On Royal Street: French Inspired Photoshoot in New Orleans | Part III
For the last post of 2010 I thought we’d end on where our adventures began this year with the final installment from our New Orleans Shoot! You can see the beginning of our shoot here, and the second feature here. There were so many beautiful and gorgeous details — from the dramatic linen draping on the table, pinned with fabric, paper, and real flowers– to the amazing desserts designed by Sucre. I especially love the escort card display on someone’s front door shutters, which was styled on a whim as we were looking for the right backdrop!
Enjoy! xoxo
Credit Reel
Photography: Carla Ten Eyck & Co. (Katie Slater & Sara Code-Kroll too)
Design & Styling: Jubilee Events
Location: Royal Street & The Cornstalk Hotel
Fashion & Styling: The White Dress by the Shore
Floral Design: Datura: A Modern Garden
Hair & Makeup: Jennie Fresa & The Beauty Library
Cinematography: Vantage Point Films
Musicians: Dr. Jazz and the New Orleans Sounds
Confections: Sucre
Groom’s Tux: Perlis
Shoes: MADELiNE Shoes & Poetic License Shoes
Paper: Posh Paperie
Calligraphy: Elizabeth Porcher Jones Calligraphy
Custom Headpieces & Floral Sashes: Twigs and Honey
Vintage Jewels: Karen Lindner Designs
Jewelry: Haute Bride
Linens: Gala Cloths
Custom China & Napkins: Sarah Drake Design
Pink Candelabras: Nachtmann & Riedel
Champagne: Pommery Gold POP Champagne
Cake Stands: Iacoli & Mcallister
Vintage Birds: Orange & Blossom
Vintage Umbrellas: Bella Umbrella
A Wedding Story: Jessica & Frank at Ethel Walker Chapel in Simsbury, Connecticut
Jessica and Frank are one of my all time favorite couples; they smiled from the moment their wedding day started until their very last dance. It was truly a joyful, happy, jubilant celebration… not to mention they both have amazingly kind, generous, and fun families (which explains why they are perfect for each other!). Jessica and Frank met through mutual friends and the rest… Well, now, it’s history. Big thanks to Johnny Arguedas, their talented photographer, for generously sharing their images with us! We also can’t wait to see the incredible video by Vantage Point Films, who was there to capture the moving photography for the day.
Both from Connecticut, they chose to have a huge Connecticut wedding at The Riverview in Simsbury with 361 (to be precise!) of their closest family and friends. Living half of the year in Florida, they planned a spectacular wedding amongst many frequent flyer miles and long distance phone calls.
Their color story was hot pink, deep purple, black and white. We used patterned damask through out their design in their paper story, linens, and even lighting. Jessica was very inspired by her jeweled gown and we incorporated crystals through out the event, too. They also wanted to incorporate their love for horses, which they breed and race, so we worked with Jessica to add those special details through out the wedding.
She wore a jewel encrusted satin drop waist Kenneth Pool with detailing on the bodice and waist. Even her chapel length veil was studded in crystals! Her maids wore floor length Priscilla of Boston mermaid fit gowns with a beautiful crystal broach at the back. Datura: A Modern Garden is responsible for the floral artistry for the entire event, creating bouquets filled with lush pink flowers and crystals.
Their ceremony was interfaith with a Rabbi and Bishop performing the vow exchange, drawing from both of their religious backgrounds. I loved that Jessica kept the symbolism of the Jewish chuppah, which was designed by Datura: A Modern Garden. A four posted structure, the Chuppah symbolizes the home that Jessica and Frank will build together. It was an open aired structure with hand strung crystals and orchids. Pink pomander balls lined the aisle at the Ethel Walker Chapel where they exchanged vows.
We transformed The Riverview in Simsbury by turning the ballroom around for their fantastic band out of Manhattan, Attitude. Jessica and Frank really wanted to showcase their entertainment, so with our colleagues from ShorelineAV, we built a stage in the otherwise unoccupied alcove and brought in our own black and white checkered dance floor. Rob Alberti lit up the room in varying shades of pinks, purples, and amber. He created a custom damask pattern to wash the air wall and a gobo for the band stand. Guests first enjoyed cocktail hour underneath the great white tent with a cigar roller from The Connecticut Cigar Company and a quartet of classic and pop music from Millennium Music. A martini bar was set up with a gorgeous horse ice luge by the talented artists at Ice Matters.
We hung tag escort cards from a branch arrangement with beautiful white calligraphy on rich hot pink card stock by Michelle Dowling. Jessica and Frank chose a gorgeous purple pintuck with a shimmer to be the basis for their centerpieces, which were varying with pink floral pomanders, floating candles, submerged purple orchids. They were introduced into the room for the first time to A Call to the Post amist a large cheer from their 360 guests and went immediately into their first dance. Heartfelt speeches were given by their sibilings (and also maid of honor / best men)… Who spoke about what a loving couple they are to each other and their families.
They may go down in history as having the largest hora we’ve ever seen…. And boy, it went on for a good half hour!
The night ended with a delicious venetian station with made-to-order crepes and gelato, amongst the Riverview’s incredible chocolate and pastry menu.
Jessica and Frank— it was truly and honor to be part of your wedding day! We wish you all the best that life has to offer… And can’t wait to see what the future brings! Xo!






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 Napa Valley inspired bridal shower in Connecticut
I’m so very excited to finally share with you the amazing bridal shower that my mother, grandmothers and maids planned for me back in June. It was an incredible day filled with so many wonderful women. I wish I could relive that afternoon every Sunday!! My very good friends and wedding photographers, Robert and Kathleen, joined us for the day and snapped these fantastic images! The day was also featured on my favorite blog, Style Me Pretty, a while back too.

The shower took place at my grandparents home — which is over 100 years old. It is a great place where we spend many holidays and the most important of occasions. We had a fantastic June day too, and spent the first half of the afternoon out on the front veranda sipping wine and pellegrino. My mom made a delicious and refreshing sangria, and hand chose some great wines.

A lot of my favorite things were on hand… wine, cheese, delicious fruits, veggies, and my friends and family. I can’t really take any credit for the design, look, feel, or details of the day. That’s all my mom! She did such an incredible job! There were wine maps (that I did make… but that’s it!!) that told guests about the wine we were tasting from Napa, a jar for guests to recommend a vineyard for Mike and I to visit on our honeymoon, and lots of pretty signs explaining what guests were imbibing. These little touches are a great way to transform your party and do something unique and inexpensive.

The delicious menu was catered by one of our favorite local restaurants, Jesse Camilles in Naugatuck. Carla and Larry did an incredible job on the food. The menu was really light and inspired by the region: citrus grilled chicken, dill and yogurt salmon, and carpaccio. There were a variety of delicious salads to pair with the meats too (my favorite the baby spinach with goat cheese… yum!).
Nestled on the North side of the house was a variety of pretty dining tables. My mom created purple table runners and used flowy white linen on the tables. The gorgeous centerpieces were created by Lori of Flore. They featured a beautiful variety of flowers such as dahlias, purple calla lilies, green hydrangea, white roses, and purple grapes!! Are they not incredible? So beautiful! My mom had been collecting wine corks for the occasion and had them spread around as accents in various jars. I love that touch (and do it often as they make a great centerpiece). I just love all the purples, greens, white, and oranges. It’s so reminiscent of the region and all the colors we saw while we were out there.
The delish carrot cake was a design collaboration between my grandmother and the talented folks at Let’s Eat Cake.
Guests took home red velvet cupcake lollipops, all hand made by my maid of honor and bestie, Corine. They were so delicious! Something even more incredible and awesome was the fact that Corine has started her own business crafting these and other yummy confections. Check her out: lovely-lollies.com.

What an incredible bridal shower — incredible day! Thanks for letting me share. Hopefully it inspires you to do something personal and unique for your friend or daughter’s bridal shower.
xoxoxoo














