8 Sep
2009

Posted in: A Jubilee Event, Weddings
By Candice

A Wedding Story: Joseph & Marin in in New Haven, Connecticut

Jubilee Events coordinated the wedding of Marin and Joseph, who were married in a beautiful and intimate ceremony in the gardens at the Elizabethan Club at Yale University on a Sunday morning in August with a luncheon reception at the historic Union League Cafe.

Event Ingredients

Photography: Wendy G. Photography
Make up: Jennie Fresa
Hair: Once Upon a Bride
Floral Design: Blush Floral Design
Cake & Catering: The Union League Cafe
Ceremony Musicians: The Amherst String Ensemble
Reception Guitarist: Anna Lisa E. Wald

The bride wore an amazing gown by Monique Lhuillier that just fluttered in the sunny morning breeze. She had on gorgeous Christian Louboutin ballet flats, a veil with a Maria Elena ribbon headband. They had a great looking bridal party — the bridesmaids all chose a dress in a pretty shade of blue. I love the contrast and personality that each individual girl offers! The groom wore a handsome suit from Brooks Brothers and the groomsmen all wore blue striped Brooks Brothers ties.

Marin and Joseph met and fell in love while attending Yale University and wanted to incorporate their love of New Haven into their wedding. I really admired the beautiful and amazing garden behind the Elizabethan Club, which houses original Shakespearean folios and quartos (so romantic!). In the back garden there is a bust of Shakespeare, with an inscription that reads: “I know a bank whereon the wild thyme blows, where oxlips and the nodding violet grows, Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine, With sweet musk-roses, and with eglantine..”

Guests arrived into this secret downtown New Haven Garden with beautiful purple flower carnation pomanders on shepherds hooks and chairs. Strung alongside were White Dendrobium orchids and ribbons that fluttered from the trees. The sounds of The Amherst String Ensemble filled the air. Guests found small wicker fans at their seats for cooling themselves (it was hot!) The bride carried a bouquet of antique purple roses mixed with hypericum berries alongside her grandmother’s vintage hankie. It was so gorgeous and romantic!

Marin and Joseph’s interfaith ceremony incorporated some Jewish traditions, like the signing of the Ketubah and breaking of the glass. Their close friends and professors spoke about their love and marriage and the ceremony was officiated by their friend, Judge Jose Cabranes.

After their ceremony guests were handed maps of New Haven and walked from the Elizabethan Club to enjoy a delicious lunch at one of my favorite New Haven restaurants, Union League Cafe. Guests enjoyed music by guitarist, Anna Lisa E. Wald and floral design by my good friend Elisabeth of Blush Floral Design. Guests took home delicious tea favors from Harney & Sons.

A big congratulations to Marin and Joseph!! What an amazing and beautiful wedding. Thanks to all of their spectacular vendors, especially Wendy G. Photography, Blush Floral Design, the staff at the Elizabethan Club, and The Union League Cafe for making Joseph and Marin’s wedding simply one-of-a-kind.

xoxo

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11 Jun
2009

Posted in: A Jubilee Event, Featured Posts, Weddings
By Candice

11 Comments

A Wedding Story: Matt & Kim in Westport, Connecticut

Matt and Kim were married on May 30th, 2009 at 2:30 in the afternoon at the Assumption Church in Westport, Connecticut. Immediately following, guests enjoyed a gorgeous preppy and nautical inspired fete at the Saugatuck Rowing Club in Westport. Kim and Matt were an amazing couple to work with! At our initial meeting I knew we’d be a good match — they wanted a preppy, tailored, and nautical wedding in blue and yellow with pops of red.

The day began with Kim getting ready at her apartment with her parents and bridesmaids. Kim had her makeup done by the talented artists at Naomi’s Makeup Studio out of West Hartford. Kim wore a gorgeous and simple Matthew Christopher satin gown with an elbow length Mantilla Veil, purchased at Bridal Trousseau on Main in Branford. Her bridal bouquet (by Peter’s Wholesale Florists in Stamford) was made up of white peonies, yellow ranunculous, and white hydrangea wrapped in yellow and white polka dot grosgrain ribbon. It was absolutely stunning!

Matt and his Groomsmen spent the later morning and early afternoon having lunch at his parents house. They wore gorgeous seersucker jackets from Brooks Brothers with a navy brooks brothers tie and khakis. The groom wore a head of ranunculous as his boutonniere and his groomsmen wore a single yellow rose. The flower girls and ringer bearer were all Matt’s nieces and they wore the most darling little red and yellow polka dot dresses!

After their beautiful ceremony at Assumption Church in Westport, Matt and Kim went to the spot that was very meaningful and sentimental to them. A place where they spent many nights watching the sun set as a couple. They love Combo Beach in Westport and try to visit at least once every weekend during the summer months. Her love of rowing and his love of the water really drew them together. After the ceremony, Kim took off her gorgeous veil and pinned a fabulous little white flower in her hair. Doesn’t she look STUNNING?

The reception was held at the Saugatuck Rowing Club in Westport. The views? Stunning. It was obvious to them that it was the perfect location, which would marry her love of rowing and his love of the water. Guests were greeted on the blue slate patio overlooking the Saugatuck River and the docks that lead out into the water. They enjoyed Matt and Kim’s signature cocktail, the Pimms Cup, served from large sea glass canisters into high ball glasses which were garnished with a lemon wheel, cucumber spear, and a seersucker swizzle stick. Heaven.

The tablescapes were gorgeous and filled with SO many details. We used navy linen as a base, and brought in beautiful beechwood chiavari chairs with white pads from Party Rentals, Ltd out of Greenwich. Centerpieces were of one tall, french galvanized bucket filled with white peonies, ranunculous and hydrangea. They were fluffy and tightly filled — so gorgeous! There were three satellite arrangements of yellow and white gerbera daisies in smaller galvanized buckets. Each bucket had the same yellow and white polka dot grosgrain ribbon from Kim’s bouquet wrapped around them. The taller, french galvanized buckets had thick red grosgrain ribbon.

Each place setting had a rattan charger with an accompanying blue polka dot plate and clear glass saucer for the chilled gazpacho, all rented from Party Rentals, Ltd. Their navy napkins were rolled and tied onto them was a menu “tag”, which we created in the round. It had a seersucker boarder and a cute little yellow grommet, tied together with white grosgrain ribbon. Each guest received a cute little galvanized bucket filled with red swedish fish. We created red and blue favor tags with lyrics to their first dance song by U2 and tied it on with red grosgrain ribbon.

Each table was named after a New England town that held special significance to the bride and groom. Places like Westport, Newport, Nantucket, Block Island, Bar Harbor, Mystic…. we even inserted the GPS coordinates of each location onto their table sign. A fun little detail we carried through out the event — like on the custom stamp we made for their invitations!

Guests dinned on chilled gazpacho, surf and turf with filet mignon and lobster tail with steamed red potatoes and corn on the cob. There were even toothpicks on the table for pickin’ corn out of your teeth! The entire event was catered by the Club’s restaurant, Riverview Restaurant. Chef Danny and his team did a fabulous job!

Their delicious cake was made by Sweet Cakes out of Fairfield, Connecticut. Suzette did a fabulous job bringing Kim and Matt’s vision to life. The guests REALLY enjoyed the cake and complimented on how delectable it was! We displayed escort cards on a red linen wrapped cork board with some retro metal pushpins. It was perfect! We also had custom napkins, swizzle sticks, and coasters made for the event. The beautiful calligraphy was done by Lisa Ridgley of Pen and Ink Calligraphy out of Westminister, Maryland. I LOVE Lisa. She is so good to our brides and does AMAZING work! One of the little details I loved most about this wedding that you may not be able to notice was the lowercase letters we used on everything — even their yellow monogrammed letters that were tied to the back of their chairs. When I think preppy I think kate spade and j. crew, so we channeled some of their branding. A little detail that goes a LONG way! In lieu of a traditional guest book, guests also signed rowing oars. They also dropped their cards in a lobster trap.

Guests danced the night away to music provided by Jim Nuzzo of Dance to the Music Entertainment. He did an AWESOME job! Photographs are courtesy of Kelley and Todd Whittaker (website coming soon). Matt and Kim made their grand exit via a sparkler send off and rounded out the evening across the street with their family and friends, sipping Margareta’s at Vivas!

The day was captured on video by Matthew Fink of Digital Media Odyssey. He already has their teaser trailer up! Check it out below!

Kim and Matt Teaser Trailer from Matthew Fink on Vimeo.

Thanks Matt and Kim for letting us share in your SPECTACULAR day. It was a pleasure designing your event and working with you.

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5 Jun
2009

Posted in: All Things Paper, Vendor Spotlight
By Candice

2 Comments

Vendor Spotlight: Paisely Quill

I received a really lovely email from Molly Myers, one of the two owners designers at Paisley Quill, a custom wedding invitation and stationery studio. Once I saw her work I knew she’d be a great fit for our brides! Here is a sample of their most recent work…. can you say swooning over this pretty pink invitations? So feminine and romantic!

And these gorgeous fuchsia and navy invitations? Love! It is such a hot color combination and I love the regal feel of these.

Thanks to Molly and Megan for sharing their fabulous work with us! Visit their website and portfolio to see more of their work and learn how they can create a couture invitation suite for your next event. They also have a super awesome blog too that is a must read and in our RSS feed!

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14 Dec
2008

Posted in: DIY & Templates
By Candice

21 Comments

DIY Tissue Paper Pomanders

I have always been quite the crafty person and some have found this skill to be pretty useless. Well needless to say that I am the one laughing now. The smallest craft that you may undertake can make the world of difference in an event and especially in a wedding! Once me and my fiance decided on our color scheme I undertook my first project. . . the tissue paper pomanders. I learned how to make tissue paper flowers back in elementary school for our parade floats. When I saw a real pomander I thought they were beautiful but the price was way out of my range. So I combined these two things together and it is a huge cost saver! Here are the instructions:

What you will need:
Tissue Paper
Floral Wire
Styrofoam Ball
Ribbon
**All of these items can be found at pretty much any craft store**

First thing you will need to do is cut down your pieces of tissue paper. This is totally up to you but do bear in mind the bigger the piece of paper that your using the bigger your flower will be. (One quick hint would be to fold the paper until you get the size your looking for and then just cut along your folded lines)

Your paper will end up looking similar to this.

Next step will be to do an accordion fold. You will fold one way then flip and fold the other. When you are finished it should look like this. . .

While the tissue paper is still folded you will need to fold it in half. The general purpose in this is to find the center of your flower.

To give the flower a more realistic look you can draw a curved line on the top. As you do more of these you will not have to use this line. Now all you have to do is cut along your guide.

Now you will need to take the wire and wrap it around your tissue paper. After you have done that twist the wire together. Now make sure you wrap the wire tight around the tissue paper otherwise your flower will not be very sturdy. Then you will need to spread open the two sides to prepare for the opening of the flower.

Now you are able to begin separating the layers. To make sure you flower is rounded I suggest altering sides as you work. It should begin to look like this. . .

Now you are done with the hard part. You will need to make 45-50 flowers per pomander. Once you have completed all of your flowers you will be able to start putting them into your Styrofoam ball. First step here will be to insert your ribbon into the ball. I used a piece of wire to make sure that it was secure.