Four score and seven years ago… feels about the length of time since I last shared some love on the blog. There’s no better way to get back into all of the beautiful, personal weddings and events we’ve been producing, than starting with a very important element of one of our most recent – and favorite – weddings! The wedding stationery for Molly and Griffin’s September home fete brought in so much personalization. Here, we were able to feature something that no other wedding will have, and that was a grand painting of the home that everyone knew, love, and called their home that day.

We were lucky to work with the magical mind that is Karri Lee Designs, a watercolor painter and stationery artist that creates one-of-a-kind paper masterpieces. You can check out a little more of her work and why we love her here!

Molly & Griffin’s Wedding Stationery

Molly and Griffin’s wedding was held at the bride’s family’s summer home, a place that hosted many memorable celebrations throughout the years. You can feel the sentimentality of the property as soon as you step foot onsite, and it’s safe to say not a single person left that weekend without wishing they could spend more time there. A place of calm, warmth, and festivity set the stage for the aesthetic we created.

For the invitation suite, the first piece of their wedding stationery, Karri created a custom vellum wrap, depicting a landscape portrait of the family’s home, yard, and the shoreline that surrounds their property and neighborhood. This greeting image later became their escort card display backdrop, held in a custom frame by the groom himself.

Day-of Stationery

Every design and decision we make throughout the planning process is done intentionally, to ensure any idea we bring to life has purpose and value long after just the wedding day. Dressed in an array of colorful envelopes were our escort cards, carefully adhered so once removed, this piece became a keepsake hanging in the couple’s home.

The idea of using watercolor was an opportunity to evoke part of our surroundings into tangible pieces shared with guests. The beloved image of the property was used throughout the table numbers, with added intrigue in a way where guests at each table had a piece of the image instead of the full picture. A simpler square of a watercolor acted as our guests’ place cards, attached to the menu card. For a more intimate setting that provides more opportunity for a design effect, all long tables are the way to go. Be sure to check out our post on the full wedding design to see just how we curated a setting that everyone is still talking about long after the wedding day!

All images provided by Charlotte Jenks Lewis

A home wedding will always hold a special place in our hearts. By design, they are intimately personal, as they are set in a space that holds deep meaning for the couple and their family. That was no exception for Jason and Eli! Guests and vendors alike were hugged by such emotion, warmth, and personalization that this day holds the highest place in our memories.

Thinking back to this home wedding, three standout moments of the day shaped the essence of Jason and Eli’s wedding weekend.

Rain

Starting off strong here! In nearly every wedding weekend of 2023, rain was a guest. While unwelcome, Mother Nature showed up, and she often showed up pretty strong. While we had clear skies and radars for days, even minutes leading up to the ceremony, we were in a little pocket where the skies completely unleashed over the home. We brought guests under the tent, and with the help of the greatest vendor team to grace us that weekend, we set up their new ceremony location within a matter of seven minutes. Seven minutes! For a tented home wedding, this is a feat.

Completely unphased by what the weather was doing, Jason and Eli were watching out of the window together, cool as cucumbers getting ready for their vows. When discussing the immediate next steps together, they asked if we could hold off for about ten minutes. They were looking over the horizon, where the sun was clearly (and quickly) creeping toward us. They wanted to wait, and with the forty umbrellas we brought along with us, there was nothing but excitement to follow their direction.

When we invited guests back to the original ceremony location, there were only cheers leading everyone that way. Guests, like Jason and Eli, were there for all the right reasons. They were ready and excited to embrace our guys in all the love and support they had in them!

Family

When we curate home weddings, we get to know the couple intimately and their family, too. Homes are sacred spaces, and there are many unique nuances to consider in the scope of one day or a full weekend, so we are there for all planning partners.

It wasn’t difficult to see where these two come from. Their parents and siblings are incredible humans, a welcoming presence to anyone they meet!

We’ll never forget the ceremony recessional, once vows had wound down and everyone was heading into cocktail hour. Most commonly, we see one side of the family recess, followed by the other side of the couple’s family right behind them. In the case of Jason and Eli’s wedding, both sets of parents joined hands with one another and recessed as one full family force.

Planning Their Home Wedding

When it comes to wedding planning, we’ve always led the process with the mentality that our clients don’t know what they don’t know. Nor should they! We have experience in all facets of events to lend to our couples to ensure the efficiency, personalization, and success of their celebrations. That list grows exponentially when you’re building a venue from scratch, which is a home wedding!

This planning process was the kind we dream about with our clients, and though we know they’ll never have to plan their own wedding again, we’d jokingly rush to go back if we ever had the offer! They were invested in planning and loved understanding how everything worked to come together. They asked questions out of curiosity, explored levels of their day that reflected who they are, and engaged with everyone and everything that was a part of it.

Happy first anniversary, Jason and Eli! Wishing you two a hundred more years of happiness, adventure, and sun among the stormy skies! XOXO

Be sure to check out our favorite tented weddings here!

TOP-TIER TEAM:

Photography: Madison Abbey Photography
Event Planning & Design: Jubilee Events
Flowers: Halcyon Heroine
Entertainment: CZone Entertainment, Divina Artisti
Cake: Wingates Cakes
Catering: Blackstone Caterers
Tent Decor & Bar: Ryan Designs
Rentals: PEAK Event Services
Stationery: Karri Lee Designs
Tent: Sperry Tents

We might sound like a broken record, but it’s worth saying over and over again: we love tented weddings! Tented weddings are a trend we’ve seen double in the wedding world, and it’s one I hope continues. The level of personalization this setting lends to couples celebrating such a milestone moment is the beginning of what makes them so special!

What’s not to love about weddings under the big top?! The list goes on and on, but for us, it starts with the fact that tented weddings tend to take place at a location deeply personal to the couple. Oftentimes our tented weddings take place at home, the most special of locations. We also plan weddings at iconic venues where the tent further enhances the property for an unforgettable fete. Either way, the location of your reception carries significance to your story and relationship. This is what opens the door to thousands of design possibilities. Seeing where it began and where you ended up is one of the most gratifying processes you’ll be a part of!

Tied with the meaningful location is the ability to personalize the overall experience for you and your guests, and experience matters! Straight from the mouths of guests at past events, the most memorable celebrations they’ve attended are those reflective of the couple they’re honoring. Incorporating your story and who you are into the design of the space makes it intrinsically more successful. Not to mention impactful for your loved ones! It’s what leads to memories everyone carries with them for years to come.

Start Planning Your Tented Wedding

Now, we consider ourselves experts when it comes to tented weddings. The finer nuances that come along with this style of celebration are something we’re known well for. We crave getting our hands dirty with logistics, complemented further by our custom designs, tailored to each of our couples celebrating their journey. It’s true: take a peek at some of our favorite weddings and designs here. No two are alike!

Have you been considering planning a tented wedding? Maybe you’re a little overwhelmed by where to start, and that’s perfectly normal! There’s a plethora of information out there, so we rounded up a few myths and truths to consider as you begin planning your fete. Check out our handy blog post – Tips and Tricks for Hosting Your Home Wedding in Connecticut – that will surely get you started on the right foot. Even if your event won’t be held at home, there is plenty of pertinent information related to a successful tented soiree!

Now, to show you just how much we LOVE a good tented wedding, we’ve rounded up our Top 5 favorite tented weddings from years past! It was nearly impossible to narrow down this too-good-to-be-true list, but we did our best. Check them out, and follow the links to read the full story for each day! They’re sure to leave a mark on your heart the way they did ours!

Our Top 5 Favorite Tented Weddings by Jubilee Events

1. Organic Summer Wedding in Washington, Connecticut

This one will always have my heart, and there’s a good reason why it’s listed first on this list and first in our galleries! This summer bash is one of the first among many of our home, tented weddings, and it was an easy one to infuse our couple into. Taking place in the bride’s family’s own backyard, we positioned the ceremony around the notable Oak tree, which was later incorporated in much of our stationery. The moment guests stepped onto this property, they were hugged by the love everyone shared for the couple, and that kind of energy is infectious!

After the ceremony, guests sipped and noshed fresh bites around the pool. This area was so lush and relaxing that it was all too easy for guests to immerse themselves in their experience. Following everyone’s favorite hour, guests transcended down the hill to our clear top tent, inviting them into this modern, organic garden-inspired fete we had created!

I will say that this tented wedding took place at the tail end of August, so many people would be wary to have a clear top tent for fear of creating a greenhouse effect. We knew just how to eliminate that possibility, ensuring the canvas was decked with a smattering of fans, so delicate no one noticed anything but the cool breeze. Of course, we took into account where the sun set and its position in the sky come dinner time! As I said, we understand the finer nuances of an amazing tented celebration!

The only thing cooler than the breeze lightly sweeping through guests was the couple themselves, cutting a rug on our dance floor, which happened to be their tennis court. That’s right! And we got to paint it blush pink! I’ll never forget the excitement surrounding that conversation.

photos: Carla Ten Eyck // floral: Blush Floral Design // lighting + tent decor: Ryan Designs

2. Colorful Backyard Bash in Newtown, Connecticut

Truth: I don’t know where to begin when sharing this day with you! There were so many moments, not just on the wedding day but throughout planning that make your heart burst. The first being when I met the bride, Nicole. I pulled into the driveway circling her childhood sunshine-yellow home as she burst out the front door with purple hair. She was the warmest and kindest soul and I knew instantly that this was going to be an insanely amazing day! I couldn’t even prepare myself!

When we first spoke about the design, Nicole and Mark said they wanted it to be “a colorful explosion of Princess Peach’s castle.” Some may question this, but to me, this was all a part of who Nicole and Mark are, and infusing couples into their design is the epitome of how we create!

There isn’t a color scheme we’ve met that we didn’t like but I’ll say I just adored how their palette makes me feel. Between the strands of colorful ribbon, partnered with the vibrant buds literally bursting from our tables, this is a treat for the eyes! Color has a way of inspiring energy and happiness, and their day was in no short supply of joy. This will forever be one of my all-time favorite tented weddings. I am eternally grateful to Nicole, Mark, and their family for granting me the opportunity to bring it to life!

photos: Emily Kirke Photography // floral: Botanique // tent: Greenwich Tent Co. // tent decor: Drape Art Designs

3. Romantic Shoreline Mansion Wedding at the Branford House in Groton, Connecticut

Another warm, generous, kind, beyond easy-to-love couple and Father of the Bride, which means an even more amazing shoreline celebration! You’ll notice we aren’t hesitant to add a splash of color into our tented weddings, and this design was no exception. Inspired by a painting in her dad’s Stonington, CT home, our bride wanted a fete that carried a romantic, warm twist on a nautical aesthetic.

Swagged throughout our Sperry Tent was fabric in berry tones, blush pink, and soft ivory to bring in some vibrant summer tones. Our draping set the stage for the lush floral chandelier, surrounded by more classic crystal chandeliers that watched over guests as they danced throughout the evening.

Our tent was set on the back lawn of the iconic Branford House, which we enjoyed for cocktail hour and, later on, an after-dinner lounge and bar scene. The mansion is every bit regal and romantic with the right levels of drama. Our canvas top was finessed with the same aesthetic as we designed our home for the evening. As gorgeous as the Branford House is, the back lawn is a bit uneven. To ensure everyone’s comfort, we worked with our company to create a platform for our flooring, allowing a level surface. This is one of the most important first steps when building your tented wedding and this is why we add significant time into our planning duties to ensure every detail is correct. It’s also exactly why we partner with some of the best tent companies around!!

photos: Carla Ten Eyck // floral: Blush Floral Design // tent decor + lighting: Drape Art Designs

4. Elegant Green + White Home Wedding in Bridgewater, Connecticut

This tented wedding is a truly special one! Our gorgeous couple and most fabulous mother of the bride gave us carte blanche to do what we do best! Created an entire experience around the couple complete with all the touches we knew would make a thoughtful impact on everyone in attendance.

This entire family is one of the kindest and most generous, which made sense that their venue came about from a friend who offered their home and the barn onsite for everyone to enjoy that evening! We wanted a green and white palette, touches of gold, and a transformation to our tent as unforgettable as the hilltop views from our ceremony setting. Check, check, and check!

When it comes to home, tented weddings there are many ways to create a sensible and fun flow to the day, but they all come equipped with a potential challenge or consideration that could negatively impact your day. Having backup weather plans is a must, and oftentimes this means extra tents on standby allowing you to protect people and things. When Mother Nature is on her best behavior, there’s plenty of room to wow guests with your surroundings, tucking the tent against your home or lush garden. Or, in this case, set atop a hill overlooking the entire town. Imagine the miles of Fall leaves just starting to color? Books don’t even write it this good!

photos: Ali + Julie // floral: Hana Floral Design // tent: Greenwich Tent Co. // tent decor + lighting: Drape Art Designs

5. Berry-toned Fall Wedding in Hamden, Connecticut

What do you get when you combine a love for fall colors, a sense of whimsy, and a literal lifetime of memories spread throughout your wedding location? This wedding right here!

Taking place in the bride’s own backyard, our Sperry Tent was tucked perfectly beside the pool house her dad and hubby built by hand. We added some magic by covering our canvas top with twinkle lights, covering every inch and adding bounds of romance as the night wore on. Highlighted by the ambiance were all of our fall hues – a mixture of warm berry tones coupled with cool blue shades throughout our floral decor, stationery, and table details! The pictures speak a thousand words!

One logistic we had to consider with this wedding: cocktail hour was going to take place right beside our reception tent. No matter how close these events take place, we always like to opt for a grand reveal of the tent – and our clients agree! We also want our couples and their families to get the first glimpse at their tent, untouched from bags, jackets, and shoes that may grace the chairs and floors. For Jordan and Mike, we created a draped wall around the perimeter of the tent, allowing guests to immerse themselves into cocktail hour while coming together for a jaw-dropping moment when we removed our temporary wall.

photos: Carla Ten Eyck // floral: Blush Floral Design // tent: Greenwich Tent Co. // tent decor + lighting: Drape Art Designs

BONUS!!

We told you: impossible to narrow down the list. For a little added eye candy, here’s our last favorite for this post!

Peach-Inspired Summer Tented Wedding at the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, Connecticut

Inspired by this late summer fruit, our design was knocked out of the park! You’ll look at these photos and fall in love instantly. Why wouldn’t you? This day was fresh, bright, and it encompassed a quintessential summer wedding vibe!

What you can’t see in these photos are all the blood, sweat, and tears – primarily the second two – that went into managing the weather bestowed upon us that weekend! The day this wedding took place was the day Hurricane Irene showed up in town. While she wasn’t one of the more damaging storms, she certainly left her mark!

High winds coupled with torrential rain are not only the least ideal scenario for a tented wedding, it can become entirely unsafe and damaging to the property and surroundings. The evening before, the Jubilee Events team worked together to contact every single vendor and guest to shift the wedding several hours earlier. Everyone enjoyed the day, completely untouched by what was to come later, and once the last sip of champagne was had, we bid guests a safe adieu and we deconstructed the wedding in a blink of an eye. Breaking down a wedding is always a sad finish, but this one certainly gave us a sense of accomplishment as everyone was imparted with the right memories for this weekend!

photos: Carla Ten Eyck // floral: Blush Floral Design

We hope you enjoyed these tented celebrations as much as we did – in creating them, celebrating them, and reliving them! Even more, we hope you are excited about planning your own tented wedding! Don’t hesitate to reach out to us! XO

Jubilee Events’ Love Affair with Home Weddings

You can control the costs because it’s at your home… Costs are not meant to surprise you, but we get it. Weddings are expensive (we will get into that topic in another blog post), but it’s important to understand what’s going into it so you can see the value coming out of it!

Regardless of the location of your wedding, costs can be controlled. It is understanding the price points of your potential vendors and the aspects that go into those costs. While there are “average” wedding costs available to you online, it’s vital to understand what goes into that “average.” Everyone is different — and for good reason!

Ask the questions to know what goes into the costs of your vendors and their packages. Some of your vendor costs may increase with home weddings, but that’s to ensure that all aspects are properly overseen and well managed, a value well received.

It won’t be as expensive because it’s not at a regular venue… This is a common assumption, but one quickly proved false. A venue has a site fee, of course, but this is the only fee you may be able to side-step when having the event at home.

Why?

There are a number of other necessities that you will need that a venue usually offers.

A venue comes with power, a roof, industrial kitchen, restrooms, flooring, lighting, a parking lot, and may even have some tables and chairs to utilize.

Your home, on the other hand, requires these additions — which are additional costs. Consider this: you are essentially building a venue from scratch. And that takes time, care, and a fine eye for details!

Circumstances are different with each home, but there are several details to consider (like the ones listed above). Simply put: having a home wedding requires you to build a venue in a matter of days, and you’ll have to rent and acquire all the necessary items to throw the bash of the year. Everything from salt and pepper shakers to parking lots.

Photo: Ali + Julie

You can have a month of coordinator for a home wedding… We highly discourage this for a home wedding as there are lists of logistics and details to oversee. Furthermore, don’t even consider a day-of coordinator. It’s entirely unfair to you to have someone step in so last minute and be able to successfully carry out your vision and day-of details as you have dreamt and planned them out to be.

It’s important to have an experienced planner on hand from start to finish. This will help alleviate a great deal of costly mistakes — errors that could have severe effects on your property or home and, more importantly, your peace of mind. A home wedding requires expert planning, which is why we want you to consider hiring a wedding planning team to be with you from start to finish.

When you wake up the next morning, you want to bask in the rings on your fingers, the speeches that were just made, and the fact that your feet are inevitably sore from keeping the dance floor packed all night! The last thing you will want to entertain is a clogged toilet, broken glass, or damage to your home or property.

Let’s face it: things happen and you want someone trusted to put the fire out before you smell the smoke.

You can invite more guests because there are no space constraints… This may be true and, hey, more power to you!! There’s nothing like celebrating something so monumental with all the people you hold near and dear to your heart. More guests directly impacts your budget as with every additional friend or family member, your costs go up. The best way to consider it is that with just one more person, your budget increases by $700, to start. Rental quantities, food and beverage costs, and even tent sizes are considered the higher (or lower) your guest count grows.

But, wait! There’s more:

To check out more of our beloved tented home weddings, visit us here!

Ally & Zac’s Tented Wedding

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: curating a tented wedding is our jam! So much so, that I would even call it our love language. Personality and family history are infused into these events and there’s no better way to celebrate the love of two people than to be immersed in who they are. Peep more of our favorite love stories and tented wedding inspiration here!

We knew we were in the presence of greatness from the moment we first laid our eyes on this home. Rich in history and so much love, it was the perfect setting to host almost 200 of Ally and Zac’s nearest and dearest. Between incorporating inherent structures on the property to including sentimental nods to the parents of our couple, this is a wedding that will forever live on in our minds as one of the most personal we’ve had the honor to be a part of. We’re eternally grateful that we had the talented Sasithon Photography to capture every sweet detail!

The Property

The design itself is much more than just the color palette — it’s the entire experience, which we thoughtfully construct based on who you are. Our couple’s story was infused into a moment that is part of their legacy, their history. This day is a forever staple in so many memories.

To see more of our favorite designs and home weddings, check us out here!

VENDOR REEL

Design + Planning: Candice + Diana, Jubilee Events
Tent: Stamford Tent
Dress: Cristos by Amsale
Beauty: Catie + Amy
Photography: Carla Ten Eyck Photography
Caterer: Cleaver + Co.
Calligraphy: Tara Jones
Florist: Blush Floral Design
Lighting + Draping: Ryan Designs
Rentals: Party Rental Ltd., Taylor Creative through Jubilee Events

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Dessert is a way of life at Jubilee Events, so getting to explore the various sweets to offer guests is a treat — pun entirely intended! For Nicole and Mark’s wedding cake, it was a must to embellish the colorful, whimsical aesthetic of their wedding design, so we enlisted the talents of Sarah and Simon Cake Design! To see how their full design came together, take a peek here.

The Cake

Nicole and Mark’s main confection was the perfect complement to the scope of the day and provided some serious eye candy for all guests and vendors alike! Like the rest of the wedding design, each tier was packed with bursts of colorful bubbles and petals traveling down the sides. Each tier was a mixture of flavors like lemon on lemon!

photos: emily kirke photography

Sweet Details

No dessert display is complete without its sweet counterparts. Remember the Love Cats from our stationery suite? They made another guest appearance as the cookies. Sarah and Simon completely blew us all away with the detail on each cookie. It made it almost too hard to eat. Almost! We couldn’t think of a more perfect nod to our couple’s story together than to have a Cookie cookie!

In addition, guests snacked on rainbow mousse, colorful macarons, marshmallows, and tri-colored donut holes. We were in heaven!

We couldn’t be more grateful to have Sarah and Simon’s talents as part of the day! Having a history in art and design brings about the most detailed and eye-catching confections you’ll ever come across. Get lost in her story and more of her work on her site! Whether abstract, colorful, traditional or clean, it can all be done!

Thank you, Sarah, for your amazing cake and cookies! We still smile every time we come across these sweet images! XO

Nicole and Mark’s Summer Tented Home Wedding

The very first moment I met Nicole, she welcomed me with the biggest ear-to-ear smile, lavender hair, and a 50s style hoop skirt with cartoon kittens decked all over. Surrounded by their nearest and dearest from all stages of life and family, we celebrated a love that was ten years in the making and there was no better place than Nicole’s childhood home. And that day? Just as unique and memorable as this out-of-this-world duo! This summer tented home wedding holds a special place in my heart and this couple and family sits directly beside it!

Though Nicole and Mark had been a part of each other’s adventure for ten years, their friendship began many many years beforehand, so much so that their siblings are friends and had been with one another since childhood. You can only imagine how celebrated this day was, as it marked a significant moment in so many lives and stories that were present!

They and their family are a group of people that make you feel exceptional. You’re welcomed with open, gracious arms, and the most infectious smiles and playful banter. Their day was just as incredible!

The Design…

When asking how they would describe their day, Nicole confidently replied, “like Princess Peach’s magic kingdom. A celebration of color!” Nicole and Mark’s design made me declare the season to come the year for color! The wedding gods must have heard me because I’ve seen an explosion of color through decor.

I LOVE that couples are infusing their energy into their aesthetic! In the coming days, you’ll see a series of posts that further share the elements of their day and how it boasted their story together. A tented home wedding affords us a blank canvas, which allows us to flex our creative muscles even more and add more personality to this custom day. See more of our tented weddings here!

The Photos…

If ever there were a summer tented home wedding that captured our hearts, this one will forever be it and we cannot thank Emily Kirke enough for capturing its true essence! Nicole and Mark, thank you so much for giving us the incredible opportunity to be a part of such a historic day for you and your family! We look forward to celebrating you for years to come!!

credit reel

Photography: Emily Kirke Photography
Ceremony + Reception Location: private home in Newtown, CT
Event Planning + Design: Diana of Jubilee Events
Flowers: Botanique NYC
Cake: Sarah + Simon Cake Design
Catering: Riverhouse Catering
Reception Entertainment: DJ Eko
Stationery: Coral Pheasant Stationery
Beauty: Erica Martell
Ribbon + Draping: Drape Art Designs
Love Cat Illustrations: Salvador Vega Jr
Rentals: La Tavola Linen, PEAK Event Services, Gather + Lounge
Tent: Greenwich Tent Co

A Modern Garden Love Story

We were just creeping up on summer of last year when we received a call asking us to design a shoot to inspire events in those warmer summer months and we were elated, to say the least! With carte blanche to create our aesthetic and assemble a team of the best of the best, we hit the ground running and developed the most colorful, cheerful modern garden inspired setting, taking place on the grounds of the GORGEOUS Blithewold Mansion and Gardens. Fit for an outdoor wedding, mansion soiree, or garden affair, we’ve developed enough eye candy to make you want to wrap yourself up in this shoot!

The Inspiration + Design

Starting with shades of pink and all citrus tones, we developed a modern garden inspiration perfect for any Spring or Summer event. Of course, we are big proponents of color so we certainly support the idea of featuring this palette any time of year!

With colorful florals and natural textures to juxtapose the clean lines of fashion and backgrounds, our team produced a whimsical, modern concept to perfectly inspire your garden party.

The Fashion

While fashion is another aspect to bring in your personality, it’s also the best source of inspiration for your design because it perfectly represents you! Beth Chapman Styling and the team from The White Dress by the Shore, as always, completed our look with the most fitting gowns, complete with all the texture and romance we need. That cape! Need we say more?!