New Years Eve Wedding at The Taj Hotel, Boston, MA

I first met Jessica about a year ago on one of the most snowy days that I can remember. I probably would have cancelled the appointment before I drove two hours in the snow to meet with a potential bride. I am glad that I did. It was that meeting that started a client relationship that has now bridged into a friendship with many within this gorgeous bride's family. When Jessica told me that she and her fiance were planning to celebrate their wedding on New Year's Eve, I was thrilled at the opportunity to work with Jessica on the florals, decor and styling of this event. I am bummed that I did not take a chance to photograph Jessica and her handsome groom, Chris. They are a very good looking couple. I saw them just for fleeting moments through the day as my team and I worked on so many gorgeous details to not only the romantic snowy ceremony but also the lavish celebration which was to follow.

You can see from the photos below that her ceremony was something absolutely magical. For me the feel of the ceremony room at The Taj Boston was something from a Russian palace. So lovely with the creamy walls, lush drapes and absolutely stunning crystal chandeliers. LOVE, to see say the least. We were on our game that night. We had everything set up and just had to wait for the ceremony to be over before we could move the decor again to be enjoyed by the guests among the dinner table tops. As a special treat for the guests, fireworks went off just as the bride was saying her I dos. Not planned, but perfection, filling the windows of the ceremony room with joyous anticipation.We did it and it looked amazing, and we had time to spare again. I saw Jessica and Chris for just a moment as they made their way into the ballroom to celebrate with their guests. The look on her face said it all. You could tell that she was in love with her surroundings that we had so carefully planned.

She was like a vision of Jackie Kennedy on her first trip to France, regal, refined and elegant in a retro sort of way. I adored that she chose knock out earrings and skipped a necklace to show off her graceful profile and neck.

As they made their way into the ballroom, I knew that it was time to get some rest before the end of the evening surprise for the guests at midnight that came in the form of a fresh snow falling down on them as the New Year rang in. It was a scene from some sort of movie.

The whole family was so sweet and so effusive in their praise for the work that we had done, I was proud, but tired. 24 hours of work straight for CMP to produce this event. I was happy to retire to my soft and comfy bed within the hotel. I had a beautiful view of Newbury street and the drunken revelry that went on into the wee hours of the morning. I hear it all, I was too tired to sleep, to excited for my bride. Continually reflecting on the details to the day.

Congratulations to Jessica and Chris and of course to my now friends Diane and my favorite father of the bride EVA, Guido. Much love to you guys!!! My best always, CMP

Bedford Village Inn Winter Destination Wedding

 

Today I got to do two of my favorite things, shopping and.....shopping. For wedding dresses no less. Most of my brides don't get dresses. They get gowns. Over the top affairs call for them. The bride is the center of attention and should be dressed accordingly. My bride is throwing a lavish destination wedding in the middle of January. I can hear the soft jingle of the horses as they make their way through the snow with my bride in sparkling white and my groom in a tuxedo and mittens. We have chosen the Bedford Village Inn as our choice to entertain her guests and to celebrate the wedding.

It is quintessential New England, charming in it's architecture, lovely in its appointments. We have had many discussions regarding the wedding although it is still a year away. But we do have to remember that this is a destination. Meaning everyone including the west coast bride and groom are flying in for this event. So needless to say there are a lot of details that need to be taken care of.

Today it was about dresses and the look and color way of the wedding. All went well as we chattered away over lunch. So many details to take care of and now we have decided that we will move forward with a rehearsal dinner on site as well. I was lucky that the vast majority of my appointments today were on Newbury Street. I even had time to pop in on my favorite Back Bay Blonde, Lauren Killian, from Person + Killian Photography. She has been hired for this event and I can hardly wait to work with her on this frozen inspired engagement shoot and of course the wedding.

It is no wonder why we start working on weddings sometimes two years before the event, man there is a lot to do. Hey there is still time to dream a little bit. I think that I will take a moment to do just that. To picture what my bride might look like as she triesvon on the most amazing collection of gowns. I know that within,  her gown is there. Just which one? Will she wear the long elbow gloves that I suggested. Of course you won't know until I publish pictures from the event in some time from now.

You can tell that I am thinking that a winter bride needs to steal the show. I want her to have a gorgeous silhouette to her gown along with enough embellishment to wow, but not so much that she ends up looking like a Russian Princess. (Think Dr. Zivago)

We will find a way to work in all of the winter classics that one would expect from this sort of wedding. West Coast is going to represent of course. We have planned to have a regional selection of wines and cheeses from the west coast so guests can experience a bit if where the bride and groom are coming from.

There will be more of course, for now the look and my nervous anticipation as to my bride and her gown.

I just want to hum, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

 

Bay Club Mattapoisett Member Welcome Party | Champagne Theme

I have been a friend to The Bay Club and it members in Mattapoisett for nearly ten years now. It all started with their grand opening party filled with so many fabulous details. They still talk about it to this day. Over the years we have worked together to provide five star service to our members and friends. It is a relationship that just works. I have always loved the club and what they have done out there in the woods of Mattapoisett.

Each year we welcome new members to the club with a casual party to showcase the food and fun social scene that the club is known for. Of course they are also known for their Brad Faxon award winning golf course......Trust me, I like the social scene so much better. However, I can hold my own on the course. I level off with two tequilas and get better and better with every beer that I drink. My stories on the course are worth the round alone.

This year Champagne was the theme for our party. Not only did we bust out some fabulous vintage champagnes, we also served cocktails laced with the bubbly libation. For decor, I brought in my friends from Ten 31 Productions for their human golf statue. I have used them before for a wow and each time they deliver far beyond what I could imagine. The human statue was the hit of the party!!! Of course the flowers and other decor looked great and I got a ton of compliments, which I am always grateful for. I got a moment to chill and chat with my fun and fabulous friends from the club. But alas, all too soon the moment came when I had to tuck my head in for the night as two weddings called for the next day.

Thank you Bay Club. Our friendship is something that I cherish, the friends I have made, I adore. I look forward to many more. My best and love always, CMP

Erika and Mark | State Room Weddings | Photography by Person and Killian

 

Pulling off a floral extravaganza takes many, many hands. The fact that I did not have to think about my camera this past weekend as we worked like crazy to pull together this melange of floral color made me eccstatic. The photography was in the hands of Jill from Person + Killian. Knowing that she was on the other end of the lense gave me such ease and I could hardly wait to see her photography after the event was over.  This morning as I opened a zip file from Jill, I was left as I always am when looking at P + K photography, breathless and yes I admit a tear in my eye reflecting back a week ago to this amazing wedding.

The design process of my creative firm is mostly the same with every bride. It starts with discussion and the bride giving me inspiration through her throughts and images that she has gathered. From there, I get to work pulling the things that a bride likes from her images to come up with an an original design. My sketches of weddings give brides a very real look as to what the color and the scale will be to their wedding details. From there, once we have worked on the sketch we are able to go live. When Erika came in for her live demo, she loved how we pulled together a modern and romantic feel with the flowers. She asked if I could change up the color of the flowers a bit and add some purple and eggplant to the colorwary. This was such an easy request. In the end I am happy that she did request this. The pops of bright color, especially against the plum bridesmaids dresses was sensational.

As I look through all of the photos, it is her bouquet that I fall in love with so easily. The heady scent of gardenia is always a hit and I filled her bouquet with it. For a touch of sophisticated Asian flair, I added phaleonopsis orchids to the bouquet. I thought that it complemented the stunning looks of the bride perfectly.

In the busy flurry of the day in the big city, I loved that I got a moment to chat with the bride moments before the ceremony was to begin. I scooted into the limo next to her and she and I shared a special moment of fun chatting about her bouquet and the lovely David Yurman, purple amethst earings that her fiance had surpsied her with that morning.

I designed the flowers so we could put on a lovely display at the church and because we had a few extra hours between the ceremony and the reception at The State Room. I sent a team back to the church to pick up the flowers and to bring them to the State Room where they would be put on display for the guests. After Hauling up the flowers, linens, candles and many other details to the wedding we got organized and got ready to bust a move. No easy task with loads of staff and the bands sound check. As the band hammered out old school AC/DC, we got to work dressing up The State room. I loved how the three different designs perfectly complemented each other and filled the space and always brought your eye to the best feature of the State Room, the view.

Over the years I have built a company that can pretty much offer the best from the world of wedding design. The linens from my own rental company were lovely in a crushed ivory shimmer with an ivory bridal satin napkin looked really elegant. There is such a huge difference between ivory cotton and the more glamorous fabrics that we can provide for party table tops. I am glad that I brought this idea to idea to the bride at the demo. The linens and platinum gold chargers were the perfect palette to showcase the printed details.

The menus and table numbers from my partner Kelli at à deux: bespoke bridal paper looked modern and provided just the right pop of color to the tables. The bride and groom had asked for a something a little different with the table numbers and the menus that were to be at each place setting. I thought that adding a layered effect, white on plum, would not only provide a pop at the table, but would further tie in the brides request to add subtle nuances of color through the wedding. 

I am never anxious to see the cake arrive at the venue, especially when it is in the hands of Jennifer Williamson, from Jenny's cakes. She has been able to interpret my designs in such an incredible way. I am glad that the bride, Jenny and myself decided to add the circular detail to the cake but not to do it in the purple as I had drawn. I love how the flowers almost steal the show, just until you see two adorable french bulldog bride and groom cake toppers. Way too cute. I love the family dog made it to the wedding and then was artistically represented on top of the cake. Woof!

Lucy & Greg | Fairmont Copley Plaza Weddings

Their wedding was only three days ago, and I miss Lucy and Greg already. There is always a time of reflection for me as I look out on to the dance floor at the bride swirling in a sea of fun. I know that our time together is coming to an end, in this capacity anyway. I have made hundreds of friends with my brides over the years. And oh yes, I have made many BFF's  with my merry bridal parties that I get to know too!

This past Saturday night at the Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston was AMAZING! First let me start with a white gloved high five to all of the staff at the hotel. I am getting a little misty guys thinking of the high a level of gracious service that was given to the bride and groom's guests. The food, ba da bing! Forget about it, of the charts yummy. I was most impressed when a selection of entrees was prepared for me, not only to eat, but to double check the plate designs that were to be presented to the guests. Who does stuff like that? The Fairmont Copley Plaza does and I love it !

I have worked with Lucy and Greg over the past year or so in planning not only her wedding but her over the top bridal shower. She and I get each other and we worked so well going over all the details to her amazing bridal bling wedding. I too,  got to know the entire family and when I say entire, I mean ENTIRE. There were brothers and cousins and sister in- laws and nieces and uncles that all came to bits and pieces of the bridal planning process. It was always a laugh as we worked through the endless list of pretty details that go into a wedding as you see in the photos.

The family is Italian many of them speak English but many don't, including the feisty Mama de la brida, I love her. Old School, enough said. She was always very sweet to me and funny. I give her a lot of props for the life that she has lived and to be such a glamorous moment. I adored her broken English comment to me when she said, " I don't just want to dance with you Shad, I want to dance with you twice." In that moment we very well could have been Sophia Lauren and Omar Sharif. She wouldn't give it out then, but I will continue to haunt her for the recipe of La Torta de La Nona Piazza, a delicious home made lemon, melt in your mouth, covered in powdered sugar, piece of heaven that was served to the guests after their six course dinner, and espresso and an amazing Candy Bar. Those Italians put the E in eat. Yummy!

The wedding was a sea of amazing details from a to z. The highlights being the thousands of hand opened south American roses in five shades of Ivory, gloriously mounded into crystal vases. The calla lilies, served as the focal point to the cocktail portion of the party. The groom liked Callas, the bride Roses, hence our design. The calla for me also gave a poetic nod to the over the top wedding that I worked on for the National Production of "Hitched or Ditched", a saucy reality show that was shot about a year ago. Lucy, the bride saw this wedding, saw me, and called. The life of a wedding designer and planner, full circle.

I know that the next time I see Lucy and Greg it will be in the mist of some family joy and I look forward to it wholeheartedly. In weddings such as this, there is always a little piece of me left behind in the memories and the pictures. I can assure you Lucy and Greg that there is assuredly a bit of both of you in my heart. Kisses on both cheeks, three times to both of you. My love and Congratulations, Always, CMP

P.S. Please don't post pictures of me doing the Soul Train Dance, ah go ahead, it was a party. CIAO! Bona Sera

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christie and Brad | Samoset Inn Weddings | CMP for Elegance and Grace Weddings

I met Andy Delucia, of Elegance and Grace Weddings over the phone. In that first phone call, I knew that she and I would hit it off and that working together to design the wedding that she was planning for our bride, Christie would be challenging, fun and would result in an incredible day. It was just that.

We worked together for almost a year to design floral details and decor that would perfectly match the vision that our bride had for her once in a lifetime day. We went back and forth with regard to color and how to best showcase the setting in an upscale and sophisticated way. I am happy that as part of my design process with the client includes both sketching and setting up a demo day so the bride has a chance to get as much of a real vision as possible as to what her day will look like. The tone on tone, pale taupey grey linens were a perfect showcase to the overblown blooms arranged in silver mint julip cups and mercury glass. Some of the tables had one style of arrangement and others had clusters of vases and candles sweetly arranged. The pale butter ivory roses, blown open by hand to look as if their petals are opening up in the sun of a garden, were stunning mixed in with the other pale flowers and luscisous blue hydrangea.

The days leading into the wedding were almost a round the clock production as so many details to a wedding have to get done the week of it. We headed out from my studio at five in the morning on the day of the wedding with our van jam packed with pretty. We arrived an hour earlier than we had planned, which gave us a rare treat of extra time to unload and arrange to prepare to execute this lovely wedding design.

Andy, of Elegance and Grace weddings had things well under control on the grounds of The Samoset Inn. Having had the tents set up the day before.  The lovely tent from Sperry was incomparable in it's details. The hand hewn poles varnished to a gleaming Mahogany and billowing flags high atop its architectural peaks, provided an impeccable palette of protection and taste to host this wedding.

We finished everything and then some laying out floral details, candles, lighting details and helping to futz and putz with linens and placement to make sure we got rave reviews from our guests. I knew that magic was in the making, when the mother of the bride came to visit us under the tent after spending the early afternoon entertaining guests around the sparkling pool of the resort. She choked up right away when she saw our plan coming to fruition. She smiled and wiped away a tear and told us that the bride was sure to be overwhelmed with the work that we had done.

And then there was that moment of perfection, when the candles are lit and I look around and even I find it hard to believe that this is all real. Just too pretty, just too perfect. Andy came back to the tent, pretty as a picture in her own change of outfit for the evening. I was too happy at that point to turn over the reigns of this party to her. I could picture how gorgeous the bride would be be in her Vera Wang gown against the picturesque backdrop of The Samoset Inn.

I purposely did not publish a picture of the bride and her groom wanting to give an opportunity to the official photographer to do her thing. She knows that I love to get a glimpse of the photos early so I can share them with you. In the days to come, I so look forward to showcasing her work and showing off this gorgeous bride and her family. Until then, enjoy the details of this lovely wedding. The bride, trust me, is worth the wait.

Erika & Mark | State Street Weddings | Floral and Decor Designs

I draw my sketches, not so I can see what something is going to look like. I already see it in my mind's eye. To have this talent and to use it as a tool, I have realized really helps a bride see how all of the details, their scale and color will come together for the over all look of her wedding. I had done the demo of flowers and details for the bride this past Satuday and was happy to make some adjustments to the design so it would be perfect in her eyes.

I had done her demo all in whites, and she had requested a touch of eggplant and deep pink within the flowers. The sketch helps show how this nuance of color will work at Erika and Mark's State Room wedding to be held in a couple of weeks. I love that she had me do this. The bride has asked me to come up with some ideas for the cake design which will be made by the talented hands of Jenny Williamson from Jenny's cakes. She and I had a chance to chat over the cake design late yestarday and she and I both agree that the modern circular motif to the cake design is cool, but it would look so much more sophisticated done in a tone on tone pale ivory fondant cake with a pale ivory motif and just the fresh flowers to be displayed in bright and bold color. I sent a a link of this sketch to the bride last night, she agreed to, loved the addition of a bit of color to our all white motif and basically we are locked and loaded ready to go.