Elegant Eastover Farm | Erin and Alex

Eastover Farm in Rochester Massachusetts was the local for the wedding that I planned this past Sunday. Each and every time I am there, there seems to be a romantic magic in the air. Sunday was no different. It was a day that you dream about as a wedding planner and certainly as a bride. As of Friday the weather looked to be cold and rainy for all of Sunday, but when the day actually came the weather could not have been more perfect. We moved ahead with a lake side ceremony for my bride Erin and her groom, Alex.

Guests gathered by the lake to wait for the bride who made her way to the ceremony in a beaded deep ivory gown and taupe sash on the arm of her dapper father. The cutest part of the day had to be the bride's adorable children who served as ring bearer and flower girl for the day.

I arranged the flowers for the ceremony to draw out the color of the seasonal foliage which has just started to turn and made for the most incredible of backdrops. The bride and groom and their good looking wedding party looked absolutely surreal against this to die for setting. 

As the sun began to set and the bride and groom moved around the property for their photography, a most incredible fog rolled into the serene setting of the farm. I have never seen something so beautiful and as the stylist and photographer of the event, I was literally running from field to field with my camera hoping to capture the details of the day in this most incredible light and weather conditions. Before the guests ate I once again grabbed the bride and groom to head out into the stone lined fields to take in the beauty of the farm and their once in a life time day. I am glad that I did, their photos and the detail shots of the bridal party bouquets in antique pewter containers are some of my favorite wedding photographs of all time. 

Just before the sun set, I got a chance to head into the tent to photograph some of the sweet and harvesty details of the day. The bride's cake table was right out of the pages of a magazine with it's floral cake and display of minuature flower arrangments. The light of the setting sun dappled this display and made the yummy cake the focal point of the room.

Eastover Farm remains as one of the finest examples of a working New England Farm and is the very definition elegance when it comes to hosting a wedding or a special event. I am more than proud to exclusively represent the farm for such events. For more information on Eastover Farm please visit my web site by clicking here.

Seasonal Color at the Acoaxet Club

     

Summer Wedding Classic

 

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.

Cape Cahd Summa Classic

 

I am proud to have grown up on the south coast of Massachusetts. The water holds a special lure for me and many of the clients that I work with. Sailing is a huge way of life down here so it is no surprise to find brides being inspired by the ocean and the many nautical details that come from living along the coast.

I was thrilled when long time friends from Rochester came to me to help with their daughter's wedding. At first, I felt old because Mary, the bride was a toddler when I was in high school. To see her with her handsome groom got me feeling sentimental at the many years that have passed since I lived in Rochester. We have worked together over the past year to plan a gorgeous wedding filled with nautical navy, crisp white and flowers in fresh shades of yellows, chartreuse, white and delphinium blue.

I am so excited to show the details of her wedding in this design here. I can hardly wait to show you the photos from this elegant, seaside wedding coming up in a couple weeks.

Cool summer whites

 

I am so excited to have gotten these fabulous images from this weekend's wedding of Shantelle and David. They are such a good looking couple, there was no doubt in my head that they would be showstoppers in their photos from Imagemakers. I love the stunning shots of the bride, her groom and her gorgeous bouquet. Shantelle let me do what I want with her bouquet as long as it was pale. I chose gorgeous English roses, hydrangea and then studded it with heady gardenia and pearl headed stephanotis. The scent in my studio and through their wedding was to die for.

For the reception I carried on with the cool summer whites with touches of taupe. From clustered vases of calla lilies, to the romantic vibe set by the candles and the soft lighting at Indian Pond Country Club set the stage for a showstopper of a floral display.

Congratulations to you both. Thank you, thank you for having me and my company as part of your wedding. Cheers ! 

Shades of Melon

 

When one of my BFF's from high school called me to help with her wedding, I was flattered and so excited to see her again. I also knew Jill's best friends from our high school would be in the wedding and that I would have a chance to be among so many crazy friends.

Jill chose the soft and summery shades of cantaloupe and honey due melon as the cue for her wedding. I worked with her to scale back her budget for fresh flowers and to add soft, shimmery linens to hide the hideous chairs and to drape the tables. In the end I think that the look is so clean, pretty and fresh.

Congratulations Jill and Chuck. And to all my ORR peeps that I cut a rug with that night great to see you all ! My best and love guys !

Many thanks to Imagemakers for their awesome photography of this special day. For a link to view the rest this wedding please click here.

Indian Summer

 

Any wedding or event at Eastover Farm in Rochester, Massachusetts is a special one. Having spent some time in India, I was totally excited to get a call to host a wedding this past Saturday night for an amazing Indian family that has lived here in Massachusetts for the past twenty five years.

I knew right away that color would be the key. Ladies in Saris were the inspiration and there were so many guests that came to the party in these traditional Indian ladies garments, just stunning. We hosted the guests for cocktails by the pond at the farm. Blackstone Caterer did a superb job with a fresh fruit juice bar and yummy appetizers from watermelon and feta to coconut shrimp.This was followed by a sit down dinner in another tent with a choice of traditional vegetarian or a delicious chicken dish with jasmine rice, thumbs up, way up !

  

Here you see my original design rendering for the event. Bright, bold, Indian color was the cue from the very get go. I just adore seeing these sketches come to life.

The farm is so stunning and with close to seven hundred acres, the choices for how to host your party there are virtually unlimited. We were very lucky that it had rained so much in June. Normally July is a dry and dusty time in any field. This year, the gardens were lush and the fields were long and luckily with all the rain we were able to light the bonfire to welcome the guests to dinner.

The Indian Goddess of dancing, greeted the guests as they made their way into the dinner tent. So appropriate for a party that was about to rock.

As a special treat to the American guests, I had yards and yards of bright and auspicious yellow garlands made in India and specially flown in for this party. Many hands and thousands of flowers worked overtime to pull off this stunning look. Guests could hardly believe that they were real.

Because it had been wet this past month, I got lucky and was able to light the fire for the guests. The smell of wood smoke and the purification and balance of water and fire was just so perfect as guests moved and celebrated through out the farm. My absolute favorite part of the night was when the lights went down. The candles, the luminaries and the custom lighting depicting the national bird of India, the Peacock and the good luck lotus were the talk of the night.

Congratulations to the Chowdri family on the marriage of their son Siddhartha to Arati. Cheers!

For more information on hosting your wedding or event at Eastover Farm please click here.

Wedding Flowers by Chad Michael Peters

 

Of course I would love to plan every wedding right down to the last detail. However,  there are times when brides and their families know exactly what they want with regard to the planning of their wedding they just need help with the fresh flowers and decor for the big day.

I also love working with other planners and professionals to bring my floral flair to their clients celebrations. I have set up a few examples of what floral packages cost at my firm, chad michael peters. I am flexible and always willing to work on a budget to make your day or your client's day one that they will not soon forget.

Citrus Chic

 

Nancy and her family were a blast to work with. I loved our theme and the mounds of citrus roses on crystal stands. Around each arrangement I loved laying out limes and oranges with little classic urns of garden roses. She was so cool and chic in her Audrey Hepburn inspired gown.
She chose to have a brunch reception at a waterfront restaurant. We chose festive fuscia organza cloths which the bold flowers looked so stunning against.

Later on in the day my team and I moved all of the flowers to an after party hosted by another member of the family. It was so cool to see a chic bride transform herself into an artsy punk chick. I wished that I had the time to photograph the incredible tattoos of the guests.

The Perfect Storm

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.

Season Opener

The wedding season is just around the corner. It is a beautiful spring day, and this morning when I filled my studio with fresh flowers for the wedding of Kelli and Matt, I was excited to move away from lady winter's dark floral tones. We have chosen a fresh spring color palate, and I look forward to putting together Kelli's look in shades of pinks and corals with accents of sea blue. Her reception will be held at the fabulous White Cliff's Country Club in Plymouth, MA. It is located on a picturesque cliff that overlooks the water and is the perfect spot for a spring wedding.

The guest's tables will be mounded with flowers flown in from Holland and South America and when finished will have a totally luxe look. The cocktail area will have a more modern, chic motif. Gorgeous callas and tulips in Kelli's signature hues will look stunning on display in my extensive collection of glassware.

We have chosen to place these magnificent arrangements on sumptuous linens in our signature sea blue in both pin tuck and shimmer styles. I can see it already: We are in for an stunner. I will be sure to publish photos of the wedding, and I look forward to telling the story of this dazzling bride and her handsome groom.