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This past fall we had the fun opportunity to co-create and design a fun, summer editorial shoot for The Connecticut Bride Magazine. Having just come off our fashion obsession of nautical glam, we worked with our creative counterparts to design this fun, preppy, and dressed up version of nautical on the Connecticut shoreline! We worked in your traditional seaside color story– blues, reds and yellows– with a bit of sparkle, lots of stripes and a little kate spade. What I’m also excited about is half my summer accessories got incorporated into this gorgeousness! A huge thank you to our talented team who made the day so fun: Carla Ten Eyck, Beth Chapman, Datura: A Modern Garden, Dana Bartone & Company, A Little Imagination Cakes, Coral Pheasant Stationery + Design, and a HUGE thank you to our dear friend Rachel Edwards at Dreamscapes Design Group for not being just lovely and wonderful, but such a gracious hostess for the day!! An additional thank you to Alison Fischer of The Plumed Serpent in Westport for also participating in this shoot and lending her gorgeous gowns!

{ Dress: Coren Moore / Striped Top;  Provided by Stylist / Bangles: Kate Spade / Lockets: Aquinnah for The White Dress by the shore / Wedges: Kate Spade / Anchor Handbag: Moyna / Location:  The Griswold Inn / Paper Suite: Coral Pheasant }

I just love this first look– colored shoes, colored jewels, those lockets (! which we all immediately purchased on the spot from Aquinnah and all now proudly own, and hope to not wear all at the same time, accidentally), striped puffy sleeved top, sparkly anchor bag…. love it all! The paper suite that Nichole from Coral Pheasant put together was spectacular. Sign. Me. Up. It was so well executed with so many fun little surprises– which I feel like is her signature.

{ Gown:  Rivini available at The Plumed Serpent / Maids Dress:  Ivy and Aster available at The White Dress by the shore / Yellow Shoes: Kate Spade /  Yellow Sweater:  J. Crew / Jewelry:  Aquinnah for The White Dress by the shore /  Location:  The Griswold Inn / Basket Bouquet & Floral Headband: Datura: A Modern Garden / Paper Pennant Banner: Coral Pheasant }

{ First Gown: Anne Barge available at The White Dress by the shore / Second Gown:  Amsale available at The White Dress by the shore / Hat:  Bijou Van Ness /  Anchor Handbag:  Moyna / Bangles: Kate Spade / Rope Headband: Etsy / Jewelry:  Aquinnah for The White Dress by the shore }

{ Gown:  Amsale available at The White Dress by the shore / Bangles & Red Wedges: Kate Spade / Rope Headband: Etsy / Gorgeous Rope Bouquet: Datura: A Modern Garden / Nautical Invitation Suite: Coral Pheasant }

{ Top Picture Gown and Short White Dress: Amsale available at The White Dress by the shore / Red & Gold Bangles, Gold Bow Ring, and Sparkly Bow Heels: Kate Spade / Rope Headband: Etsy / Gorgeous Rope Bouquet & Basket Bouquet: Datura: A Modern Garden / Red and White Bridesmaid Look: Coren Moore / Bridesmaid Jewelry & Second Look Jewelry: Aquinnah for The White Dress by the shore }

{ First Gown:  Oscar de la Renta available at The Plumed Serpent / Hat: J.Crew / Second Gown: Elizabeth Filmore available at The Plumed Serpent / Yellow Shoes: Kate Spade }

{ Gown: Ivy and Aster available at The White Dress by the shore /Red Wedges & Large Cocktail Ring: Kate Spade / Locket Bracelet and Necklace:  Aquinnah for The White Dress by the shore / Just Married Flags and Nautical Invitation: Coral Pheasant }

{ Top Picture Gown: Amsale available at The White Dress by the shore / Beautiful Blue Bouquet: Datura: A Modern Garden / Bridesmaid Dress: Ivy & Aster / Pennant Flag Banner: Coral Pheasant / Gorgeous Nautical Glam Cake with Rope Accents and Yellow Flowers: A Little Imagination Cakes }

We hope you enjoy! Thank you to The Connecticut Bride for having us be part of their wonderful and inspiring Spring / Summer 2012 Issue!

Credit Reel

Photography: Carla Ten Eyck
Fashion and Styling: Beth Chapman
Art Direction: Candice Coppola
Floral Design: Datura: A Modern Garden
Beauty: Dana Bartone
Paper Design: Coral Pheasant
Cake: A Little Imagination Cakes
Locations: Dreamscapes Design Group & The Griswold Inn on Main Street in Essex, Connecticut

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I’m so excited to share with you a fun and colorful photoshoot we did at the Ocean House in Watch Hill, Rhode Island. Carla Ten Eyck and I hosted a 3 day workshop at the Ocean House before it was open to the public. We had the wonderful opportunity to teach photographers and planners the ins and outs of working as a creative team to produce an editorial photoshoot. Our preppy, new england inspired shoot below was the work that I collaborated on with our amazingly talented vendors who contributed so generously to our workshop and shoot!

We were inspired by the classic, preppy and fun look of bow ties, seersucker and bright colors. Some highlights from this shoot are all the incredible corals and blue colors that Tony magnificently worked into the tablescape arrangements and bouquets. Seriously… are you kidding? The irises? Amazing! And the incredible paper that Nichole from Coral Pheasant created– folded menu cards with covers, customized favor / place card boxes with unique paper flowers on top, mini bow ties that decorated our champagne glasses… need I go on?!

We also scored an incredible pink vintage bike thanks to our friend Beth Chapman of The White Dress by the shore, who styled our models for the shoot from head to two. We LOVE this lace Modern Trousseau gown!

I just have to say, one more time, how grateful we are to the amazing and talented vendors who contributed so generously to our shoot. We love the way it turned out and are so excited to share! Thanks to Style Me Pretty for the lovely feature… and to see more images… head over to our gallery.. and also see Coral Pheasant’s blog post on the shoot.

XXOO!

Credit Reel

Photography: Carla Ten Eyck
Model Styling + Fashion: The White Dress by the Shore
Flowers: Datura – A Modern Garden
Event Design + Planning: Jubilee Events
Hair + Make-up: Dana Bartone & Company
Ceremony + Reception Location: The Ocean House
Invitations: Coral Pheasant Stationery + Design
Bride’s Shoes: Badgley Mischka
Dress: Modern Trousseau
Rentals: Rentals Unlimited of Newport
Cake: Toria Dolce Fine Desserts
Groom’s Suit: J.Crew
Bow Tie: Southern Proper

We were so excited to see a photoshoot we designed and styled featured on Style Me Pretty Friday! This shoot was a result of our Collaborate & Create workshop with Carla Ten Eyck at The Ocean House in Watch Hill, Rhode Island. Head over to Style Me Pretty to see all the prettiness and stay tuned to our blog this Wednesday for a full feature!

Happy Halloween! xox

Credit Reel

Photography: Carla Ten Eyck
Model Styling + Fashion: The White Dress by the Shore
Flowers: Datura – A Modern Garden
Event Design + Planning: Jubilee Events
Hair + Make-up: Dana Bartone & Company
Ceremony + Reception Location: The Ocean House
Invitations: Coral Pheasant Stationery + Design
Bride’s Shoes: Badgley Mischka
Dress: Modern Trousseau
Rentals: Rentals Unlimited of Newport
Cake: Toria Dolce Fine Desserts
Groom’s Suit: J.Crew
Bow Tie: Southern Proper

For our second destination wedding we stayed right here at home in New England! Inspired by the proper lady-like style and bold colors of kate spade, we set out to design a fun and sparkly party fit for a wedding, shower, or girls night in! To me, kate is infinitely preppy, feminine, classic and, to put it simply, perfect. What could be more New England than that? With her lady-like silhouettes, high heels, bright lipstick and baubles, kate spade embodies everything about my favorite New England fashion icon, Jackie Kennedy— who was the epitome of the classic look with a modern twist.

{ photography by carla ten eyck }

We were so inspired by the bright colors, simple patterns, chunky jewels, color blocking, a bit of sparkle and tailored fabrics. Some things we took literally from the inspiration– like the button candy escort cards oh so expertly designed by Coral Pheasant Stationery + Design. I loved the stripes in the models skirt, so we brought that in the linen on the table by using a wide stripe linen set on an angle. We paid attention to fabrics and textures too– especially the silk shantung that kate loves to use in her dresses and parlayed that into a pretty fuchsia napkin. In Coral Pheasants‘ paper story, Nichole was inspired by confetti and sparkle, attaching a little clear envelope to the invitation with some silver and pink confetti. So playful and pretty! Each place setting at a hot pink handmade crepe popper with confetti inside for celebration. We also used these AH-MAZING silver sequin chair backs from our friends at La Tavola Linen to carry through our sparkly confetti inspiration. We also chose a bright yellow charger at each place setting accompanied by my own personal kate spade china in black and white polka dot. The glassware I chose was super feminine and reminded me of the kate spade pattern Belle Boulevard.

Datura: A Modern Garden created blocks of color in the center of the table with shades of pink roses and daisies and yellow billy balls in glossy black square containers. Super tailored, colorful, and compartmentalized. Pretty! You’ll even notice some silver sparkling rocks used through out the arrangements, too. The arrangements were in varying heights and tightly arranged together, connected by some curvy curly willow. The bouquet was even color blocked with yellow daffodils, pink roses and a collar of greenery. A hint of sparkle from a vintage broach on the stems which were wrapped in black satin ribbon.The White Dress by the shore pulled together a super preppy look for their bridesmaid with a Coren Moore bridesmaid dress perfectly color blocked in shades of blue, yellow and white with a bright pink cardigan.

Big thanks to all the amazing vendors who contributed to this gorgeous destination. What’s up next? Why Paris, of course! xo!

Credit Reel

Location & Fashion: The White Dress by the shore
Event Design & Planning: Jubilee Events
Photography: Carla Ten Eyck Photography

Floral Design: Datura: A Modern Garden
Catering: Emily’s Catering
Tent: Sperry Tent
Paper Story: Coral Pheasant Stationery
Menswear: Valentino Tailors

and special thanks to… Stay in Costa Rica || Alisa’s House of Salsa || Party Rental, Ltd || Jim Altieri’s Vintage Cinema ||  Lovely Lollies || DD Nickel Beauty

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!

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

Last month Abby of Style Me Pretty asked all her Little Black Book vendors to dream up and create a DIY capable tablescape for her readers. I love any opportunity to dress up a table and quickly went to work on a simple Spring design using common household items. This tablescape was featured here!

Yellow has become my new FAVORITE color. I’ve become so inspired by it and now have a ton of new yellow cardigans, shirts and dresses. It has even worked its way into the redecorating of my living room this weekend! I love is cheery disposition and ability to brighten every room. The color yellow was my inspiration for this design and I set out to find all the pieces!

I didn’t have to look far — I opened up my pottery closet where I store way too many platters, dishes, and glassware. I pulled out items that we all have — a white cake stand (by Martha Sewart), some standard household vases (no doubt purchased at homegoods), and some vintage glass coke bottles passed down to me by my mom (a flea market or tag sale find, I’m sure). Real simple stuff, nothing super fancy, expensive, or unique. I knew I wanted to use these items but didn’t know what to put in them.

I took a drive over to one of my favorite florists, Flore in Southbury and asked the owner, Lori, what she had chilling in her cooler. Here is what I purchased on the fly:

1 stem white hydrangea
1 stem green hydrangea
1 ½ dozen circus roses
1 bushel of fancy yellow tulips (5 total used)
2 football mums
3 stems white lisianthus
Total Price: $60 wholesale

On my way home I stopped by the local fabric store to find something for our table runner. I spied some really gorgeous eyelet fabric and walked out with three yards (which proved to be a bit too much, but excess is always best!). I also popped over to the craft store and grabbed some yellow 8.5×11 heavy card stock (for the “charger”) and lacy inspired corner punch. Last stop: the dollar tree, where a good bargain is hit or miss. Fortunately they had some pretty yellow pillar candles and I scooped up two.

I had previously designed the menu card, which you can see, once I had decided on my color scheme. My inspiration for the menu was certainly my kate spade black and white tidbit plates, which I also incorporated into the tablescape. I love those plates! I had the menu cards them from a 8.5×11 sheet of standard white card stock and used this particular corner punch to add a little femininity.

After I had purchased my materials it was only a matter of putting it together. No one ever comes home with all the right ingredients and has a perfect centerpiece — there was a lot of playing around, new ideas, eliminations, and additions. In the end, this is what I came up with in about 20 minutes after focusing my ideas. I love it! After I was finished photographing it in my home studio, it graced our dining room table for the week.

Our tablescape can translate into any event and would look gorgeous at a wedding, mother’s day brunch, bridal shower, baby shower, or any other special occasion. You can dress it up, down, and adjust the formality pretty easily.

The Inspiration

Who knew I was so inspired by shoes? This color palate and inspiration board was inspired by a pair of gorgeous Badgley Mishka heels that I first saw in the new Winter issue of Instyle Weddings. Of course I immediately ordered a pair (which I plan on wearing to our engagement shoot!) and I’m eagerly awaiting their arrival. In the meantime, I thought I’d design a fabulously romantic pink design board in honor of all their beauty!

I didn’t have to look far for the perfect colors. The Pantone Spring color report, published a few months ago, has some amazing colors for 2009. Among them are these pretty pinks named Salmon Rose and Rose Dust. I added my own color of Contessa to round out our color palate.

I think our inspiration board has a preppy and whimiscal feel to it. I love the ruffles and fabric especially. I wish I could have found a wedding cake that incorporated ruffled fondant in shades of pink. Wouldn’t that have been so pretty? I really picture this wedding outside, overlooking the Connecticut countryside.

The Color Palate

The Inspiration Board

Silk Gala clutch in “tea rose” pink with bow from J Crew; Wrought iron crystal “Celeste” chandelier from ; White fabric draped canopy from Southern Weddings; Chocolate cornflake clusters as a favor from Chocopologie in South Norwalk; “Carlo” shoe by Badgley Mishka, available at Solutions Denim; Pink wedding bouquet from Southern Weddings; Pink and white tablescape from Martha Stewart Weddings; Wedding Gown by Lela Rose for her Spring 2009 Collection; Platinum rimmed cocktail glasses from Pottery Barn; Pink two-tiered wedding cake from Instyle Weddings; Bridesmaid’s dress from Priscilla of Boston style number PB311 in the color english rose; Invitation suite from Saima Says Design; and they lived happily ever after…. from Southern Weddings.