Ten Eyck for the incredible images!!
XOXOX
