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 love when I get to see the official photographer's photos......especially from this amazing art deco jewish wedding at The Four Seaons, Boston. Just had to share photos and a few words from my friends at Snap Photography. Thank you guys, amazing work!!!
It’s not every day that we suggest to the bride that we would like to take a portrait of her in the powder room. but then again, we don’t always find ourselves in such pretty powder rooms, thank you four seasons! i absolutely love the photo of jolie perched on the couch, she looks too lovely to be real. jolie and gio allowed plenty of time for photos so we were able to take advantage of all the fun furniture, art, and architecture of the hotel. thank you jolie and gio! i love the glamorous evening hotel weddings, everything is so sparkly and dramatic. speaking of dramatic, jolie’s stunning bouquet, florals, and event design were done by chad michael peters. how cool is the entry way for the ceremony processional? talk about setting the stage. coming up next in post 3? reception details galore and lots and lots of dancing!
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.
Peacock feathers like anything else can provide a inspiration to a party or a wedding celebration. Here my partners at Praez Occasions and I worked together to create this wonderful peacock inspired invitation to a wedding that is coming up in three weeks. You ask why are the invitations going out so close to the wedding? Well, a couple a weeks ago when my brides flew into town to meet with me and to discuss their wedding, we all decided that their original plan of having a wedding in Provincetown was crazy. It is way too cold to head down to Provincetown to throw a destination wedding in February.
No worries for me, my dreamteam can pull off anything under anytime frame. We all bravely marched through zero degree weather through the streets of Boston until we got to one of my favorite new hip spots in the city to throw a party, The W Hotel. I saw the look on their faces right away and knew that this hotspot in the city would be where we would host the wedding.
So, when you change your plans, you gotta change a lot of other things too. No worries, given that this is a small wedding and everyone in the wedding party is already booked to come. I am so happy in the end that we made the changes that we did to throw the wedding in Boston. This peacock inspired wedding is going to be enchanting. Wait until you see what I have up my sleeve.
A special thanks to my personal friends and business colleuges, Zeb and Rae at Praez Occasions, who hand delivered this amazing printed art to my doorstep. Once again we have worked together to bring world class to these invitations. My brides are lucky that you are part of the mix. We are going places and I am enjoying the ride. Cheers Ladies!!
My office has been in a flurry of design details as I prepare for the very busy wedding season that lies ahead. Each bride is unique in her own way and I so want all of the details to not only be pretty, but to reflect that as well. For my bride Carissa, daughter of Red Sox Hall of Famer, Jim Rice, I have begun the design on her print material. Here is a sneak peak of her Save the Date design. I wanted to incorporate the gold which is prevalent through her wedding. In addition, I wanted to use crystals, because, hey I love a bit of bling, and chains. We are throwing the wedding at the Liberty Hotel, a historic old jail, redone into the most fashionable hotel address in the city of Boston.....so chains totally make sense right ?
The Save the Date will open like a card to reveal a beautifully printed card announcing the wedding and to the left will have a similar card with hotel and travel information for the ease of her guests. I am so loving this and hope that she will too. This wedding is sure to be amazing as I have been challenged to create a once in a lifetime experience for a very special family that I am happy and proud to call friends.
Now that my partners at Praez Occasions have this proof from me, they know exactly the vision that I am going for. We use the Save the date as a design reference for the rest of the print material that will go along with the wedding suite. Of course I like things to not match, but to have more of a conversation with each other, looking beautiful together. Now that the print material is done, my next challenge is the decor. Wait until you see this, WOW !
Grace Ormonde continues to be a force within the bridal world, essentially defining "wedding fashion". Along with her glossy, critically acclaimed bridal magazine she also hosts the grand bridal events around the country. Each year hundreds of brides and their families will converge upon Rhodes on The Pawtuxet to meet with the creme de la creme of the industry.
I am honored and excited to be appearing as the spokesperson for the newest addition to the Alex and Ani family, the bridal collection. I have designed many pieces that are elegant, chic and will be modelled on the runway this Sunday at the show. I will be in my tux, trying to look handsome and of course I will have my camera and flip video to capture the beautiful action.
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 have been receiving praise over the wedding that I threw this past Saturday at The Chatham Bar's Inn. We had all the elements of an incredible day and I am so happy that Julia Cumeswas there to capture the day for the bride and groom. Her photography of one of my favorite places in New England has me feeling giddy. Thank you Amy and Andrew for having us with you on this most incredible day and many thanks to you Julia for your amazing eye.
I totally wish that I was there for every single moment of every single wedding that I work on. I am flexible in how I do my creative job. Sometimes brides need a wedding planner that is more of a wedding designer, pulling together the details, making sure that everything will coordinate and will look good......and of course to "do" the flowers more than they need someone ticking of checkmarks on a list and blabbering into a headseat.
I had a great time working with the Brown family from Marion on their daughter's wedding this past August, held at the majestic Tabor Academy. From linens and flowers, to the over the top personal flowers of the robust wedding party, each detail came together as if it was meant to be.
I am so happy to have received these photos of this gorgeous and enormous wedding party of twelve bridesmaids and nine gentleman, plus the bride and the groom. Many thanks to my good friend Elin Bodiln for her amazing work behind the lense, you captured the light and the color of the day in a most awesome way. I am happy to have this collection as part of my digital portfolio.
As a wedding planner and a designer it is important to me that each detail of a wedding or event be unique, inspired and as pretty as possible. To me, there is nothing more elegant than the art of calligraphy. I am so pleased with the work that Jennifer Medley Gillespie did on the table names, each representing a special place on Cape Cod for the bride and groom. I always want to take things to the next level and took it upon myself to hand draw with pen and ink and my French colored pencils the floweret detail that has been prevalent in the wedding. I love the beautiful curve of the calligraphy with the hand work and color of the wedding in the stylized drawing. I hope that my bride likes it too!!
I can hardly wait to see these details, along with all the others for the wedding come together. My floral inspired creative studio is in full swing for the next two days with this amazing event for my bride and groom Amy and Andrew. Congratulations to your both !
Wedding planners and designers spend a lot of time on the phone. It seems to me that I start at seven or so in the morning and I can still be chatting away at ten or eleven with clients from across the country. So much of my time on the phone is spent multi tasking and drawing away the thoughts that are in my head for projects that I am working on, or just sometimes, fantasy sketches for dresses and flowers that I am conceptualizing.
I thought that you might like to see one of the dresses that I drew this morning. I love the flouncing, linear detail to the styling of the dress. Of course every great bride's dress has to have a stunner of a bridesmaid dress, so I took the some of the detailing of the bride's dress as inspiration, cut the hem a little shorter and added a flounce floral detail as straps to this cute empire cut.
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.
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 !
