Hola! Hope you had a wonderful memorial day weekend. I am here in at the gorgeous Grand Del Mar Resort and Spa attending the luxury wedding conference Engage along Beth Chapman of The White Dress by the shore and so many other talents in this industry. Yesterday was an inspiring kick off led by Simon T. Bailey and David Beam where we were motivated and inspired to change our way of thinking and get out of our comfort zones! Rebecca, Kathryn and their team put together a gorgeous welcome session with beautiful details and a gorgeous bag full of amazing goodies!

All the images below are courtesy of Jessica Claire!

Later in the evening, we all attended a fantastic welcome party overlooking the valley with a beautiful, rustic and elegant vibe with long wooden tables, benches with gorgeous tufetted fabric, and tablescapes filled with mercury glass, succulents, wood plants, orchids and moss. The circular bar was rough wood and covered with moss and flowers. The food stations were delicious– kettle corn, cotton candy, made to order tacos, lobster and clams, and made-to-order sliders. There was an incredible performance by Elan Artists with an awe inspiring instrument that was part guitar, part bass, and part harp. The strings ran from the stage to the second story of the Grand Del Mar. It was absolutely incredible! Check out the video below.

Check out the video on my facebook!

Happy Wednesday! Enjoying the rain today? We’re gearing up for a large industry event tonight at the newly restored Lace Factory in Deep River. We can’t wait to share with you all the details of this wonderful space.

As you may have noticed, our fabulous creative team and friends didn’t make it on 20/20. Major bummer! Thank you all so much for watching though– I can’t even begin to count how many texts, emails, phone calls, tweets and facebook messages we got!!!!

We did, however, receive great coverage locally on ABC’s WTNH. Not to mention we had a fabulous and fun party at The White Dress by the shore! You can revisit all the expert advice from our team by checking out the video on WTNH’s website. Now for some pretty images, courtsey of Carrie Roseman Photography. Thanks so much Carrie!

We also pulled together a gorgeous tablescape with linens by our fav– La Tavola Linen— in royal blues and sparkly gold.

Along with La Tavola, Datura: A Modern Garden created a beautiful floral centerpiece sitting on top of a venetian crystal candelabra. So gorgeous! Coral Pheasant Design + Stationary was resposible for our regally designed paper story– menu cards and place cards. I just love the formal calligraphy font Nichole used. We decorated the table with a beautiful royal blue pea de soie linen with matching gold napkins. A gilded gold charger with fine bone ivory china sat at each place setting. I really love the gorgeous gold flatware, too! Party Rental Ltd just released a new set of crystal stemmed glassware with gold rims. Perfect for our table!

We just loved everything about the Royal Wedding– from the beautiful guest fashion and hats, to the elegant and gorgeous sleeved gown that Kate wore (did Beth Chapman not make a solid prediction?!). I’m predicting some trends to arise from the royal wedding– afterall, Diana and Charles’ wedding set trends for nearly a decade– which is so impressive! I can think of few moments in history where a couple has been able to do that.

• We’re going to see more morning ceremonies and day time receptions. We’re really looking forward to this– and you can see have an evening cocktail party with your closest friends and family– which allows for a full day of celebrating!
• We’ve already seen this at market– but we are going to see more conservative gowns with sleeves or cap sleeves. I believe lace jackets / boleros will become even more popular. The strapless gown is going to take a back seat to these gorgeous gowns! Expect to see more tiaras on brides as well.
• The bohemian, vintage style casual wedding has been so popular. While I still predict it will be prevalent, it isn’t going to be at the forefront. We are going to go back to a more traditional, elegant styled wedding with rich colors (like blue, gold, silver, purple and red). You might be uninspired thinking about traditional styled weddings– but we’re going to see a renaissance of design– with modern interpretations.

Many more styles will emerge as the details of the day are revealed. And we can’t wait!

xo!

Hi ya’ll!

I’ve just settled back into work after a whirlwind weekend that began in Rhode Island for Nichole and Tim’s wedding and ended at the New York Public Library attending The Knot’s Market Gala and 15th Anniversary Party. Fabu! I attended runway shows and showroom appointments with my fashionable friend Beth Chapman of The White Dress by the Shore and previewed collections by Modern Trousseau, Anne Barge, Judd Waddell, Amy Kruschel, Priscilla of Boston, Melissa Sweet, and many more. I can’t wait to share with you all the fashion that will be coming to The White Dress by the Shore! In the meantime, here are some photographs of us and our friendly crew at The Martha Stewart Market Party and The Knot Gala!

First up.. the super cute smile booth at the Martha Party held in their offices. LOVE this booth by smilebooth. It’s as if it was made for my ensem! On a side note… we’re not the most organized bunch. It definitely took a few tries to figure this out!

The only one picture perfect is Elisabeth!

Almost… but not quite!

perfect! from L to R: Elisabeth from BLUSH; Me!; Beth Chapman and Alicia from The White Dress by the Shore,

Carla Ten Eyck, and Tony Palmieri from Datura: A Modern Garden

The Martha Party was so fun and always well done. Yummy food, great music, nice wine and good company. Including Martha herself! Here we are meeting her. Dream.Come.True.

Here we all are with amazing designer Amy Kruschel

With the always lovely Callie of Modern Trousseau… who custom made the dress Beth was wearing! haute!

being silly!

Beth and Alicia with Marie Elena

Then we tumbled off to the Library for more festivities!

Here we all are looking pretty outside with some new friends we made in our limo! Hi ladies!

The amazing 14 foot floral sculpture by Preston Bailey which was inspired by a Monique gown. It was amazing! Made of hydrangea, roses and orchids. Sooooo pretty!

All of us and the beautiful Anne Barge!

So much fun! Until next October… xo!

photography by Robert and Kathleen Photographers

I thought I’d start the week off with a personal Monday inspiration from my bridal shower. A little over a year ago I celebrated with all the special women in my life at my grandmother’s home. It was a really amazing day put together by my mother and bridesmaids. You can see the full post here!

First Row: Vintage embroidered handkerchief from Lou Lou and Oscar via Oh So Beautiful Paper; Cupid inspired photoshoot by Simply Bloom Photography via Green Wedding Shoes | Second Row: Pancakes from Burcua Vsar; Vintage xoxo from Bella Lu Lu

I’m so excited that Valentines Day falls on a Sunday this year… I’m looking forward to a delicious breakfast in the morning followed by a day of relaxing with my husband. It’s our first Valentines Day as a married couple! We like to stay pretty low key and since it’s Sunday I imagine we’ll make a great dinner at home, together, to wrap up an entire day full of fun little gifts and sentimental moments. Isn’t that what it’s about, anyway?

Happy Valentines day to you from us girls at Jubilee!! xoxo

As you know, we share an incredible studio space with Eric and Amber Langlois of raw photo design and Tom Morlock of Vantage Point Films. We opened our joint space back in early 2009 and have been eager to host a party in our new digs. As the end of the year neared, we really wanted to get together with our industry friends and celebrate an incredible wedding season. During our brainstorming session the studio decided to have a fun, RELAXED, unpretentious holiday party that celebrated crazy tinsel, garland, and fiber-optics. If Eric had his way, we would have also had blown up snow globes in Tom’s office and an animatronic nativity.

Forging ahead with our party theme, we created an invitation to surely set to tone. A raw photo design exclusive:

Our crazy event was catered and hosted by Jordan Caterers, who provided an incredible spread of absolute deliciousness for our guests to munch and feast upon! Jeff and Debbie of Jordans were totally game for our ideas and created a quirky yet delicious menu of mini fondues with yummy goat cheese, coney island pigs in blankets (the crowd favorite), ants on a log, and baby twice-stuffed potatoes with truffle oil. We also had delicious hummus and cheese drizzled with honey and candied nuts. For dessert there was munching of white chocolate covered popcorn and individually wrapped red velvet whoopie pies. Yes, whoopie pies. Yum!

Our very good friend and colleague, Tony from Datura – A Modern Garden created a floral sculpture masterpiece straight out of whoville.

And the super awesome Meredith of Pygmalion Design created this gorgeous ranunculous arrangement that classed up the joint!

No event hosted by raw photo design would be complete without their famous photobooth. I’m certain we didn’t disappoint!!!

It was such an honor to be able to host this party in our space. Thanks to all who could come! BIG thanks to Jordan Caterers for making our event taste delicious. Also, thanks to the Jubilee Events interns and staff for their expertise in tacky lighting displays. See you in the new year!

XO

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

My google reader is buzzing with a lot of creative touches to enhance the Thanksgiving holiday. I wanted to share some!

The above detail board from The Party Dress. I love when I sit down to a table and there is a place card. Love the ribbon around the napkin, too.

An interesting tablescape and centerpiece created out of Pheasant Feathers, via Apartment Therapy

The above dessert tablescape is by the talented Amy Atlas. Look at the details! The table is dripping with yumminess, like burnt butter poundcake, caramel and sugared pears, apple cider, and pumpkin figs. How do you traditionally display your holiday desserts for guests? Most of us bring them out after dinner and serve them in the dining room. Wouldn’t it be an amazing surprise to put something detailed like this to display them?

This gorgeous, and colorful tablescape from our daily read 100 Layer Cake.

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How is your tablescape for these years feast shaping up? Are you doing anything special or unique? We’d love to hear!

xoxo

I think it is pretty awesome that Jessica just recently graduated with her Master’s degree. It is even MORE awesome that she threw herself a CRAZY swanky party in Oakville, Connecticut to celebrate her life milestone! When she contacted me a few months ago to design an event for her I was really excited to do so — a nice break from weddings! We had a ton of fun developing her ideas and came up with a fabulous black and white party that included delicious cupcakes from Cakes Unlimited, submerged tulips, gerbera daisies and orchids as centerpieces from Flore Floral Design, and a rockin’ photobooth manned by the ridiculously talented Robin Dini. I also custom created an awesome 5×5 black and white invitation to her event!

We brought in some gorgeous and modern white lounge furniture, including couches, ottomans, and coffee tables. Guests dinned on a lot of yummy appetizers with some Miami flair!

And for the photobooth? I’m sorry, it is a MUST have at any event! It was a huge hit too — almost 1,000 pictures taken of all her family and friends! Here are a few of the many awesome pictures taken that night by the new photobooth queen, Robin Dini.