One of the first jobs that I ever had was at the Marion General Store. One of the highlights to our work week would be on Saturday afternoons when we would watch gorgeous brides and their handsome grooms make their way out of the stately Congregational Church on their way to celebrate their new marriage. More often then not in Marion, they moved on to the swank Kittansett Club to celebrate. I remember thinking that I would LOVE, love to be at that wedding.
What a thrill it is for me to be working with Sarah and Ryan on their classic wedding in Marion, Massachusetts. They have hired us to do the flowers in shades of pink. The bride is a stunner, the groom, old school handsome. Surround them with my CMP flowers and we have memories that will last a life time. I am sure that I will get goosebumps as they make their way out of the church, so many memories it is hard to believe that it is more than twenty years since I stood their waiting for the bride. Soon enough I will see her again.
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
Although my company offers many creative services, I never forget that I got my start with flowers. There is a serene peace that I get when I am in the midst of their color and of course their scent. Believe it or not, I sneeze like crazy because of them and I take this as a price to pay. Life is filled with dues and I am happy to pay them to live in such a beautiful world.
We often are called on just to do the flowers for an event. Sometimes other wedding planners will call on me to work with them to make their events a bit more special. As a company we have quite a few clients that call on us constantly to bring the fragile beauty of flowers as a showcase to their restaurants and corporate offices. The vast majority of the time I am working with flowers for a wedding. My process begins with our initial consultation either here in my office or by way of phone. In our conversation I hope to gather enough information to create flowers and a price estimate that are inspired by the brides vision and expectations. It is also important to discuss budget as fresh flowers can be expensive. They are flown in from all around the world. I can always work some magic on a budget as I have a vast collection of vases and decorative accessories that we as a company have amassed over the years. I offer these collections to my clients on a rental basis as an effective way to keep costs for floral costs down.
People often ask what do flowers cost? Of course that depends on so many varied details. My individual arrangements begin at 65.00, available for local delivery only. Floral collections for weddings and events begin at 500.00 and often range in price from the low end of 2500.00 to upwards of......let's just say a lot.
Most of the time, I tell brides that they should first allocate their budget to the bridal bouquet and the flowers for the attendants and family. These arrangements will add a special touch to the day and can often be maximized by placing in vases to be displayed at the reception. Flowers for the ceremony can often be moved and used later on at the reception. One thing, I never fight with a church. If they insist on keeping the flowers, I look up to the sky and say to myself, not a chance that I am willing to take, ha. ha. Ask your priest what they prefer, if your budget allows it, leaving flowers at the church is a nice way to say thank you to the church and to show off your style to the congregation for Sunday's Mass.
When it comes to table top displays we often create cocktail collections and dinner table collections. I create one or two different styles of flower arrangements to add an eclectic, but styled look to your reception. That really is more of a basic look for the flower collections that we are asked to create. From there we have worked almost at every venue on every budget and can create couture collections that collaborate with linens, lighting, decor and many other style layers that we offer as a company. If you read this and love my flowers, call me personally at 508.999.1120 to discuss your project. I am always happy to chat, I am always flexible and creative and I would love to work with you.
When I was a little boy, I dreamed of gorgeous parties and girls in romantic dresses. Glittering candles would light up the ballroom of a five star hotel where guests waited anxiously for the bride and groom to make their entrance and to dance their first dance as husband and wife.
That dream came true this New Year's Eve at the incredible Four Seasons Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts. The wedding of Brian and Sarah took place with romance, excitement and anticipation against the magical backdrop of historic Boston frosted with snow. The Hearn family, gathered in a suite at the hotel each one of them looking beautiful, dashing and sophisticated, just like their daughter and sister, Sarah, the bride.
I had a chance to talk with Mr. Hearn, who reminisced about his family and their time in Boston as he looked out the window of the suite into a winter wonderland. He was so excited to see his second daughter married and to have each of his ten brothers and sisters with him to celebrate this First Night.
We made our way along with wedding party to the church in Wellesley where Brian and Sarah were married in a candle lit ceremony. My company's transportation services were in full gear and on high alert as we shuttled the guests, the wedding party and the parents from the hotel in the city on roads that were icy and covered with snow. I have to admit I was nervous for all of these people to be out and about with the weather as bad as it was. In the end, the timing, the service of my staff and the staff of the hotel, the church, everyone and everything was just flawless.
I was happy to have everyone back to the hotel safely so we could capture the romance in the formal portraits for the bride and groom. I have to say, the photo of Sarah and Brian in front of the chandelier at the hotel, is amazing, regal almost.
The ballroom at The Four Seasons glittered filled with candles, crystal and mercury glass. The flowers, modern and romantic at the same time came to life from the sketchthat I had first presented to the bride and groom. Sarah, the bride attended culinary school in Paris, so it was no surprise that the menu served to her guests would be sophisticated and pure bliss to the palette. I had the salmon with baby root vegetables in cream sauce......magnifique! To finish the evening a personal friend of the bride made her cake. A mountain of cake, filled with creme' anglaise and covered with coconut shavings. As I stood close to the cake my senses were on overload and my mouth was literally watering from the heavenly scent of the cake.
So many people ask how I am able to do all of the things that I do. I don't know the answer, but do know that I would not be able to do it with out the help of my own staff and the staff of the fine hotels and resorts where I am lucky enough to work. With this wedding I added a little something extra with my Flip Video coverage of certain parts of the night. It is nearly impossible to view the night from behind the camera and flip phone, but in the end I am so glad that I captured the snow falling and special insights into the day.
My love of flowers continues to grow. I want each wedding to be unique, sumptous and to reflect the taste of the bride and the groom. Of course, I love white flowers, the headier the better. To come in from the cold to the warm candles and heavely scent of gardenia is an experience that I will never be able to do justice to with words.
In looking at the photos I love the mercury and silver and stark white of the vases that I chose. It immediately makes me think of winter and now will forever remind me of this very special New Year's Eve.
As midnight approached the waiters and butlers at the hotel passed out hats, tiaras and noise makers to all the guests, so perfect in white and silver. I have to specially thank my friend Lois, the mother of the bride when she so proudly had told me that she had gone out and gotten all of the favors for the celebration.....all in black, not so good for the color palette that I had been working on for the bride. No sweat for this professional mother of the bride, she happily returned all of them to get the silver and white that I was looking for. In the end, it makes for stunning photos so I am so happy that she did this for her daughter. Thank you Lois.
My assistant and I gathered all of the guests to the dance floor for the "countdown". They all looked so elegant in their eveing clothes and tuxedos, really a surreal look. Five, Four, Three, Two, One.....and the bride and groom kissed, champagne glasses in hand and love in their eyes. Bravo!
A very special thanks to the entire Hearn Family, you could not have been nicer or more gracious. Second to Sarah Kovel at The Four Seasons Hotel for her amazing attention to detail and natural grace. Third to my first cousin, one of my best friends and photography assistant, Misty. I love you, your work is amazing and I am happy to have you work with me on these most amazing weddings. Last but not least to my unflappable assistant Bethany, the rest of my floral and planning staff and my boys on the transport home front, Thank you, thank you.
Happy New Year everyone. Brian and Sarah, this night will be the most special for the rest of your lives. I will never be able to forget just how gorgeous you both were in the romance of the evening. Thank you for having me and my company be part of the memory.
OMG here we go again......I am thrilled beyond belief to be working again with the nicest family on the east coast, The Hearn Family. Sarah, one of their two stunning daughters has chosen to be married this New Year's at The oh so swank Four Seasons in Boston. The hotel holds a fond place in my heart as my Kevin and I spent many get away nights there when we first dating and I still had the expense account of a banker. Those days are gone but the romance is still there none the less.
New Year's eve has so many magical details to it anyway, what better night to go over the top, to have guests dressed to the nines to sip champagne and to bask in the romantic glow of a beautiful Grace Kelley bride and her oh so handsome groom. I have planned the floral and decor details to the wedding to be soft and chic, per the bride. I will be using phaleonopsis orchids, gardenia, branches with crystal and candles and lots and lots of candles. This will all be set on a gorgeous dupioni silk pin tucked table cloth. Our transport shuttles will be providing guests transportation from the hotel to the Church in Wellesley and I get to personally photograph the event......too exciting.
Of course, New Year's day will bring a story and many amazing photos for us to share. I can hardly wait.
I am excited to be working with the Hearn family on their daughter Laura's fall wedding to be held at Boston's Marriott Copley Plaza Hotel. Laura right off the bat reminded me of Anne of Green Gables with her strawberry blond hair and radiant old world beauty. She has chosen to wear an incredible lace embroidered gown in ivory and will be surrounded by pale flowers in shades of ivory and chartreuse with just a touch of pale apricot. I am excited to be working in a multi style capacity on this wedding, from the wedding florist, I will quickly change hats and cover the wedding with my photo journalistic style and floral inspired perspective. I am sure the joy that has been felt in the Hean Household will show through on the wedding day. I can hardly wait to get her flowers under way.
After the last dance is danced we will get under way with the planning for yes, another Hearn daughter who has chosen to be married on New Year's Eve at the oh so elegant Four Season's Hotel. Stay tuned for her evening in Paris inspired wedding.
My studio is filled with flowers this morning for the wedding of Kristen and Jeff. The flowers are from all over the world and consist of white hydrangea, casablaca lillies, macarra orchids, pepperberry and one of my favorites, calla lillies in the most delicate of shades of deep peach. The flowers are taking our breath away here at the studio, I can hardly wait to see them on deep nantucket red linens, dresses with embroidered napkins, the gilded chargers and the neatly trimmed candles flickering away.
I feel especially honored to be invited to the wedding as a guest. I can hardly wait to dance with the bride in her gorgeous San Petro gown.
It has been a busy few weeks here in my studio and offices. I always want to be on top of getting out the gorgeous photos from the weddings and parties that I work on, so you too can see how amazing some of these details are, sometimes writing the stories that go behind the photos comes a few weeks after.
I got the great chance to work with long time Rochester friends on the wedding of Mary and Barrett. It was so fun over the course of the year and a half planning out her details such as flowers, and menu, chit chatting about this escort card style and what type of table numbers should be laid out for the guests. As a wedding planner I always want the details to be beautiful AND reflect the personalities of the bride, her family and the groom. This wedding was just that. With a love for sailing and a backdrop of the Beverly Yacht Club and the groom's amazing sailboat as a backdrop for formal pictures it just all came together so amazingly well.
I first want to thank not only the staff on our floral and decor team but also our ever faithful staff at CMP transport and their late night efforts to get the bride's guests home safely. We rolled out the vintage Rolls Royce to transport the bride and the groom, a shiny ten passenger limo for the wedding party and our shiny town car for the parent of the bride. Seamless, effortless and gracious service. Thank you CMP Transport.
Of course it goes so well because of the incredible vendors that are involved with such an event. It was so my pleasure to call on Russ Morin and his fine team to deliver a world class meal by world class staff and the cake, the cake that they baked was literally one of the best morsels of food that I have ever had in my mouth.
And last but certainly not least to Lauren from Person and Killian Photography. Her photos which are showcased here in this story are just amazing. The weather was not working with us that day but she managed to get the photos out on the boat for the bride and did so with amazing work. She and I had such a good time chit chatting and styling bridal bouquet photos in the house while we were waiting to send the bride off to the church to be married.
I love when we do demo days here in my studio. Of course, the brides love when we bring their sketch to life using some of the freshest flowers from around the world. It gives me and my staff an opportunity to create a formula for the big days of production which lay ahead with the wedding.
Here you see my rich inspired sunset colored flowers for the wedding of Renee and Ken to be held at the oh so chic restaurant, Cafe Nuevo in Providence, Rhode Island. The rotunda of the building is covered in head to toe apricot and chocolate marble. I think that these flowers on chocolate embroidered ribbon linens will look amazing with the soft lighting washing the marble and highlighting these gorgeous arrangements on the tables.
For each of the past five years I have had the wonderful opportunity to work with Southern New England Weddings Magazine. Their commitment to excellence in Weddings is so appreciated and I feel lucky to be among the best of the best. I look forward to seeing my name in their glossy pages for many years to come. For this year's 2010 issue, I chose one of my personal favorites peonies from a photo I took last spring to represent the lush, elegant and chic flowers and decor that represent my brand. Thank you to their team for such an awesome job.
I have loved working with my bride Lindsay on her upcoming wedding. The process of creative discussion, to drawing my original rendering, to doing up demo flowers, tweaking the design, to delivering a knock your teeth in wedding for me is a creative thrill time and time again. With this bride and her mom, it has been a true pleasure. Her mom is one of my biggest digital style blog fans. Every wedding, every detail she has looked at, to say the least it is flattering. She assured me the minute that this is published she will be one of the first people to read it.
Today we had the wonderful opportunity to see my original rendering come to life for the bride. Gorgeous phaleonopsis orchids, crystal trimmed candles and lush mounds of flower in mercury glass on platinum ruffle table cloths looked amazing laid out for my bride. There wasn't a change to be made. Happy high fives all around. We are now on the countdown to the wedding to be held at The World Trade Center in Boston. I can hardly wait to share the finished product with you. Cheers !
Newport Rhode Island has to be one of the most glamorous places on the east coast to be married. For centuries it has been defined as a tony escape for the well to do. There are so many places to consider hosting an event that it is sometimes hard to make a choice.
My bride, Kim and I have chosen the fabulous Regatta Club on the Newport Waterfront. There is a wonderful tent filled with billowing fabric and a classic teak floor which will be the perfect backdrop for the decor and details that we are planning in shades of purple, hence the purple haze. I have brought together some of the best vendors in the industry to help make this a once in a lifetime day for my bride.
I have asked Gigi DeManio to photograph the day starting with a simple ceremony in Bristol and through our incredible reception on the water. Once we are at the reception, we will get the party started with D.J. Raffi, his incredible music, and a cool lighting display to wash the room in shades of watery turquoise. As a special detail, a floral motif that I will custom create for the print material will be used again as a starting point for an incredible lighting display on the dance floor.
I am thrilled to be working with Kim, her family and such an amazing group of people. This will be a showstopper and I can hardly wait to have some cookies from the cookie bar. YUMMY !
With fall just right around the corner, I have been busy in my studio wrapping up planning and design details for the very busy September, October wedding season. I have been working with my bride and groom over the past year to plan and design an intimate city celebration to be held this fall at one of my favorite restaurants, Cafe Nuovo in Providence, Rhode Island. They will first be married and have their wedding photography done on the architecturally amazing grounds of Brown University. The rich colors of watermelon, carmel and touches of apricot will look amazing against the marble of the grand rotunda where their reception will be held and will complement the falling leaves and turning of the season.
I love that this bride has chosen to make her own print material for the wedding. Her design, use of ribbon in an unexpected way and just a touch of seasonality with the little letterpress leaves leave me wanting more. I can hardly wait to see all of these gorgeous details among the branches, gilded leaves and amazing deep pink and burnt orange flowers.
Working at the Chatham Bars Inn in Chatham, Massachusetts is a treat for any wedding planner or designer. This amazing Cape Cod hotel dates back to 1914 and remains a beacon of historic luxury on Cape Cod. It is the quintessential location of choice for a seaside destination wedding.
To work there with a family as nice as the Krants was simply a dream come true. I started the design process with Kelley, the bride, and we had such a good time adjusting our theme and design as the day of the wedding neared. You can see in my original sketch that most of the colors and styles of arrangements and decor were laid out almost a year before the wedding. Kelley had a hand in most of the selections, and Kelley and I, and her mom had numerous conversations to come up with just the right details for all of the guests to enjoy. We decided on vendors together and it was my job to manage them on the big day. While every vendor stepped up to the plate with their A game, our photographers, Person and Killian Photography, simply knocked it out the park.
Both the bride and the groom work on Wall Street, so the weeks leading up to their wedding, with the market melting down, and a wedding coming up, it was no surprise that there was stress. My job is to manage that stress and I had it under control and I just knew that this would be a wedding that would leave the guests talking. Every petal and detail were in place by the time that I saw Kelley for the first time. She was an amazing beauty in her stunning dress trimmed in lace. I stood with tears in my eyes as I gave her the most lush and rich fall bouquet. As she started to walk down the aisle on the arm of her dapper father, I held my breath as the train of her dress flowed over the many candles that lined the aisle, and finally heaved a sigh of relief when she took the hand of her handsome waiting groom.
Elizabeth is a rare beauty, with long blond hair and a smile that radiates. I can see why Paul, her handsome groom did not waste any time in getting down on one knee to propose. She said yes to a stunner of a ring and the wedding was in the works.
Her parents have an historic house on the water with a yard that slopes elegantly away from the house, just the perfect setting for a wedding. We worked for months to figure out just the perfect shade of flowers, the perfect morsels of food, tiny little amazing details, like fresh flowers on letterpress programs at the chapel. We were set to go for their dream come true wedding.
It had rained so much the day before, I was worried that it would be wet for the guests.....little did I know. All seemed to be good and the day of the wedding came, grey skies, but no rain. We all were scurrying and in a flurry to pull off the final details, the bride stepped into a gorgeous antique white Rolls Royce and off to the chapel we went.
The bride was just stunning as she walked down the aisle on the arm of her beaming father. That was my queue to leave the chapel and head on back to the reception site to do my final walk through. On the way the sky opened up in a way that I never seen, setting the stage for the Perfect Wedding in a Perfect Storm.
All of the details were in place, every last one of them down to the crystal chandelier in the center of the tent. Candles were lit and just waited for the guests from church and of course the newly married bride and groom. I had worked with my awesome guys at Chase Canopy, to channel the rain away from the tent, nothing could be done with the six inches of rain that continued to fall through out the evening. Finally, right before the bride and groom came in, the water could not be held back, it continued to seep and seep it's way into the perfect wedding tent.
What to do? What to do? Even I was nervous, but finally a plan was in place and the staff performed at a level that purple hearts are awarded for in the wedding world and the wedding tent was ready for our bride and groom. I met them in the foyer of the house and got to work on restyling the brides dress so it would not touch the ground. It was so the scene in titanic when Rose is being pulled into her dress by her mother. This was her moment, looking her in the eye I said my famous words" You and only you will define this evening, every thing that can be done has been done and now it is up to you to make this the wedding night of your dreams".......and that they did
I got lucky as a wedding designer and planner, regardless of the weather, I could see that this was a crowd that could handle a party of epic proportion. Of course it is my job to prime the pump and with a wink to the bartender to pour the strongest drinks of his career, we did just that. I knew that the party would be defined by the first notes of the band. When they hit the stage, there was not one guest that was not out on the dance floor. Shoes off, they were shakin booty like I have never seen. We had not even served the first bite of dinner yet but I knew that this could very well be the party of my career. These guest could care less that a near hurricane was blowing on the bay.
In the end it was so perfect a wedding. The love in the air, the party, the details that went on and on. For a night we all escaped the storm into a perfect world that centered around a newly married couple. And for a morning we escaped it too, for the party went well into the wee hours of the morning....that is until the police came, with smiles letting us know that three in the morning was a party enough and we agreed to all meet again at the brunch the next morning....to tell our stories of the wedding and to celebrate for the guests are still raving that this was bar none, the time of their lives.
So many thanks to the talented duo of Person and Killian Photography for their die hard, off the charts photography of this world class event. Your work is amazing and I am teary at the fabulous memories time after time. Thank you both Lauren and Jill.
The use of color has to be one of the best ways to liven up a wedding. I just loved, adored working with the Dacey family to make their daughter Shannon's wedding flowers nothing short of extraordinary. We were after all out to entertain and wow close to 300 guests. Big league.
The details that they brought in as inspiration were awesome in citrusy bold shades. I carried that look throughout the rest of the decor for her day. The roses, peonies, and citrus orchids just looked so awesome against the bold colored bridesmaid dresses and the neutral tones of the Wychmere Harbor Club.
Many thanks to my friend Karen at the Club for being a fan of my work and of course to my friend and signature partner Corinna Raznikov for her world class photojournalism.
